H.B. 14

1

CERTIFICATION AND TRAINING FOR
2 UNDERGROUND WASTEWATER DISPOSAL
3 SYSTEM INSTALLERS
4 2001 GENERAL SESSION
5 STATE OF UTAH
6 Sponsor: Thomas V. Hatch
7 This act modifies the Water Quality Act to require certification for individuals who design,
8 install, inspect, maintain, or conduct percolation tests or soils tests for underground
9 wastewater disposal systems. This act directs the Water Quality Board to make rules to
10 implement the certification program. A fee is imposed on new underground wastewater
11 disposal systems, and the Underground Wastewater Disposal System Restricted Account is
12 created. This act takes effect on July 1, 2001.
13 This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
14 AMENDS:
15 19-5-102, as last amended by Chapter 114, Laws of Utah 1995
16 19-5-104, as last amended by Chapter 282, Laws of Utah 2000
17 ENACTS:
18 19-5-121, Utah Code Annotated 1953
19 19-5-122, Utah Code Annotated 1953
20 19-5-123, Utah Code Annotated 1953
21 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
22 Section 1. Section 19-5-102 is amended to read:
23 19-5-102. Definitions.
24 As used in this chapter:
25 (1) "Board" means the Water Quality Board created in Section 19-1-106 .
26 (2) "Contaminant" means any physical, chemical, biological, or radiological substance or
27 matter in water.

28 (3) "Discharge" means the addition of any pollutant to any waters of the state.
29 (4) "Discharge permit" means a permit issued to a person who:
30 (a) discharges or whose activities would probably result in a discharge of pollutants into
31 the waters of the state; or
32 (b) generates or manages sewage sludge.
33 (5) "Disposal system" means a system for disposing of wastes, and includes sewerage
34 systems and treatment works.
35 (6) "Effluent limitations" means any restrictions, requirements, or prohibitions, including
36 schedules of compliance established under this chapter which apply to discharges.
37 (7) "Executive secretary" means the executive secretary of the board.
38 [(9)] (8) "Point source":
39 (a) means any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance, including but not limited
40 to any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock,
41 concentrated animal feeding operation, or vessel or other floating craft, from which pollutants are
42 or may be discharged; and
43 (b) does not include return flows from irrigated agriculture.
44 [(10)] (9) "Pollution" means any man-made or man-induced alteration of the chemical,
45 physical, biological, or radiological integrity of any waters of the state, unless the alteration is
46 necessary for the public health and safety.
47 [(11)] (10) "Publicly owned treatment works" means any facility for the treatment of
48 pollutants owned by the state, its political subdivisions, or other public entity.
49 [(12)] (11) "Schedule of compliance" means a schedule of remedial measures, including
50 an enforceable sequence of actions or operations leading to compliance with this chapter.
51 [(13)] (12) "Sewage sludge" means any solid, semisolid, or liquid residue removed during
52 the treatment of municipal wastewater or domestic sewage.
53 [(14)] (13) "Sewerage system" means pipelines or conduits, pumping stations, and all other
54 constructions, devices, appurtenances, and facilities used for collecting or conducting wastes to
55 a point of ultimate disposal.
56 [(15)] (14) "Treatment works" means any plant, disposal field, lagoon, dam, pumping
57 station, incinerator, or other works used for the purpose of treating, stabilizing, or holding wastes.
58 [(16)] (15) "Underground injection" means the subsurface emplacement of fluids by well

59 injection.
60 [(8)] (16) "[Individual] Underground wastewater disposal system" means a system for
61 disposing of domestic wastewater discharges as defined by the board and the executive director.
62 (17) "Waste" or "pollutant" means dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage,
63 garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials,
64 heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, and industrial, municipal, and
65 agricultural waste discharged into water.
66 (18) "Waters of the state":
67 (a) means all streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs,
68 irrigation systems, drainage systems, and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface and
69 underground, natural or artificial, public or private, which are contained within, flow through, or
70 border upon this state or any portion of the state; and
71 (b) does not include bodies of water confined to and retained within the limits of private
72 property, and which do not develop into or constitute a nuisance, a public health hazard, or a
73 menace to fish or wildlife.
74 Section 2. Section 19-5-104 is amended to read:
75 19-5-104. Powers and duties of board.
76 (1) The board has the following powers and duties, but the board shall give priority to
77 pollution that results in hazards to the public health:
78 (a) develop programs for the prevention, control, and abatement of new or existing
79 pollution of the waters of the state;
80 (b) advise, consult, and cooperate with other agencies of the state, the federal government,
81 other states, and interstate agencies, and with affected groups, political subdivisions, and industries
82 to further the purposes of this chapter;
83 (c) encourage, participate in, or conduct studies, investigations, research, and
84 demonstrations relating to water pollution and causes of water pollution as the board finds
85 necessary to discharge its duties;
86 (d) collect and disseminate information relating to water pollution and the prevention,
87 control, and abatement of water pollution;
88 (e) adopt, modify, or repeal standards of quality of the waters of the state and classify those
89 waters according to their reasonable uses in the interest of the public under conditions the board

90 may prescribe for the prevention, control, and abatement of pollution;
91 (f) make rules in accordance with Title 63, Chapter 46a, Utah Administrative Rulemaking
92 Act, taking into account Subsection (2), to:
93 (i) implement the awarding of construction loans to political subdivisions and municipal
94 authorities under Section 11-8-2 , including:
95 (A) requirements pertaining to applications for loans;
96 (B) requirements for determination of eligible projects;
97 (C) requirements for determination of the costs upon which loans are based, which costs
98 may include engineering, financial, legal, and administrative expenses necessary for the
99 construction, reconstruction, and improvement of sewage treatment plants, including major
100 interceptors, collection systems, and other facilities appurtenant to the plant;
101 (D) a priority schedule for awarding loans, in which the board may consider in addition
102 to water pollution control needs any financial needs relevant, including per capita cost, in making
103 a determination of priority; and
104 (E) requirements for determination of the amount of the loan;
105 (ii) implement the awarding of loans for nonpoint source projects pursuant to Section
106 73-10c-4.5 ;
107 (iii) set effluent limitations and standards subject to Section 19-5-116 ;
108 (iv) implement or effectuate the powers and duties of the board; and
109 (v) protect the public health for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of
110 [individual] underground wastewater disposal systems, liquid scavenger operations, and vault and
111 earthen pit privies;
112 (g) issue, modify, or revoke orders:
113 (i) prohibiting or abating discharges;
114 (ii) requiring the construction of new treatment works or any parts of them, or requiring
115 the modification, extension, or alteration of existing treatment works as specified by board rule or
116 any parts of them, or the adoption of other remedial measures to prevent, control, or abate
117 pollution;
118 (iii) setting standards of water quality, classifying waters or evidencing any other
119 determination by the board under this chapter; and
120 (iv) requiring compliance with this chapter and with rules made under this chapter;

121 (h) review plans, specifications, or other data relative to disposal systems or any part of
122 disposal systems, and issue construction permits for the installation or modification of treatment
123 works or any parts of them;
124 (i) after public notice and opportunity for a public hearing, issue, continue in effect,
125 revoke, modify, or deny discharge permits under reasonable conditions the board may prescribe
126 to control the management of sewage sludge or to prevent or control the discharge of pollutants,
127 including effluent limitations for the discharge of wastes into the waters of the state;
128 (j) give reasonable consideration in the exercise of its powers and duties to the economic
129 impact of water pollution control on industry and agriculture;
130 (k) exercise all incidental powers necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter,
131 including delegation to the department of its duties as appropriate to improve administrative
132 efficiency;
133 (l) meet the requirements of federal law related to water pollution;
134 (m) establish and conduct a continuing planning process for control of water pollution
135 including the specification and implementation of maximum daily loads of pollutants;
136 (n) make rules governing inspection, monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting
137 requirements for underground injections and require permits for them, to protect drinking water
138 sources, except for wells, pits, and ponds covered by Section 40-6-5 regarding gas and oil,
139 recognizing that underground injection endangers drinking water sources if:
140 (i) injection may result in the presence of any contaminant in underground water which
141 supplies or can reasonably be expected to supply any public water system, as defined in Section
142 19-4-102 ; and
143 (ii) the presence of the contaminant may result in the public water system not complying
144 with any national primary drinking water standards or may otherwise adversely affect the health
145 of persons;
146 (o) make rules governing sewage sludge management, including permitting, inspecting,
147 monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements;
148 (p) adopt and enforce rules and establish fees to cover the costs of testing for certification
149 of operators of treatment works and sewerage systems operated by political subdivisions; and
150 (q) notwithstanding the provisions of Section 19-4-112 , make rules governing design and
151 construction of irrigation systems which convey sewage treatment facility effluent of human origin

