2006 Code of Virginia § 62.1-44.18 - Sewerage systems, etc., under supervision of Board and Department of Environmental Quality; Board t...

62.1-44.18. Sewerage systems, etc., under supervision of Board andDepartment of Environmental Quality; Board to regulate design specificationand plans.

A. All sewerage systems and sewage treatment works shall be under the generalsupervision of the Board.

B. The Department of Environmental Quality shall, when requested, consultwith and advise the authorities of cities, towns, sanitary districts, and anyowner having or intending to have installed sewage treatment works as to themost appropriate type of treatment, but the Department shall not prepareplans, specifications, or detailed estimates of cost for any improvement ofan existing or proposed sewage treatment works.

C. It shall be the duty of the owner of any such sewerage system or sewagetreatment works from which sewage is being discharged into any state watersto furnish, when requested by the Board, information with regard to thequantities and character of the raw and treated sewage and the operationresults obtained in the removal and disposal of organic matter and otherpertinent information as is required.

D. The regulations of the Board shall govern the collection, conveyance,treatment and disposal of sewage. Such regulations shall be designed toprotect the public health and promote the public welfare and may include,without limitation:

1. A requirement that the owner obtain a permit prior to the construction,installation, modification or operation of a sewerage system or treatment;

2. Criteria for the granting or denial of such permits;

3. Standards for the design, construction, installation, modification andoperation of sewerage systems and treatment works;

4. Standards specifying the minimum distance between sewerage systems ortreatment works and:

(a) Public and private wells supplying water for human consumption,

(b) Lakes and other impounded waters,

(c) Streams and rivers,

(d) Shellfish waters,

(e) Ground waters,

(f) Areas and places of human habitation, and

(g) Property lines;

5. Standards as to the adequacy of an approved water supply;

6. A prohibition against the discharge of untreated sewage onto land or intowaters of the Commonwealth; and

7. Criteria for determining the demonstrated ability of alternative onsitesystems, which are not permitted through the then current sewage handling anddisposal regulations, to treat and dispose of sewage as effectively asapproved methods.

E. In addition to factors related to the Board's responsibilities for thesafe and sanitary treatment and disposal of sewage as they affect the publichealth and welfare, the Board shall, in establishing standards, give dueconsideration to economic costs of such standards in accordance with theapplicable provisions of the Administrative Process Act ( 2.2-4000 et seq.).

(Code 1950, 62-39, 62.1-31; 1968, c. 659; 1970, c. 638; 1991, c. 194;2003, c. 614.)