Virginia Law

A. This chapter applies to all alternative discharging sewage treatment systems constructed and operated to serve an individual single family dwelling with flows less than or equal to 1,000 gallons per day on a monthly average. This includes the following systems:

1. All new discharging systems described in this subsection when such systems are regulated by the State Water Control Board pursuant to a General Permit.

2. All existing discharging sewage treatment systems, as described in this subsection, constructed prior to July 30, 1992, and permitted by the State Water Control Board under its individual VPDES permit program shall be governed by this chapter, except for the monitoring requirements noted in this subdivision, effective upon the expiration date of their individual VPDES permit and approval of the owner's registration statement by the SWCB under the General Permit. Upon approval under the General Permit, the owners of such systems need only comply with the monitoring requirements of the General Permit and the monitoring requirements in 12VAC5-640-510, and not 12VAC5-640-490 and 12VAC5-640-500, until (i) a change in ownership or (ii) the discharging system violates the effluent limitations of the General Permit for two consecutive quarters, whichever occurs first. After either event, the owner shall comply with 12VAC5-640-490 and 12VAC5-640-500.

3. All existing discharging sewage treatment systems as described in this subsection that were operating without a valid VPDES permit on July 30, 1992, shall be governed by this chapter after the owner receives registration statement approval from the SWCB under the General Permit.

B. Location criteria contained in this chapter shall not apply to systems legally installed prior to July 30, 1992. When extensive repairs, modifications, or replacement are required to bring a system into compliance with the discharge requirements of the General Permit, a construction permit and temporary operation permit must be obtained by the system owner. The construction permit and temporary operation permit shall be valid for the time specified on its face, at which time the repairs, modifications, or replacement must be completed.

C. Requirements for an operation and maintenance manual contained in this chapter shall only apply to alternative discharging systems with construction applications filed on or after December 16, 2015.

D. The department will not consider issuance of a permit to construct a discharging system, unless all options for conventional and alternative onsite sewage treatment systems have been evaluated and found unsatisfactory in accordance with this section. For the purposes of this section, the consideration of all options means site evaluation(s) conducted by an individual licensed in Virginia to evaluate and design onsite sewage systems such as an onsite soil evaluator or professional engineer indicating that no sewage disposal site exists on that property for the site and soil conditions allowed under the Sewage Handling and Disposal Regulations (12VAC5-610) or its successor including the use of TL-2 and TL-3 effluent to reduce footprint area as allowed under 12VAC5-613 or its successor. All evaluations must be completed in accordance with the methods and requirements of 12VAC5-610 and 12VAC5-613.

E. Pursuant to § 32.1-163.6 of the Code of Virginia, this chapter establishes performance requirements and horizontal setbacks for alternative discharging systems that are necessary to protect public health and the environment.