Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy wants to create a septic system database that would map the 1.3 million septic systems in the state.
Michigan is the only state that does not have a statewide septic code. Regular inspections aren’t required and EGLE estimates as many as 25% of existing systems are failing in some way.
Failing septic systems can leak harmful bacteria like E. coli into nearby creeks and rivers. But regulators don’t know where they are or how many waterways could be affected.
A database would help regulators triage which systems need to be fixed first, said Megan Tinsley, water policy director at the Michigan Environmental Council.
“Having that information in a database is going to be able to let us address more serious risk properties faster,” she said.
That’s the best way to address such a large problem, said Tanya Rule. She oversees the Onsite Wastewater Management Unit at EGLE. “We need to start somewhere,” she said.
The environmental council and EGLE are also pushing for a statewide septic code. The database would support the new regulatory system, Rule and Tinsley said.
“Having a database is really a key component to [having] a statewide sewage program,” said rule. She and Tinsley expect state Senator Sam Singh (D- East Lansing) to introduce legislation later this spring that would create a state septic code.
He has sponsored similar legislation in the past, but none has made it through both chambers to the governor.
To create the database, EGLE would need about $12.5 million in state funding, Rule said.
Local health departments would need additional funding to help digitize any paper records they have, Rule and Tinsley said.
But it’s unclear how much funding – if any – the Legislature would put toward the project, Tinsley said.
“We still have a long way to go to actually secure that funding,” she said. For now, there’s a $1 placeholder in the Senate’s environment subcommittee budget. The House and Senate will negotiate how much to add to that in coming weeks.
Funding for the project would get the state closer to better regulations for septic systems, Tinsley said. “We're really hoping that this can be a stepping stone to making progress in the state."
