New Septic System Regulations Advance the Wildlands Project

New Septic System Regulations Advance the Wildlands Project

The author of this newsletter lives in Ohio. On January 1, 2015 a new set of septic system regulations were enacted. These regulations apply to the estimated 660,000 homes in Ohio which have a septic system. The regulations are being pushed down stream by the EPA, to the Ohio EPA, written by the Ohio Health Board who then mandated the regulations be implemented by the each of the county’s health boards. Notice these are all unelected boards. This leaves your local elected officials impotent on the side-lines unavailable to provide interventions for their citizens.

The county health departments in Ohio now have the right, without any proof of a septic issue, to come onto your property unannounced. If you refuse, the sheriff will be called. The rules authorize county health boards to order homeowners to fix or replace failing septic systems and to turn the order over to the county prosecutor for enforcement if it’s ignored. Homeowners charged with creating a public nuisance could face civil fines of up to $100 a day and daily criminal fines of up to $1,000.

Every Ohio homeowner of a septic system will likely have a variety of fees associated with these regulations.

All of this is being done supposedly for the environment, even though the data shows the majority of septic systems in Ohio are not failing. Whether intentional or not, these regulations will drive a percentage of the rural citizens into town or onto community sewer systems creating more homeowners dependent on others for their basic needs.

Regardless of where you live, this information is important to you for two reasons.

*If the EPA is driving Ohio’s regulations, it is likely a national effort. Please check to see, if in your state similar policies are being enacted that find everyone “guilty until proven innocent’, whether you must allow them onto your property, and whether, if you refuse to comply, you will face fines and prosecution. Be aware, if these things are true, your health officials will try to keep it from you until they knock on your door.

* If an unelected board sets the precedent that allows them to force themselves onto our property for the good of our health, the environment, etc., where does it end? Almost anything can fall under the jurisdiction of the health department. This week I got a letter from a health department that said my house numbers were not tall enough! My best guess is that emergency vehicles cannot find the address? Will the health departments next force themselves onto our properties to make sure we have enough insulation or that our appliances are efficient enough? After all, if Climate Change is a risk to our planet and therefore our health , is it not logical for the health department to force themselves INTO our houses in order to save us from ourselves? Surely they would not do that.

To answer that, please watch the following short video, but when done, realize that a resolution to this untenable situation occurred ONLY BECAUSE IT WAS AN ELECTED BODY THAT CREATED THE SNAFU. Therefore the citizens could push back with the implied threat of “unelecting” them.

 

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