Marylanders in the process of developing or who currently own commercial properties on septic systems may not have to comply with future state regulations that reduce the amount of sewage they can discharge if a Carroll County Health Department policy is adopted statewide.
Representatives from the health department updated the Carroll County Board of Commissioners Thursday on proposed septic regulations for future commercial properties. The Maryland Department of the Environment plans to adopt a requirement that would increase the size of septic systems by 1½ to 2 times the current requirement for commercial sites with sewage flows of less than 5,000 gallons per day.
For example, if a commercial site can now dispose of 1,000 gallons of sewage per day, the new requirements would limit a future business to between 500 to 750 gallons per day, according to Edwin Singer, the environmental health director at the health department.
Singer has said that since the systems have to be that much larger, they take up that much more land. To reduce sewage flow, a developer would either have to reduce the number or the size of the businesses on a property.
For example, Singer has said, a developer planning to build a future strip mall on a septic system would be required to install an on-site septic system that is 1½ to 2 times as large as the current regulations allow. However, in many cases a site will not be big enough to install a larger system required under the new proposal, so the property owner who may have planned eight stores may only be able to build four.
The requirement is expected to be approved by MDE April 1.
But, Singer said, MDE has expressed a willingness to adopt a policy that would allow anyone who has submitted a plan to develop commercial properties on septic systems to not have to comply with these specific regulations. The policy, which Singer developed, also has a grandfather clause that would allow any owner of a commercial property on a septic system to not have to comply with the regulations when they have to replace their system in the future.
Singer said MDE will review the policy, send it out to all health department directors and make a decision before the regulations are adopted in April. If adopted, the policy would be a concession from the MDE, which received letters of opposition from the commissioners and the health department on the requirements.
Commissioner Richard Rothschild, R-District 4, asked a series of rhetorical questions to illustrate that the MDE had not demonstrated what problem is being solved by the new regulation. The MDE, he said, has offered no empirical data showing how the new regulations will help the environment.
"This is a solution to which there is no known problem," Rothschild said. "We have no credible data to support this change."
In an email to the Carroll County Times, MDE spokesman Jay Apperson wrote that this type of regulation expresses allowable discharges on the basis of "loading rates," which is the ratio derived from the number of gallons of sewage expected to be treated divided by the size, in square feet, of the septic system.
The existing regulation allows for a higher loading rate for commercial properties compared to residential properties, Apperson wrote. This rate is so much higher that the state knows of no jurisdiction that uses it in its approval process. For that reason, MDE believes that a change in the allowable loading rate for commercial businesses will have minimal economic impact on businesses, he wrote.
"During the development of this proposed regulation, local health departments and business groups including the Maryland Homebuilders Association, were provided descriptions of the proposed change, and economic impact was not raised as a significant issue," Apperson wrote. "We have now received a comment from the Carroll County Health Department indicating a concern. We will consider this comment as we move toward a final decision on this proposed regulation."
Singer said he plans to hold an open meeting in mid-April to inform contractors, developers, surveyors and engineers about the new regulations. A date has not yet been set for the meeting.
