GT County Eyes New Septic Rules

Michigan is the only state lacking a statewide septic code – a situation that could soon change under pending legislation that would require regular inspections and create an inspection database and certification system. Grand Traverse County commissioners Wednesday discussed what the legislation would mean for county residents, with the latest draft requiring inspections for all septic systems every five years. Other ordinance options could also be on the table, such as requiring inspections whenever a property is sold or transferred.

According to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), approximately one-third of all Michigan residents are on a septic system. A recent report by Public Sector Consultants “estimates that between 130,000 and 325,000 of these systems are failing to adequately process wastewater, threatening not only public health but also drinking water sources and nearby rivers and streams,” according to EGLE. 

Without a statewide code, it’s up to local governments and their health departments to determine how to regulate septic systems – approaches that can vary significantly from county to county. Grand Traverse County’s code was first adopted in 1964 and last updated in 1994. According to Grand Traverse County Health Department (GTCHD) Deputy Health Officer Michael Lahey, the county’s sanitary code – despite its age – is “robust” and “provides more safeguards” than other counties. The code includes a required 50 feet of isolation from surface waters and wells and a 48-inch vertical separation from the infiltrative surface to the groundwater. Grand Traverse County also has the benefit of “healthy soil composition,” Lahey said, with sandy soil supporting septic systems better than clay or rock.

Still, once a septic system has been installed in Grand Traverse County, there are no required inspections or maintenance schedules after that. Inspections typically only happen because of failure, complaints, or a change of use – like building a home addition, said Lahey. The average lifespan of a septic system in Grand Traverse County is 30 years, though systems can last longer or fail sooner depending on use, according to GTCHD.

Lahey said Grand Traverse County is home to approximately 25,000 septic systems. GTCHD issues approximately 450 septic permits annually, roughly 180 of which are for system replacements or additions. About 40 to 50 percent of those replacements are due to failed systems, Lahey said. It costs approximately $10,000 to replace a traditional septic system – though that figure can climb to $20,000 for a system with a pump or mound and as high as $50,000 for an engineered alternative system. Aside from lakefront homes or other properties with septic systems near water, Lahey said the most significant concern here is sewage coming up to the ground surface and posing a health hazard.

For more than 20 years, Michigan lawmakers have attempted to address the risks posed by failing or leaking systems by creating a statewide sanitary code. While those efforts have previously stalled, both Lahey and County Administrator Nate Alger said Wednesday that consensus seems to be building statewide that legislation will pass in the near future. “We’ve never seen the language and the impetus to do this go this far in Lansing,” Lahey said. 

What exactly the new rules will be remains to be seen. The latest bills – House Bills 4479 and 4480 – propose to create a statewide inspection database and certification system and to require inspections of all Michigan septic systems every five years. Some would be prioritized to be inspected first, including those 30 years or older, those within 300 feet of a body of water, or those that never received a health department permit. GTCHD started permitting consistently in the mid-1970s, but some local systems date back to the 1960s.

If that version of the legislation passed, Grand Traverse County would have to complete roughly 5,000 septic system inspections a year at an estimated cost to property owners of $750 per inspection. That would cost septic owners roughly $3.75 million annually, or $18.75 million every five-year cycle. That many inspections would require 23 full-time inspectors, GTCHD estimates, plus an additional nine full-time clerical staff to handle permits. That’s because many of those inspections – potentially up to 20 percent to start, though that number would decrease over time – would result in a failing grade that would require homeowners to obtain permits and upgrade their systems.

Numerous health departments across Michigan have said that the inspection and staffing loads required under the draft bills would be untenable, especially without state funding support. GTCHD staff said Wednesday that even if the county contracted private inspectors, there are likely not enough qualified professionals in the area. Lahey said the “collective feedback” from many health departments to legislators has supported instead requiring inspections under a “trigger mechanism,” such as when a property is sold or transferred.

Other counties surrounding Grand Traverse County – such as Benzie, Kalkaska, Manistee, and Leelanau – already have codes requiring septic inspections when a property is either sold or transferred. Long Lake Township has a similar ordinance. The rest of Grand Traverse County could also implement such an approach, Lahey said, either as an interim or long-term solution depending on the fate of the proposed state legislation. Even if the state bills passed, they would take several years to implement. Lahey said it’d be far preferable to have one coherent policy for Grand Traverse County than numerous individual townships enacting their own sets of septic rules.

Several commissioners expressed skepticism about the proposed statewide legislation, with Chair Rob Hentschel saying it amounted to government overreach and in many cases wouldn’t actually improve public health or safety. Vice Chair Brad Jewett said that while “we all see the importance of our septic systems functioning properly” and that all drain fields will eventually fail by their nature, charging homeowners $750 for inspections every five years seemed unnecessary. Commissioner TJ Andrews said it would be impossible for Grand Traverse County to meet the inspection workload under current draft regulations.

However, Andrews and other commissioners expressed interest in a point-of-sale approach to inspections, which other counties have used for decades. Commissioner Scott Sieffert noted such a program would be “almost self-funding” and minimize costs to taxpayers, since it would be built into the process for home sales. Commissioners asked GTCHD staff to return with options for consideration in the future for implementing a point-of-sale inspection program in Grand Traverse County.