The board should consider allowing temporary licenses to homeowners without examination to operate alternative sewage systems when the board finds an inadequate supply of certified operators, unreasonable costs to operate the system, or insufficient numbers of persons with training necessary for certification. Temporary certificates should be valid for only one year and could be renewed annually depending on need. Temporary certificates may be issued with such special conditions or requirements relating to the place of the person holding the certificate, his supervision on a consulting or advisory basis, or other matters as the Board may deem necessary to protect the public health.  A temporary certificate to operate an alternative system should only be granted to a private homeowner who intends to operate only their own domestic alternative system for residential purposes.  To obtain a temporary license, the homeowner should complete a training course by the manufacturer or designer of the system that consists of not less than 4 to 8 contact hours (1/2 to 1-day).  Thereafter, the temporary license can be renewed based on need, cost, and the owner's demonstration of following the requirements to operate the system properly.  The manufacturer could affirm proper operation and maintenance each year for the board to renew the temporary license, if necessary.

Adding this requirement would allow flexibility in the event that an owner cannot find a licensed operator to operate his alternative sewage system or when a licensed operator will charge too much to operate the system (more than $1,000 per year).  I anticipate rural property owners with alternative systems can expect higher costs because of extra traveling time.  The board should consider these higher costs to rural property owners in their regulations.  If the board requires every property owner to contract with an alternative sewage system operator, then the board will likely be back revising these regulations because some owners will be heavily burdened to find and obtain a licensed operator for their alternative sewage system.  There will be situations and places where owners will be denied permits because the expense of hiring an operator will be too much to bear.  Homeowners should be allowed a temporary license to operate their own sewage system since operators may be hard to find or will charge too much.  Here is a link to the rules in North Carolina that allow homeowners a temporary license to operate their own sewage system.  The board, in creating this new program, should take lessons from an already established program like the one found in North Carolina.

http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/tacu/subsurface.html