On July 1, 2009, the Virginia Department of Health began regulating the operation and maintenance of alternative onsite sewage systems. Interim requirements, such as requiring owners of newly installed alternative systems to record notices in the land records and for owners to operate their alternative systems according to manufacturers' instructions, took effect on July 1. Other requirements regarding alternative systems are under development and will be phased in as emergency regulations and final regulations go into effect.
The Virginia Department of Health proposes to amend the Private Well Regulations. The first of these two amendments establishes an express geothermal permit, allowing the construction of wells used solely for closed loop geothermal heating systems. The second amendment establishes minimum well yield and storage requirements for residential drinking water wells. The enabling legislation was unopposed during the 2009 General Assembly and the language of the amendments tracks the language in the Code as closely as possible. VDH has worked closely with the Virginia Water Well Association in the drafting of these amendments and believes that the amendments accomplish the minimum requirements of the 2009 legislation.
The following regulatory outline is a working draft (as of 8-29-08) and is subject to change. The links to the individual sections are working DRAFTS, subject to change and should not be confused with proposed regulations. The Sewage Handling and Disposal Advisory Committee is in the process of reviewing and commenting on the regulations.
1.) Administration
3.) Sewage Handling, Residuals Management
5.) Prescriptive Design and Construction Criteria
7.) Performance-Based Systems
8.) Existing Onsite Sewage Systems, Existing Structures, and voluntary upgrades
9.) Operation Maintenance, Monitoring and Management
10.) Listing Treatment Devices
11.) Nonpublic Drinking Water Supplies other than private wells
12.) Water conservation and reuse
13.) Risk-based assessment
Appendices
Manual of Practice