Current through Supplement No. 395, January, 2025
1. Septage must be
disposed of at a department-permitted wastewater treatment facility, or it may
be land-applied. All septic system servicers shall submit disposal site
information to the department with their permit applications under subsection 2
of section
33.1-21-02-05.
2. Class I septic system servicers shall
obtain the department's written preapproval for land application sites.
Approval requests may be submitted with a permit application or during the term
of the permit. Approval requests not included in the permit application shall
include the information on the proposed land application site listed in
subsection 3 of section
33.1-21-02-05. If the approval
request contains all the required information, the land application sites may
be given conditional approval within thirty days of submission. Full approval
is contingent on a site assessment conducted by the department and will be
granted automatically unless otherwise notified by the department. The
department may not approve sites that may cause harm to the environment or
threaten the public. Once given full approval by the department, land
application sites shall retain approval for a period of not less than five
years, unless additional future information indicates a change in the
environmental status of the property. Examples for cause of termination of
approval include excessive runoff, odor complaints, illegal disposal,
etc.
Class II septic system servicers shall follow all general
land application requirements as outlined in subsections 4 through 8.
3. A septic system servicer land applying
septage from a rural single-family residence on property owned or leased by the
owner or lessee of the rural single-family residence is exempt from obtaining
the department's written approval for the land application site. General land
application site requirements still apply and must be followed.
4. General land application site requirements
shall be followed by all septic pumper classifications, including rural
single-family exemptions, and are as follows:
a. Application of septage is not allowed on a
designated one hundred-year floodplain as defined by federal emergency
management agency flood maps nor below the ordinary high water mark.
b. Application of septage is not allowed on
areas of a site ponded with water or septage.
c. Septage cannot be applied when soils are
saturated.
d. Septage cannot be
applied by spraying from public roads or across road right of ways.
e. All septage that is land-applied must be
uniformly distributed over the area by use of a distribution device, such as a
splash plate or spreader.
f.
Measures must be taken to ensure that the ponding or septage and runoff does
not occur.
g. Slope restrictions
are as follows:
(1) Surface application,
injection, or immediate incorporation of septage is allowed on slopes six
percent and less.
(2) Injection of
septage is required on slopes greater than six percent up to twelve
percent.
(3) Land application of
septage is not allowed on slopes greater than twelve percent.
h. Separation distances are as
follows:
(1) Private drinking water wells
must have two hundred feet of separation from land application of
septage.
(2) Public drinking water
supply wells must have one thousand feet of separation from land application of
septage.
(3) Irrigation wells must
have fifty feet of separation from land application of septage.
(4) Residences must have one thousand feet of
separation from land application of septage, unless permission is obtained by
the owner and resident to reduce this distance.
(5) Surface water features must have two
hundred feet of separation distance from land application of septage.
(6) Public contact sites, including roads,
must have a separation distance of two hundred feet from surface-applied and
incorporated septage. A separation distance of fifty feet is required for
injection of septage.
i.
Public contact sites shall be posted with no trespassing signs for thirty days
after application.
j. Septage shall
be applied at a rate of less than twenty thousand gallons per acre per day and
less than one hundred pounds of nitrogen per acre per year. The department may
waive these rates upon a site-by-site review basis.
k. Land application sites shall be maintained
free of litter.
I. The discharge
from the servicing units shall be controlled so that pooling or ponding of
septage during land application does not occur.
5. Pathogen reduction measures shall be taken
by all classes in accordance with one of the following alternatives:
a. Alternative 1. Septic system servicers
shall pump domestic septage from a septic tank or holding tank and land apply
it without treatment. Crop, grazing, and site restrictions apply.
(1) Crop restrictions:
(a) Food crops with harvested parts that
touch the septage and soil mixture and are totally aboveground shall not be
harvested for fourteen months after application of domestic septage.
(b) Food crops with harvested parts below the
surface of the land shall not be harvested for thirty-eight months after
application of domestic septage.
(c) Animal feed, fiber, and those food crops
that do not touch the soil surface shall not be harvested for thirty days after
the application of the domestic septage.
(d) Turf grown on land where domestic septage
is applied shall not be harvested for one year after application of the
domestic septage when the harvested turf is placed on either a lawn or land
with a high potential for public exposure, unless otherwise specified by the
permitting authority.
(2) Grazing restrictions. Animals shall not
be allowed to graze on the land for thirty days after application of domestic
septage.
(3) Site restrictions.
Public access to land with a low potential for public exposure shall be
restricted for thirty days after application of domestic septage. Examples of
restricted access include remoteness of site, posting with no trespassing
signs, or simple fencing.
b. Alternative 2. Septic system servicers
shall pump domestic septage from a septic tank or holding tank that has had its
pH raised to twelve or higher by the addition of alkaline material and, without
addition of more alkaline material, the septage must remain at a pH level of
twelve or higher for at least thirty minutes prior to being land-applied. Crop
restrictions apply.
(1) Crop restrictions:
(a) Food crops with harvested parts that
touch the septage and soil mixture and are totally aboveground shall not be
harvested for fourteen months after application of domestic septage.
(b) Food crops with harvested parts below the
surface of the land shall not be harvested for twenty months after application
of domestic septage when the domestic septage remains on the land surface for
four months or longer prior to incorporation into the soil.
(c) Food crops with harvested parts below the
surface of the land shall not be harvested for thirty-eight months after
application of domestic septage when the domestic septage remains on the land
surface for less than four months prior to incorporation into the
soil.
(d) Animal feed, fiber, and
those food crops that do not touch the soil surface shall not be harvested for
thirty days after application of the domestic septage.
(e) Turf grown on land where domestic septage
is applied shall not be harvested for one year after application of the
domestic septage when the harvested turf is placed on either a lawn or land
with a high potential for public exposure, unless otherwise specified by the
permitting authority.
c. Other equivalent alternatives may be
acceptable with prior department approval.
6. Vector attraction reduction measures shall
be taken by all classes in accordance with one of the following alternatives:
a. Alternative 1. Septic system servicers
shall inject domestic septage below the surface of the land, and no significant
amount of the septage shall be present on the land surface within one hour
after the septage is injected.
b.
Alternative 2. Septic system servicers shall incorporate domestic septage
applied to the land surface into the soil surface plow layer within forty-eight
hours after application.
c.
Alternative 3. Septic system servicers shall raise the pH of domestic septage
to twelve or higher by addition of alkaline material and, without addition of
more alkaline material, the septage must remain at a pH level of twelve or
higher for thirty minutes prior to being land-applied.
d. Other equivalent alternatives may be
acceptable with prior department approval.
7. Snow-covered ground application is
acceptable if there are less than eight inches of snow and less than a six
percent slope onsite and according to general land application requirements of
subsection 4 of section 33.1-21-02-08.
8. Storage of septage greater than
twenty-five thousand gallons requires department approval.All storage sites
shall be designed and maintained to prevent a public nuisance and shall be in
compliance with North Dakota Century Code chapter 61-28.
General Authority: NDCC 61-28-04,
61-28-04.1
Law Implemented: NDCC
61-28-04.1