152 in pipelines under pressure, unless contained in surface pipes wholly on private property and for
153 agricultural purposes, and which are constructed after May 4, 1998.
154 (2) In determining eligible project costs and in establishing priorities pursuant to
155 Subsection (1)(f)(i), the board shall take into consideration the availability of federal grants.
156 (3) In establishing certification rules under Subsection (1)(p), the board shall:
157 (a) base the requirements for certification on the size, treatment process type, and
158 complexity of the treatment works and sewerage systems operated by political subdivisions;
159 (b) allow operators until three years after the date of adoption of the rules to obtain initial
160 certification;
161 (c) allow new operators one year from the date they are hired by a treatment plant or
162 sewerage system or three years after the date of adoption of the rules, whichever occurs later, to
163 obtain certification;
164 (d) issue certification upon application and without testing, at a grade level comparable
165 to the grade of current certification to operators who are currently certified under the voluntary
166 certification plan for wastewater works operators as recognized by the board; and
167 (e) issue a certification upon application and without testing that is valid only at the
168 treatment works or sewerage system where that operator is currently employed if the operator:
169 (i) is in charge of and responsible for the treatment works or sewerage system on March
170 16, 1991;
171 (ii) has been employed at least ten years in the operation of that treatment works or
172 sewerage system prior to March 16, 1991; and
173 (iii) demonstrates to the board his capability to operate the treatment works or sewerage
174 system at which he is currently employed by providing employment history and references as
175 required by the board.
176 Section 3. Section 19-5-121 is enacted to read:
177 19-5-121. Underground wastewater disposal systems -- Certification required to
178 design, install, inspect, maintain, or conduct percolation or soil tests -- Rules -- Fees.
179 (1) Beginning January 1, 2002, a person may not design, install, inspect, maintain, or
180 conduct percolation or soil tests for an underground wastewater disposal system, without first
181 obtaining certification from the board.
182 (2) (a) The board shall adopt and enforce rules for the certification and recertification of

183 individuals who design, install, inspect, maintain, or conduct percolation or soil tests for
184 underground wastewater disposal systems.
185 (b) (i) The rules shall specify requirements for education and training and the type and
186 duration of experience necessary to obtain certification.
187 (ii) The rules shall recognize the following in meeting the requirements for certification:
188 (A) the experience of a contractor licensed under Title 58, Chapter 55, Utah Construction
189 Trades Licensing Act, who has five or more years of experience installing underground wastewater
190 disposal systems;
191 (B) the experience of an environmental health scientist licensed under Title 58, Chapter
192 20a, Environmental Health Scientist Act; or
193 (C) the educational background of a professional engineer licensed under Title 58, Chapter
194 22, Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors Licensing Act.
195 (iii) If eligibility for certification is based on experience, the applicant for certification
196 must show proof of experience.
197 (3) The department may establish fees in accordance with Section 63-38-3.2 for the testing
198 and certification of individuals who design, install, inspect, maintain, or conduct percolation or soil
199 tests for underground wastewater disposal systems.
200 Section 4. Section 19-5-122 is enacted to read:
201 19-5-122. Underground wastewater disposal systems -- Fee imposed on new systems.
202 (1) Beginning July 1, 2001, a one-time fee is imposed on each new underground
203 wastewater disposal system installed.
204 (2) (a) From July 1, 2001 through June 30, 2002, the fee shall be $25.
205 (b) Beginning July 1, 2002, the fee shall be established by the department in accordance
206 with Section 63-38-3.2 .
207 (3) (a) The fee shall be paid when plans and specifications for the construction of a new
208 underground wastewater disposal system are approved by the local health department or the
209 Department of Environmental Quality.
210 (b) A local health department shall remit the fee revenue to the Division of Finance
211 quarterly.
212 (4) The fee revenue shall be:
213 (a) deposited into the Underground Wastewater Disposal Restricted Account created in

214 Section 19-5-123 ; and
215 (b) used to pay for costs of underground wastewater disposal system training programs.
216 Section 5. Section 19-5-123 is enacted to read:
217 19-5-123. Underground Wastewater Disposal System Restricted Account created --
218 Contents -- Use of account monies.
219 (1) The Underground Wastewater Disposal System Restricted Account is created within
220 the General Fund.
221 (2) The contents of the account shall consist of:
222 (a) revenue from fees collected under Sections 19-5-121 and 19-5-122 ; and
223 (b) interest and earnings on account monies.
224 (3) Monies in the account shall be appropriated by the Legislature to the department for
225 costs of training, testing, and certifying individuals who design, install, inspect, maintain, or
226 conduct percolation or soils tests for underground wastewater disposal systems.
227 Section 6. Effective date.
228 This act takes effect on July 1, 2001.




Legislative Review Note
as of 11-17-00 10:01 AM

A limited legal review of this legislation raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel

Committee Note

The Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Interim Committee recommended this bill.