New Hearings Set on Los Angeles' Bid to Regulate Septic Tanks

A new round of hearings has been scheduled for next month on a proposed city ordinance to register and regulate private septic tanks, especially those that could threaten local water supplies.

The ordinance is aimed at meeting more stringent state requirements, and the city has until the end of June to put additional safeguards in place.

“We need to get this done,” said Lauren Skinner, a spokeswoman with the city Bureau of Sanitation. “We’ve already had a couple of extensions” from the state, she said.

All owners of septic tanks would be affected, but some more than others.

There are 11,643 septic systems in the city, with the largest concentrations in two council districts—the north and northwest Valley area of Councilman Greig Smith and the North Hollywood region represented by Councilman Paul Krekorian. The Bureau of Sanitation’s proposal would require the owners of those septic tanks to register with the city and certify that the systems are maintained and operating properly.

There would be no cost to register and owners just have to assure the city the tanks are maintained, Skinner said.

But 673 of those septic tanks are in areas of high risk to water supplies, where owners would have to get city operating permits every three years at a cost of $350 per permit. Most of those systems are in Smith’s and Krekorian’s districts as well as Councilman Bill Rosendahl’s district near the ocean.

Although there are 411 septic tank systems within the boundaries of the Chatsworth Neighborhood Council, none is in high-risk areas which, according to the city, are within 900 feet of water wells or 600 feet from bodies of water containing high levels of nitrates or bacteria. Most of the high-risk systems in Smith’s council district are in the Granada Hills area.

In Krekorian’s council district, there are 4,062 septic tanks and 169 in high-risk areas. Most of those are in the Burbank Western Channel area west of the Foothill Freeway and in midtown North Hollywood, according to the Bureau of Sanitation.

Neither Smith’s nor Krekorian’s offices returned requests for comment on the ordinance.

The impetus for the ordinance was an Assembly bill regulating septic systems statewide. The bill remains stalled in the Legislature, but the Regional Water Quality Control Board is moving ahead on implementing new safeguards.

The city was to have had an ordinance by last May but received two extensions, with the deadline now set for June.

Part of the delay has been “some pushback” from septic tank owners voiced at public hearings last year, Skinner said. Since then, the Bureau of Sanitation has been tweaking the ordinance, including outlining an appeals process.

“We have to walk a fine line between minimizing community impact and protecting water quality,” she said. “In the end, I think people want to be good environmental stewards.”

Failure to enact an ordinance by June would make it more difficult to approve additional septic systems. Currently, those requests are handled by the city, but without an ordinance they would go to the Regional Water Quality Control Board.

As a result, applicants would likely wait longer and pay more for their permits, Skinner said.

Here is the schedule of the next round of public hearings:

• March 10, 6-8 p.m.—Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant; 6100 Woodley Ave., Van Nuys
• March 15, 6-8 p.m.—Cypress Park Community Center; 929 Cypress Ave., Los Angeles
• March 17, 6-8 p.m.—Council District 11 Field Office Room 200; 1645 Corinth Ave., West Los Angeles
• March 22, 6-8 p.m. —Tarzana Recreational Center; 5655 Vanalden Ave., Tarzana
• March 24, 6-8 p.m.—Council District 2 Field Office; 7747 Foothill Blvd., Tujunga
• March 29, 1-3 p.m.—L.A. Bureau of Sanitation; 2714 Media Center Dr., Los Angeles