Section R317-4-1 - Authority, Purpose, Scope, and Administrative Requirements(1) This rule is authorized by Title 19, Chapter 5, Water Quality Act.(2) The purpose of this rule is to protect the public health and environment from potential adverse effects from onsite wastewater disposal within the boundaries of Utah.(3) This rule shall apply to any onsite wastewater system.(4) Local health departments have jurisdiction to administer this rule. Nothing contained in this rule shall be construed to prevent local health departments from: (a) adopting stricter requirements than those contained in this rule;(b) issuing an operating permit, with a term not exceeding five years, with an inspection showing a satisfactory performance of the permitted system by the department's staff before renewal;(c) taking necessary steps for ground water quality protection: (i) through adoption of a ground water quality protection management policy based on a ground water management study; or(ii) by an onsite wastewater systems management planning policy and land use planning through the county's agency;(d) prohibiting any alternative system within its jurisdiction;(e) assessing administrative fees;(f) requiring any onsite system within its jurisdiction to be managed by a:(i) responsible management entity overseen by the local health department;(ii) contract service provider overseen by the local health department; or(iii) management district body politic created by the county for operating, maintaining, repairing and monitoring alternative or all onsite wastewater systems;(g) requiring any conventional and alternative system to be serviced; or(h) receiving a request for a variance, conducting a review, and granting either an approval or denial.(5) Local health departments shall administer an alternative onsite wastewater system program. (a) A local health department may restrict its administration of alternative onsite wastewater systems by notifying the division that it is exempt from this requirement by: (i) adopting a resolution or regulation; or(ii) presenting an ordinance.(b) An alternative onsite wastewater system program shall: (i) advise the owner of the: (A) type of alternative onsite wastewater system;(B) information concerning risk of failure;(C) level of maintenance required;(D) financial liability for repair, modification or replacement of a failed system; and(E) periodic monitoring requirements;(ii) ensure that a notice of the existence of the alternative onsite wastewater system is recorded in the chain of title for that property;(iii) provide oversight of installed alternative onsite wastewater systems;(iv) inspect any installed alternative onsite wastewater system at frequency specified in this rule, through: (A) the department's staff;(B) contracted service providers;(C) responsible management entity; or(D) a management district body politic created by the county for managing onsite wastewater systems;(v) maintain records of all installed alternative onsite wastewater system, failures, modifications, repairs and all inspections, recording the condition of the system at the time of inspection, such as overflow, surfacing, ponding, and nuisance;(vi) submit an annual report to the division on or before September 1 for the previous Utah fiscal year's activities showing: (A) the type and number of alternative onsite wastewater systems approved, installed, modified, repaired, failed, and inspected;(B) a summary of enforcement actions taken, pending and resolved; and(C) a summary of performance of water quality data collected; and(vii) require any alternative onsite wastewater system to be inspected and serviced as detailed in Section R317-4-13 Table 7 and Section R317-4-11.(6) The division delegates the authority to grant or deny any variance to the design requirements provided for in this rule to the local health departments. The division may amend, suspend, or rescind this delegation of authority to a local health department if it determines that the local health department is not accepting or conducting onsite wastewater system reviews as described in Section R317-4-12. (a) The local health department having jurisdiction shall accept any application for variance request on any lot that is deemed not feasible for permitting an onsite wastewater system. Upon completion of a review, the local health department shall grant or deny a variance to this rule as outlined in Section R317-4-12. The local health department also shall submit an annual report of completed variance determinations to the division.(b) If a local health department fails to evaluate any variance request according to Section R317-4-12, the director shall notify the local health department. The director may thereafter amend, suspend, or rescind the delegation of variance authority to the local health department. The variance authority would then revert to the division, and any variance request shall be reviewed as follows:(i) The director may appoint a variance advisory committee to consider variance requests and make recommendations to the director. Any such advisory committee shall include at least one representative from a local health department. The director may refer any variance request to the variance advisory committee.(ii) Upon review of the recommendation submitted by the variance advisory committee, the director shall provide a written determination of the requested variance. If no committee was appointed by the director, the director shall provide a written determination. Written determinations must be given within 180 days of the receipt of a complete and technically adequate variance request.(iii) The director's final written determination shall be forwarded to the local health department that has jurisdiction. The local health department is not required to approve or deny an operating or construction permit based on the director's determination of a variance request.Utah Admin. Code R317-4-1
Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2016-1, effective 1/1/2016Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2023-14, effective 6/29/2023