Private Sector Service Delivery for the Onsite Sewage and Water Supply Program

Comparison of Virginia Department of Health (VDH) Application data for the Onsite Sewage and Water Supply Program.

The following slideshow presentation introduces a statewide disparity in private sector service delivery. A series of maps created from VDH application data depict 3/4 of the Commonwealth with less than 50% private sector service delivery. Counties were mapped in bluish-green or teal where private sector service delivery was greater than 50%. Fewer than 23 counties statewide met that criteria consistently. The significant majority of counties with less than 50% private sector service delivery were mapped to appear blank or empty. The maps depicted in this presentation compare the percentage of private sector applications submitted for fiscal year 2007 with fiscal year 2011.

Private sector service delivery means an Onsite Sewage and Water Supply Program application was submitted with supporting documentation. Supporting documentation must be designed and certified by either a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) or by a licensed Onsite Soil Evaluator (OSE). These are the only two groups of licensed professionals approved in Virginia to design and conduct site evaluations for septic systems or other onsite sewage system permit applications.

Private sector service delivery was mapped for fiscal years 2007 and 2011 in this presentation. The time frame was based on similar Five-Year charts of OSE/PE work found in Report Document 32 (General Assembly, 2012), a report to the Honorable Delegates Robert D. Orrock, Sr. and Lynwood W. Lewis, Jr., Private Sector Service Delivery for the Onsite Sewage and Water Supply Program - December 2011. In addition, much of the data collection and evaluation for Report Document 32 (RD32) was generated from the Virginia Environmental Information System (VENIS). As a result, corresponding data sets to RD32 were assembled from existing VENIS "application totals" to create these maps.

The overall difficulty was expressing OSE/PE participation statewide as an equivalent value for each county. Among other influences, any measure of OSE/PE work needed to be independent of real estate boom or bust cycles, county population sizes, and the growth or decline of Onsite Sewage and Water Supply Program applications for a given county. A reasonably unbiased "metric" of private sector service delivery was discovered by calculating the OSE/PE applications as a percentage (%) of the total applications for a given county. Therefore, counties with 50% or greater OSE/PE participation had at least half the supporting documentation submitted by a private sector OSE/PE.

Many thanks to the Virginia Association of Onsite Soil Evaluators (VAAOSE) for contributing these maps for this presentation: {To View Full Screen, Double-Click Here}

VDH competes with private business

Problem Statement

“…VDH competes with private business with an unfair and conflict of interest
advantage of being paid by the State to compete with private business."
--- (E.L. Hamm)

As of July 1, 2009, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) was expected, per Code of Virginia, to transfer the Agency's program for the design and evaluation of onsite sewage systems to the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR). In addition, the VDH health inspector, also known as an Environmental Health Specialist (EHS), would continue with regulatory responsibilities to review and inspect onsite sewage system applications as an environmental health official, not unlike the duties performed by local building code officials.

Since that time, VDH has resisted adopting changes to its 50 year old business model, despite
stakeholder inputs and recommendations. VDH continues to defend the old business model rather than do what was expected. By most accounts, VDH is now struggling to administer many aspects of its program effectively. Certain basic expectations are going unmet since VDH is still overemphasizing the direct delivery of services instead of their role as code official. Furthermore, VDH has failed to account, document, or track the extent to which any progress toward this transition is taking place.

The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) should stop performing direct service delivery to the
greatest extent possible due to the appearance of a conflict of interest, which seems unavoidable. Furthermore, return VDH to its legislative purpose or authority to administer, inventory, and ensure regulatory compliance of onsite sewage systems through inspection and enforcement.

WWWOOSSP Board Meeting (April 11, 2013), Letter Approved

Scanned copy of Correspondence to Fauquier County - WWWOOSSP Letter - 2013-04-11 (2pp.)

