NASHVILLE - An amended version of a septic tank bill affecting areas where a sewer moratorium is in effect easily passed its first legislative hurdle and is headed to the Tennessee Senate floor.
The Senate Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee approved the bill, sponsored by Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, on a 6-1 vote Wednesday.
Gardenhire said it could be on the chamber floor as early as next week.
The legislation, spurred by problems in Ooltewah, now says state or local officials can't deny a permit for a septic tank "solely because there is a public sewer system is accessible" due to a moratorium, with several other conditions applicable too.
It's intended to deal with a problem in rapidly growing eastern Hamilton County where the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation ordered the county's Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority to impose a moratorium on new sewer hookups.
That's due to repeated raw sewage overflow violations.
Property owners, developers and home builders sought the legislation, citing the November moratorium's impact on their plans for new homes and subdivisions. Current law says septic tanks can't be installed when sewer service is accessible. Homeowners must connect to sewer service within 90 days when it's available.
But various interests say that while sewer lines are "accessible," they aren't available because of the WWTA's problems preventing anyone from connecting at this juncture. It's unclear when that will be resolved.
The bill had stalled for several weeks amid concerns from TDEC officials, the Sierra Club's Tennessee chapter and Gardenhire and House sponsor Rep. Patsy Hazlewood, R-Signal Mountain.
"TDEC worked on it, Realtors worked on it, home builders worked on it. Everybody, I think," Gardenhire said. "We had a room full of people and hashed it all out."
Asked about any environmental groups' involvement, Gardenhire said, "I think I got one email and that was about it."
The amended Senate Bill 178 states septic tank permits won't be denied during a moratorium if the applicant submits documentation with the permit application stating the applicant cannot connect or has been delayed from connecting.
It also would impact a person delayed from connecting to a public sewer system if the person has been placed on a waiting list due to the moratorium.
Seeking to address concerns raised over providing notice to home purchasers that the house they are buying has a septic tank but at some point they would have to pay to hook up to the sewer system, the bill says the "future obligation to connect to the public sewer system must be disclosed by the seller to the purchaser."
The mandatory disclosure of future obligations to tie into the sewer would apply to any transfer by sale, exchange, installment land sales contract or lease with option to buy residential property that consists of at least one and no more than four dwelling units.
That includes site-built and nonsite-built homes for which permits were issued and septic tanks installed whether the transactions were handled by a licensed real estate broker or affiliate broker. Failure to disclose would carry penalties.
Scott Banbury, the Sierra Club's Tennessee conservation program coordinator, said in an email he still has questions about some aspects of the bill.
"I'm a little troubled by the 'no less than one nor more than four' language. Does this mean you could sell five units without a disclosure?" he asked.
Another concern, Banbury said, is "the absence of any requirements that folks connect when the sewer system is available. Otherwise, it appears to conform to state and local environmental regulations."
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow him on Twitter @AndySher1.