Municipal governments with suburban and rural residents are involved in the on-lot sewage system permitting program administered through local agencies. The permit program involves testing proposed sites, reviewing designs and conducting final inspections of installed on-lot systems. The extent of the requirements under the permit program stops there. Sewage management programs may be administered by local agencies to extend oversight of these permitted systems by requiring maintenance and inspections. This assures that the special care and attention taken to proper design and installation are not diminished by the lack of maintenance.
Most municipalities have areas that can never be served by public sewage facilities.
These areas may contain suitable soils but have scattered malfunctioning on-lot systems that can cause public health hazards. Repairing individual systems as they malfunction typically does not solve a problem permanently because the improper maintenance that caused the initial problem has not been dealt with. Instead, municipalities faced with this situation should assess their options for the long-term needs, repair and replacement of these malfunctions through a sewage facilities plan. In going through the planning process, municipalities assess their administrative, technical, financial and management options. However, even proper planning may not assure long-term, functional systems if a sewage management program is not established.