(double-click on images below to see full-size)

APELSCIDLA Board Meeting (March 20, 2013), Letter Approved

Scanned copy of Correspondence to Fauquier County - APELS Letter to Fauquier - 2013-03-21

(double-click on image below to see full-size)

MEETING 3 of 3 - Chamber and Bundled Expanded Polystyrene Technical Advisory Committee

State Board of Health

Meeting:

Chamber and Bundled Expanded Polystyrene Technical Advisory Committee

Meeting Details (click here)
Date / Time	5/8/2013  10:00 am
Location	James Madison Building, Mezzanine, Main Conference Room, 109 Governor Street, Richmond, VA 23219
Board Website	www.vdh.virginia.gov
Agenda document	not available
Handicapped Accessible? Yes       Deaf interpreter available upon request? No
Purpose of the meeting To seek stakeholders input to establish emergency regulations for chamber and bundled expanded polystyrene effluent distribution systems.
Meeting Scope	X General business of the board Discuss particular regulations / chapters Public hearing to discuss a proposed change

Contact Information
Name / Title:	Lance Gregory  / Environmental Health Coordinator
Address:	109 Governor St. Richmond, 23219
Email Address:	lance.gregory@vdh.virginia.gov
Telephone:	(804)864-7491    FAX: (804)864-7475    TDD: ()-

MEETING 2 of 3 - Chamber and Bundled Expanded Polystyrene Technical Advisory Committee

State Board of Health

Meeting:

Chamber and Bundled Expanded Polystyrene Technical Advisory Committee

Meeting Details (click here)
Date / Time	4/23/2013  10:00 am
Location	James Madison Building, Mezzanine, Main Conference Room, 109 Governor Street, Richmond, VA 23219
Board Website	www.vdh.virginia.gov
Agenda document	not available
Handicapped Accessible? Yes       Deaf interpreter available upon request? No
Purpose of the meeting To seek stakeholders input to establish emergency regulations for chamber and bundled expanded polystyrene effluent distribution systems.
Meeting Scope	X General business of the board Discuss particular regulations / chapters Public hearing to discuss a proposed change

Contact Information
Name / Title:	Lance Gregory  / Environmental Health Coordinator
Address:	109 Governor St. Richmond, 23219
Email Address:	lance.gregory@vdh.virginia.gov
Telephone:	(804)864-7491    FAX: (804)864-7475    TDD: ()-

MEETING 1 of 3 - Chamber and Bundled Expanded Polystyrene Technical Advisory Committee

State Board of Health

Meeting:

Chamber and Bundled Expanded Polystyrene Technical Advisory Committee

Meeting Details (click here)
Date / Time	4/16/2013  1:00 pm
Location	James Madison Building, Mezzanine, Main Conference Room, 109 Governor Street, Richmond, VA 23219
Board Website	www.vdh.virginia.gov
Agenda document Meeting Agenda 4/10/2013   (58k) Minutes document Meeting minutes 4/25/2013   (317k)       DRAFT
Handicapped Accessible? Yes       Deaf interpreter available upon request? No
Purpose of the meeting To seek stakeholders input to establish emergency regulations for chamber and bundled expanded polystyrene effluent distribution systems.
Meeting Scope	X General business of the board Discuss particular regulations / chapters Public hearing to discuss a proposed change

Contact Information
Name / Title:	Lance Gregory  / Environmental Health Coordinator
Address:	109 Governor St. Richmond, 23219
Email Address:	lance.gregory@vdh.virginia.gov
Telephone:	(804)864-7491    FAX: (804)864-7475    TDD: ()-

MEETING - Drip Dispersal Technical Advisory Committee

State Board of Health

Meeting:

Drip Dispersal Technical Advisory Committee

 

Meeting Details
Date / Time	4/16/2013  9:00 am
Location	James Madison Building, Mezzanine, Main Conference Room, 109 Governor Street, Richmond, VA 23219
Board Website	www.vdh.virginia.gov
Agenda document	not available
Handicapped Accessible? Yes       Deaf interpreter available upon request? No
Purpose of the meeting To seek stakeholders input to establish emergency regulations for drip dispersal effluent distribution systems.
Meeting Scope	X General business of the board   Discuss particular regulations / chapters   Public hearing to discuss a proposed change

Contact Information
Name / Title:	Lance Gregory  / Environmental Health Coordinator
Address:	109 Governor St. Richmond, 23219
Email Address:	lance.gregory@vdh.virginia.gov
Telephone:	(804)864-7491    FAX: (804)864-7475    TDD: ()-

NOIRA - TOWN HALL COMMENT PERIOD ENDS NEXT WEEK

Comment period is underway and will end on 4/10/2013.

