Relief is on the way for homeowners and the South County construction industry

New coastal wastewater rules are on schedule

Rep. Walsh (r) conferring with DEM's Nicole Poepping

News release from Rep. Donna Walsh

Rep. Donna Walsh (D-District 36) reconvened the Town Wastewater Taskforce to review new proposed regulations by the RI Department of Environmental Management to protect coastal salt ponds while easing the burden on homeowners. This taskforce included, in addition to Rep. Walsh, Rep. Teresa Tanzi (South Kingstown and Narragansett) and Rep. Sam Azzinaro (Westerly), in addition to town officials from coastal communities.

This meeting, held on March 5, was a follow-up to a December meeting where DEM and representatives of Rhode Island coastal communities negotiated a four-point regulatory reform plan that would:

1. Relax renovation rules. Ease DEM requirements that currently require homeowners with older (over 10 years old) septic systems in critical salt pond management areas who propose additions to their homes to install expensive new wastewater denitrification systems; 

2. Ease and speed up DEM’s approval process for denitrification (nitrogen removal) technologies that already have passed certain stringent industry standards or are approved in other states with conditions and regulatory programs similar to Rhode Island’s. 

3. Open the door to other promising technologies. Provide the opportunity to run pilot projects in Rhode Island aimed at proving through actual homeowner experience that a manufacturer’s product can meet Rhode Island’s standards. 

4. Protect the Salt Ponds.  Work collaboratively on a long term option to reduce pollutant discharges of nitrogen to the watershed of the salt ponds from homes relying on in-ground wastewater discharges. 

At the close of the December meeting, DEM promised to have draft regulations ready for the taskforce’s review and comments in March. True to their pledge, DEM came to the table with those proposed regulations.

DEM proposes to change its regulations to allow most homeowners to increase the footprint of their homes by up to 600 square feet without the need to install a new denitrification system. The taskforce members applauded DEM for its willingness to move the trigger from “not any expansion” to an allowance of 600 square feet (excluding addition of a bedroom or encroaching on an existing septic system).

The taskforce agreed that the 600 square foot expansion was the limit that would be allowed for the life of this regulation (scheduled to “sunset” or expire on November 1, 2014), ruling out those who may try to add 600 square feet every year. They also agreed that the 600 square foot allowance would also apply to adding a new floor to a structure.

DEM’s proposed rule for encouraging new and hopefully less expensive technological alternatives into the state also drew praise from taskforce members. The taskforce hopes that DEM will receive applications from vendors whose systems already meet the NSF/ANSI “Standard 245” level of nitrogen reduction or have been approved by other states, like Massachusetts and Maryland, that have standards and conditions similar to those in Rhode Island. Rhode Island would no longer require such technologies to be re-evaluated to gain state approval.

On the third commitment made at the December meeting, DEM affirmed its interest in receiving applications from vendors who wish to test their technologies in Rhode Island. Under the draft regulations, between three and ten households would need to participate in the pilot project – at least three sites will be needed to provide enough data to reliably determine whether the new technology actually performs up to state standards. The monitoring and testing would be done by an independent third-party.

DEM believes this part of their proposed regulations is the most challenging, but holds great potential for bringing new technologies more quickly to Rhode Island. It will encourage manufacturers to demonstrate the capabilities of their new technologies in Rhode Island. While Rhode Island is recognized as one of the leading states in the country in per capita use of innovative technologies, DEM’s policy has been that testing be done in other, larger states which have more capacity for evaluating emerging technologies. However, with the experience gained from having had the alternative technology program in effect for 15 years, together with third party testing incorporated into the regulation, DEM thinks that it is up for the challenge.

Finally, the taskforce agreed to a policy to further pursue one or more options that would accelerate the replacement of existing septic systems with the denitrification technology, and permanently remove triggers related to building and renovation projects.  Accordingly, the regulations will have a provision that reestablishes the current rules triggering the denitrification upgrades towards the end of 2014.  If a new, alternative policy is adopted, the rule would be changed. The task force recognized that the more existing home systems are converted to denitrification systems, the sooner the salt ponds will recover from the effects of excess nitrogen pollution. Discussion centered on targeting older septic systems, including those installed in the 1970s and 1980s.

Now that the taskforce has reviewed DEM’s draft rules, and suggested only minor modifications, DEM is committed to moving on to the next step to actually put these regulations in place.

The formal rule-making process will provide the public with the chance to voice their opinions on these measures in person or in written comments. The taskforce hopes the final regulations will be in place for the start of this year’s construction season.

“Representatives Walsh, Tanzi, Azzinaro and Ehrhardt and elected officials from several South County communities made us aware of the concerns of property owners in South Kingstown, Charlestown and Westerly who faced costly upgrades to their wastewater treatment systems if they proposed modest expansion of their homes, and we responded,” said Department of Environmental Management Director Janet Coit. “By working cooperatively with the legislators and municipal officials, we were able to draft a revised set of regulations that are less burdensome to property owners in the critical salt pond management areas and will lead to better, cheaper technology solutions in the future.   The proposed changes to wastewater treatment rules should also provide a boost to the local construction trade that will result in more jobs.  Equally important, this effort kicks off good communications around a bigger issue – which is, how to protect our valuable salt ponds in the years to come.”

Rep. Walsh commended DEM for its hard work. “DEM stayed on track, kept to the agreed schedule and has been true to its commitments,” said Rep. Walsh.

“When these changes become official, there will be a lot of relieved homeowners whose stalled home improvement projects can go forward, “Rep. Walsh said. “These projects can put a lot of unemployed South County construction workers back on the job.”

“This is a win-win-win situation,” said Rep Walsh, “where, at no risk to the environment, homeowners will have more choices at better prices and our local economy will get a much needed boost.”

Rep. Walsh’s district includes all of Block Island and parts of Charlestown, South Kingstown and Westerly.