New foe opposes controversial state septic tank law

A state law governing septic tanks faces another foe in a new Assembly bill aiming to water it down – the second attack on the controversial law in less than a month.

Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Linda, announced AB 916 on Friday. The legislation targets AB 885 – the never-enforced law that mandates septic tank inspections every five years – by making its standards “recommended” rather than binding.

Though the original law seeks to protect the safety of groundwater supplies, Logue, a former Yuba County supervisor whose district includes Yuba and Butte counties, called AB 885 an excessive burden on homeowners and counties.

“We’re trying to roll back the authority from the state to local governments, where it belongs,” he said Monday.

The Legislature passed the septic tank bill in 2000, but it languished until the state Water Resources Control Board sought to put it into effect at the beginning of 2009. However, the board postponed the start of enforcement to July 1.

The original bill demands that owners of septic systems hire state-certified inspectors every five years to check on tanks as well as any groundwater sources nearby. Yuba and Sutter county officials say the inspections typically cost between $600 and $800 – but homeowners would pay thousands more if such tests force a tank replacement.

Logue argued AB 885’s roots – its first sponsor, former Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, advocated it after reports of well water contamination in coastal Santa Monica – show it to be a “one-size-fits-all” law with no purpose in other parts of the state.

“Counties are implementing standards without the state being involved,” he said. “Geology is different from county to county. You cannot ask Grass Valley to have the same regulations as Malibu.”

Logue’s bill follows the announcement Feb. 12 of AB 268, which would repeal the septic inspection law outright. Both bills could go to an Assembly committee in about two months, according to Jim Nielsen, the Gerber Republican who co-sponsored the repeal bid.

“The more (bills) you have, the bigger the statement you’re making that this is a serious issue,” said Nielsen, who represents Colusa, Glenn and Tehama counties. “We move on every front we can.”