Monday, January 19, 2009
My Trip To The SWCB
Last Thursday my daughter & I drove 3 1/2 hours to Malibu to be present at a "workshop" being held by the State Water Control Board regarding the recently released Draft EIR & Statewide Regulations for Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems (OWTS) or septic systems.
James Giannopoulos, Assistant Deputy Director of the Water Quality Division, gave a synopsis of the regulations and then identified the urgency for the residents of Malibu, the only city in California where there is no municipal sewer system. There are about 2,563 homes that are facing an estimated $45,000 upgrade to their septics since they are within 600 feet of "impaired water bodies." Ouch! And new homes that are constructed within that distance will require $35,000 systems.
I was the second speaker & addressed my comments to the staff and the one member of the State Board who was present, Frances Spivy-Weber. I delivered 9 letters on the subject from Realtors® from Paso Robles to Nipomo, and commented on:
1. The impossibility of making workable "one size fits all" regulations for the State;
2. The need for the regulations to have allowances for situations where there was a great deal of separation between the septic and the nearest domestic well. In my own case that is over ¾ of a mile!
3. The cost of complying with the new regulations; $650 for inspection & certification by "licensed professionals" (vs. the State's estimate of $325) and $540 for the well tests (vs. the State's estimate of $325). These are inspections and test that will have to be performed every 5 years. Should the system be shown to have "failed" then the owner of an existing system may have to upgrade to the new $35,000 version!
4. The fact that the DEIR failed to quantify & analyze the increased greenhouse gas emissions that will be generated from all the well testing, tank inspections and septic waste hauling, contrary to AB 32 (The Attorney General's current favorite tool for publicity!)
Naturally, I had a lot more to say but since they had been nice enough to let me speak early I thought it best to leave it at that and get back on the road to Paso...after a successful search for coffee in the old town of Oxnard we made it back home by 11:45 PM!
Comments(0)