Coast Law Group LLP (Encinitas) today filed a lawsuit in Sacramento on behalf of environmental advocacy groups Heal the Ocean (Santa Barbara) and Heal the Bay (Santa Monica) challenging the failure of the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to adopt regulations or standards for the permitting and operating on-site wastewater treatment systems (“OWTS”), commonly known as “septic systems”, as required by Assembly Bill 885 and the California Water Code.
AB 885 was introduced by former Assembly Member Hannah-Beth Jackson in February 1999 and was signed into law in September 2000. The law added Chapter 4.5 (Section 13290 to 13291.7) to Division 7 of the California Water Code, and required SWRCB to adopt regulations or standards for the permitting or operation of septic systems by January 1, 2004.
The environmental groups have for years participated in public hearings regarding proposed septic system regulations. Despite significant efforts by the State to draft and revise such regulations, including production of a final environmental impact report and conducting numerous public hearings, the rulemaking process has not been completed.
Since its formation in 1998, Heal the Ocean (HTO) has focused on health risks and environmental harms caused by septic systems improperly sited in areas of high groundwater, poor soils or next to creeks and beaches. The group successfully spearheaded the South Coast Beach Communities Septic to Sewer Project (including famous surf beach, Rincon Point).
“DNA tests conducted by our organization confirmed the presence of human waste in the Rincon Lagoon, where houses on septic systems are prevalent,” HTO executive director Hillary Hauser said. “There are many places in California where septic systems do not belong, where similar leaching occurs daily. The State of California desperately needs to get these regulations in place so that local environmental health departments can take action.”
Heal the Bay president Dr. Mark Gold has worked with the SWRCB officials for years to move the AB 885 regulatory process forward. “Since the State Water Board process has failed to produce final regulations seven years after the statutory deadline,” Dr. Gold says, “we have no other choice but to sue the Board in order to protect public health and aquatic life.”
Former Assembly Member Hannah-Beth Jackson, now a consultant to HTO on AB 885 compliance, states, “The delay occurring on this issue is truly embarrassing. We were able to land a man on the moon in less time than it’s taken for the State of California to get these regulations in place.”
In filing the lawsuit for HTO and HTB, Marco Gonzalez of Coast Law Group points out that the State of California itself has concluded that groundwater and surface water pollution is occurring from Septic systems, “and that AB 885 was passed to address these issues. The action (will be) filed for the benefit of the public and to enforce the important public rights set forth in AB 885.”
The SWRCB has estimated there are 1.2 million septic systems currently operating in California, and that the wastewater flow from these OWTS is approximately 4,210 million gallons per day.
For more information:
Marco Gonzalez, Coast Law Group LLP (760) 942-8505 www.coastlawgroup.com
Hillary Hauser, Heal the Ocean (805) 965-7570; www.healtheocean.org
Mark Gold, Heal the Bay (310) 451-1500;www.healthebay.org
