CHAPTER 174

HB 1415 – FINAL VERSION

7Mar2012… 0934h

04/25/12 1651s

30May2012… 2344EBA

2012 SESSION

12-2770

08/04

HOUSE BILL 1415

AN ACT relative to permits for repair or replacement of sewage and waste disposal system.

SPONSORS: Rep. Warden, Hills 7; Sen. Gallus, Dist 1; Sen. De Blois, Dist 18

COMMITTEE: Resources, Recreation and Development

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill creates a permit for the repair or replacement of certain sewage or waste disposal systems.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

7Mar2012… 0934h

04/25/12 1651s

30May2012… 2344EBA

12-2770

08/04

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twelve

AN ACT relative to permits for repair or replacement of sewage and waste disposal system.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

174:1 Permit by Rule Submissions. Amend RSA 485-A:30, I and I-a to read as follows:

I. Any person submitting plans and specifications for a subdivision of land shall pay to the department a fee of $300 per lot. Said fee shall be for reviewing such plans and specifications and making site inspections. Any person submitting plans and specifications or an application for a permit by rule as provided in RSA 485-A:33, IV for sewage or waste disposal systems shall pay to the department a fee of $290 for each system. Said fee shall be for reviewing such plans and specifications or application for permit by rule, making site inspections, the administration of sludge and septage management programs, and [for] establishing a system for electronic permitting for waste disposal systems, subdivision plans, and [for] permits and approvals under the department’s land regulation authority. The fees required by this paragraph shall be paid at the time said plans and specifications or application for permit by rule are submitted and shall be deposited in the subsurface systems fund established in paragraph I-b. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “lot” shall not include tent sites or travel trailer sites in recreational parks which are operated on a seasonal basis for not more than 9 months per year.

I-a. In addition to fees required under paragraph I, any person submitting plans and specifications or an application for a permit by rule as provided in RSA 485-A:33, IV for sewage or waste disposal systems shall pay to the department a fee of $10 for each system for use in the septage handling and treatment facilities grant program to municipalities under RSA 486:3, III. [Until July 1, 2010, the fees required by this paragraph shall be paid at the time said plans and specifications are submitted and shall be deposited in the subsurface systems fund established in paragraph I-b. After July 1, 2010,] The fees required by this paragraph shall be paid at the time said plans and specifications or application for permit by rule are submitted and shall be deposited in the septage management fund established in paragraph I-c.

174:2 New Paragraph; Permit by Rule Submissions. Amend RSA 485-A:33 by inserting after paragraph III the following new paragraph:

IV.(a) The repair or replacement in-kind of a sewage effluent disposal area shall qualify for a permit by rule, provided all of the following criteria are met:

(1) The existing system receives only domestic sewage.

(2) There is no increase in sewage loading proposed for the repaired or replacement system.

(3) The bottom of the bed is located no less than 24 inches above the seasonable high water table.

(4) The system is located 75 feet or more from an abutter’s well unless there is a standard well release form recorded with the registry of deeds in accordance with RSA 485-A:30-b or there is an existing department waiver to the distance for the abutter’s well.

(5) The system is located 75 feet or more from the owner’s well unless there is an existing department waiver to the distance for the owner’s well.

(6) The existing system received prior construction and operational approval from the department and the replacement or repaired system will conform to the provisions of such approval, provided the department may by rule require a minimum septic tank size of 1,000 gallons.

(7) The system is not within 75 feet of any surface water, water supply well, or very poorly drained soil unless authorized by the prior departmental approval described in subparagraph (6).

(8) No new waivers to the department’s rules are requested.

(9) The system has not been previously repaired or replaced under a permit by rule in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph.

(b) Construction of the system may proceed upon the submission of an application to the department by a permitted designer under RSA 485-A:35 and receipt of the permit by rule from the department.

(c) The repaired or replacement system shall not be covered or placed in operation without final inspection and approval by an authorized agent of the department. All inspection by the department shall be accomplished within 7 business days after receipt of written notice from the installer that the system is ready for inspection. The installer shall provide the authorized agent of the department, at the time of the inspection, a copy of the previously approved plan bearing the state approval stamp and associated operational approval, and an existing conditions plan bearing the seal of the permitted designer performing work under the permit by rule.

(d) The applicant submitting the permit by rule application shall assume all liability and responsibility for the components of the design that are part of the system being repaired or replaced under the permit by rule.

(e) The installer constructing the system shall assume all liability and responsibility for the construction of the system components repaired or replaced under the permit by rule.

(f) For purposes of this paragraph, “in-kind” shall mean a repair or replacement of the effluent disposal area in strict accordance with what is shown on the previously approved plan.

174:3 New Paragraph; Rulemaking. Amend RSA 485-A:41 by inserting after paragraph IV the following new paragraph:

V. Adopt rules relative to the application for and granting of permits by rule for repair or replacement of certain sewage or waste disposal systems under RSA 485-A:33, IV.

174:4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.

Approved: June 11, 2012

Effective Date: June 11, 2012