An Act To Protect Water Quality by Standardizing the Law Concerning Septic Inspection in the Shoreland Zone
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 30-A MRSA §4216, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 568, §2, is amended to read:
2. Additional requirements; shoreland areas. In addition to the requirements of subsection 1, the following provisions apply to the transfer of property within a coastal shoreland area as described in Title 38, section 435.
A. A person purchasing property on which a subsurface waste water disposal system is located within a coastal shoreland area, as described in Title 38, section 435, shall prior to purchase have the system inspected by a person certified by the department except that if it is impossible due to weather conditions to perform an inspection of the system prior to the purchase, the inspection must be performed within 9 months after transfer of the property. If the inspection finds that the system is malfunctioning, the system must be repaired or replaced within one year after transfer of the property. For purposes of this paragraph only, indications of a malfunctioning system are limited to the indications specified in the definition of "malfunctioning system" in the department's rules regulating subsurface waste water disposal that are in effect on the effective date of this paragraph.
B. A subsurface waste water disposal system that has been installed pursuant to section 4211 and rules adopted under Title 22, section 42 within 3 years prior to the closing date of the transfer of property is not subject to the inspection requirements of paragraph A.
C. If the seller of the shoreland property has a written inspection report for an inspection of the subsurface waste water disposal system that was performed within 3 years prior to the date of the transfer of property by a person certified by the department, then the seller shall provide the inspection results to the purchaser, and the purchaser is not required to have the system inspected pursuant to paragraph A.
D. The inspection described in paragraph A is not required if the purchaser certifies to the local plumbing inspector that the purchaser will replace the subsurface waste water disposal system within one year of the transfer of property.
Sec. 2. Effective date. This Act takes effect January 1, 2020.
summary
This bill extends to inland shoreland areas the requirement that subsurface wastewater disposal systems on property located within a shoreland area be inspected prior to a sale of the property. Currently, that inspection requirement applies only to the sale of property located within a coastal shoreland area.