MPCA SSTS Bulletin

Having trouble viewing this message? View it as a webpage.
SSTS Bulletin

December 2014

Requests for 2014 annual report information coming soon

santa3

The yearly request for information for the Minnesota SSTS Annual Report will be sent to counties and cities in December, some 260 in all.

As usual the reports are due back by Feb. 1, 2015, or sooner if you choose to get them done early. If you have any questions, please contact Aaron Jensen in the St. Paul office, or give him a call at 651-757-2544.

The 2013 Minnesota SSTS Annual Report has been available on the MPCA website for a few months. In past editions of the SSTS Bulletin we've shared highlights from the 2013 report and here's one final highlight.

The total number of reported mound and at-grade systems installed in 2013 was 3,957 out of a total of over 8,900 systems. The percentages of mounds and at-grade systems constructed annually over each of the past 13 years are shown in the chart below. The proportion of SSTS constructed that were mounds and at-grades has increased over the years, from 30 percent in 2001 to nearly 45 percent of systems installed during the past three years.

MPCA SSTS Manager Jim Ziegler says there are likely many factors that contribute to this increase, including:

  • the fact that some new systems are replacement systems and conditions in the space available for the new system may require a different type of SSTS
  • we are doing a better job of evaluating soils and matching SSTS systems to those soil profiles and other local conditions
  • there now exist tighter regulations that increase protection of our surface and ground waters from septic system impacts.

 

sstschart

SSTS Talking Tour coming to town once more

The MPCA is again hosting meetings across Minnesota where local SSTS program administrators and staff can ask questions, raise issues and discuss policy matters with the MPCA’s SSTS staff. Last year, 133 jurisdictions were represented at the meetings. We are hoping for a similar turnout in 2015. We're also hoping this year that the weather outside will be less frightful this time around.

Talking Tour schedule

chart2

Third quarter 2014 SSTS enforcement: 8 cases, $42,369 in penalties

During the third quarter of 2014, the MPCA completed 65 enforcement cases in 37 counties throughout Minnesota. Eight of the 65 MPCA cases (12 percent) were SSTS related. They were located in Pelican Rapids, Becker, Mankato, Anoka, Wheaton, Bemidji, Kasson, and Owatonna.

Financial penalties totaling $42,369 for the eight cases ranged from $825 to $10,000.

More information can be found on the MPCA’s website .


Work continues on ticketing authority for SSTS violations

During the 2014 legislative session, the MPCA was granted the authority to issue civil citations (tickets) for SSTS violations. Currently, the MPCA has the authority to issue citations for violations of the underground tank and the solid waste rules.

For the SSTS program, citations are planned to be issued initially for specific violations. It should eliminate some of the legal paperwork associated with issuing Administrative Penalty Orders (APOs) and provide SSTS practitioners with timely handling of violations.

The SSTS enforcement staff is currently developing a procedure to use this authority and is planning on starting to implement it in Spring 2015. Stay tuned for more details in future SSTS Bulletins.