Board for Waterworks and Wastewater Works Operators Regulations [18 VAC 160 ‑ 20]

Action:

Regulatory Reform

Notice of Intended Regulatory Action (NOIRA)

  

Exempt from APA	No, this stage/action is subject to article 2 of the Administrative Process Act and the standard executive branch review process.
DPB Review	Submitted on 1/22/2013 Review Completed: 1/31/2013 DPB's policy memo is "Governor's Confidential Working Papers"
Secretary Review	Agency submitted to registrar after 14 day waiting period
Governor's Review	Agency submitted to registrar after 14 day waiting period
Virginia Registrar	Submitted on 2/15/2013 The Virginia Register of Regulations Publication Date: 3/11/2013     Volume: 29  Issue: 14
Comment Period	In Progress! Ends 4/10/2013 Currently 2 comments

NOTICE - WWWOOSSP WORKGROUP RESCHEDULED FOR APRIL 25th

Meeting:

Board for Waterworks and Wastewater Works Operators and Onsite Sewage System Professionals/ Onsite Sewage System Professionals Workgroup

Meeting Details
Date / Time	4/25/2013  9:30 am
Location	Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation 9960 Mayland Drive 2nd Floor Richmond, VA 23233
Board Website	http://www.dpor.virginia.gov
Agenda document	Meeting Agenda 3/15/2013   (92k)
Handicapped Accessible? Yes       Deaf interpreter available upon request? Yes
Purpose of the meeting To discuss issues related to onsite sewage system professionals and to conduct any other business as directed by the Waterworks and Wastewater Works Operators and Onsite Sewage System Professionals Board. The meeting is open to the public. Persons desiring to participate in the meeting and requiring special accommodations or interpretive services should contact the Department at 804-367-0362 at least ten days prior to this meeting so that suitable arrangements can be made for an appropriate accommodation. The Department fully complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Meeting Scope	X General business of the board Discuss particular regulations / chapters Public hearing to discuss a proposed change

Contact Information
Name / Title:	Trisha L. Henshaw  / Executive Director
Address:	9960 Mayland Drive Suite 400 Richmond, 23233
Email Address:	waterwasteoper@dpor.virginia.gov
Telephone:	(804)367-0362    FAX: (866)350-5354    TDD: ()-

WWWOOSSP BOARD MEETING, APRIL 11th

Meeting:

Board for Waterworks and Wastewater Works Operators and Onsite Sewage System Professionals

 

Meeting Details
Date / Time	4/11/2013  9:00 am
Location	Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation 9960 Mayland Drive 2nd Floor Richmond, VA 23233
Board Website	http://www.dpor.virginia.gov
Agenda document	Meeting Agenda 3/28/2013   (83k)
Handicapped Accessible? Yes       Deaf interpreter available upon request? Yes
Purpose of the meeting To conduct any and all Board business. The meeting is open to the public; however, a portion of the Board’s business may be discussed in Closed Session. Persons desiring to participate in the meeting and requiring special accommodations or interpretive services should contact the Department at 804-367-0362 at least ten days prior to this meeting so that suitable arrangements can be made for an appropriate accommodation. The Department fully complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Meeting Scope	X General business of the board   Discuss particular regulations / chapters   Public hearing to discuss a proposed change

Contact Information
Name / Title:	Trisha L. Henshaw  / Executive Director
Address:	9960 Mayland Drive Suite 400 Richmond, 23233
Email Address:	waterwasteoper@dpor.virginia.gov
Telephone:	(804)367-0362    FAX: (866)350-5354    TDD: ()-