To amend sections 6112.01 and 6112.03 and to enact section 6112.06 of the Revised Code to require notification to a property owner whose property is served by a household sewage treatment system of the construction of a private sewerage system to which the property will be required to connect, and to authorize such a property owner to elect not to connect to the sewerage system under specified conditions.

Section 1.  That sections 6112.01 and 6112.03 be amended and section 6112.06 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 6112.01.  As used in sections 6112.01 to 6112.05, inclusive, of the Revised Code this chapter:

(A) "Sewage" means any substance that contains any of the waste products or excrementitious or other discharge from the bodies of human beings or animals, which pollutes the waters of the state.

(B) "Industrial waste" means any liquid, gaseous, or solid waste substance resulting from any process of industry, manufacture, trade, or business, or from the development, processing, or recovery of any natural resource, together with such sewage as is present, which pollutes the waters of the state.

(C) "Other wastes" means garbage, refuse, decayed wood, sawdust shavings, bark, and other wood debris, lime (except hydrated or dehydrated lime), sand, ashes, offal, night soil, oil, tar, coal dust, or silt, and other substances which that are not included within the definitions of sewage and or industrial waste set forth in this section, which pollute the waters of the state.

(D) "Sewerage system" means pipe lines pipelines or conduits, pumping stations, and force mains, and all other constructions, devices, appurtenances, and facilities used for collecting or conducting water-borne sewage, industrial waste, or other wastes to a point of disposal or treatment.

(E) "Treatment works" means any plant, disposal field, lagoon, dam, pumping station, incinerator, or other works used for the purpose of treating, stabilizing, or holding sewage, industrial waste, or other wastes.

(F) "Disposal system" means a system for disposing of sewage, industrial waste, or other wastes, and includes sewerage systems and treatment works.

(G) "Waters of the state" mean all streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, irrigation systems, drainage systems, and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface and underground, natural or artificial, which that are situated wholly or partly within, or border upon, this state, or are within its jurisdiction, except those private waters which that do not combine or effect a junction with natural surface or underground waters.

(H) "Person" means a person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation, other than a county, township, municipal corporation, or other political subdivision.

Sec. 6112.03.  Applications for approval of plans for the construction and installation of facilities under this chapter shall be made in the manner and form prescribed by the director of environmental protection and shall be accompanied by plans, specifications, and other data that the director may require relative to the facilities for which approval of plans is requested. Thereafter, the director shall review and act upon the application in accordance with law and the rules adopted pursuant thereto under section 6111.03 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 6112.06.  (A) As used in this section:

(1) "Health district" means a city or general health district as created by or under authority of Chapter 3709. of the Revised Code.

(2) "Household sewage treatment system" has the same meaning as in section 3718.01 of the Revised Code and includes a household sewage disposal system as defined in rule 3701-29-01 of the Administrative Code.

(B)(1) A person that submits plans to install a sewerage system under section 6112.03 of the Revised Code simultaneously shall notify the owner of each parcel of property that is served by a household sewage treatment system and the board of health of the health district in which the affected parcel of property is located of the installation of the sewerage system if the owner or operator of the sewerage system has determined that the parcel of property is reasonably accessible to the sewerage system and may be required to connect to it. The notice shall be in writing and shall be sent by certified mail.

(2) For purposes of this section, a parcel of property is reasonably accessible if all of the following apply:

(a) The office of the sanitary engineer of the applicable jurisdiction and the environmental protection agency have certified that the new sewerage system and its receiving treatment works have the capacity to accept the additional waste from the parcel of property.

(b) The foundation wall of the structure from which sewage or other waste originates is four hundred feet or less from the nearest boundary of the right-of-way within which the new sewerage system is located.

(c) There are no physical barriers between the parcel of property and the new sewerage system that would prevent the parcel of property from connecting to the new sewerage system.

(C) A person who receives a notice under division (B) of this section shall not be required to connect to the sewerage system specified in the notice if both of the following apply:

(1) The person notifies the owner or operator of the sewerage system and the board of health of the health district in which the affected parcel of property is located that the person elects not to connect to the specified sewerage system. The notice shall be in writing and shall be sent by certified mail not later than sixty days after the person has received a notice under division (B) of this section. Not later than sixty days after the board of health receives the notice, the board shall evaluate the household sewage treatment system serving the affected parcel of property to determine if the system operates and is maintained in accordance with Chapter 3718. of the Revised Code and with rules adopted under that chapter by the director of health and by the board, if any. The owner of the affected parcel of property is responsible for the costs of the evaluation.

(2) The applicable board of health determines under division (C)(1) of this section that the household sewage treatment system operates and is maintained in accordance with Chapter 3718. of the Revised Code and with rules adopted under that chapter by the director and by the board, if any. The board shall so notify the person and the owner or operator of the sewerage system. However, if the board determines that a nuisance exists under section 3718.011 of the Revised Code, the board shall so notify the person. The person may repair the system within sixty days to eliminate the nuisance. However, the board may assist the person in developing a plan for the incremental repair or replacement of the system. The incremental repair or replacement plan shall establish a phased approach to repair, alter, or replace the system over a period of time specified in the plan and approved by the board. The incremental repair or replacement plan shall require sufficient alterations to the system to minimize or correct the nuisance in a timely manner in order for the person not to be required to connect to the sewerage system.

(D)(1) Division (C) of this section does not apply to a household sewage treatment system that is a discharging system. The notification required by division (B) of this section shall be issued to an applicable property owner regardless of whether the property owner's system is a discharging system.

(2) For purposes of this section, a discharging system is one of the following:

(a) A system for which an NPDES permit has been issued under Chapter 6111. of the Revised Code and rules adopted under it;

(b) A system for which an NPDES permit would be required, but that has not been issued such a permit.

Section 2.  That existing sections 6112.01 and 6112.03 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.