Board of Supervisors Consideration of Revised OWTS Manual early 2023
Published: July 01, 2022
The Onsite Waste Treatment Systems (OWTS) Manual provides the regulations, procedural and technical details governing individual onsite wastewater treatment systems (also referred to as septic systems). State law mandates the State Water Resources Control Board adopt standards for regulation of onsite waste treatment systems (State Water Board OWTS Policy). The OWTS Manual is being revised to comply with the State Water Board OWTS Policy Tier 2 Local Area Management Program (LAMP) requirements.
The Board of Supervisors will be considering the revised OWTS Manual at an upcoming meeting early in 2023. With direction from the Board of Supervisors, the revised manual will be submitted to the local Regional Water Board for approval.
Permit Sonoma is now starting the public review of the OWTS Manual version 8.4. Below is a strike-through/underline version of the proposed changes and a reference document justifying/explaining the edits.
In August and September, Permit Sonoma will be hosting a series of Q&A meetings via Zoom. Dates for these meetings will be announced shortly.
A sub-committee of the Land Use Advisory Panel (LUAP) has reviewed the draft version 8.4. The LUAP sub-committee has submitted their comments, and Permit Sonoma staff is working on those responses. The LUAP sub-committee comments without County responses are also below.
Please note that we have removed the table of contents from this draft and the page numbers have not been updated. These will be corrected in the final version.
When submitting comments, please also include your name and the section number applicable to your comment/suggestion. You are welcome to submit written comments, at the below email address, through October 14, 2022, and/or attend one of the Zoom meetings in August or September.
PermitSonoma-OWTS@sonoma-county.org
The current OWTS Manual may be viewed here: