AB 580 by Assemblymember Alyson Huber passed the State Assembly yesterday is headed to the Senate.
AB 580 requires the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) regulations for onsite water treatment systems (OWTS) to include regulatory tiers based on the demonstrated risk posed to public health and the environment by the system. The vote was a unanimous 74 – 0.
Requiring regulatory tiers will put an end to the one-size-fits-all approach to septic regulations that are unnecessarily costly to homeowners in rural areas of the state. Rural and urban areas have different needs when it comes to sewage treatment, and regulations that are necessary in urban areas are not always effective, efficient, or necessary in rural areas, and often require homeowners to pay enormous and unnecessary costs.
AB 580 will allow regulations to be tailored to the individual needs of local areas “based on the demonstrated risk.”
