Kentucky Administrative Regulations › Title 902 - CABINET FOR HEALTH AND FAMILY SERVICES - DEPARTMENT FOR PUBLIC HEALTH › Chapter 10 - Sanitation › Section 902 KAR 10:085 - Kentucky on-site sewage disposal systems

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 1, July 1, 2024
RELATES TO:
				KRS
				194A.050(2),
				211.015,
				211.350-211.380,
				211.990(2),
				Chapter 322
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
				KRS
				211.180(1)(d) requires the
				cabinet to regulate the construction, installation, or alteration of any
				on-site sewage disposal system, except for a system with a surface discharge,
				regulated by KRS
				224.10-100(19). This
				administrative regulation establishes uniform standards for on-site sewage
				disposal systems to assure that the construction, installation, or alteration
				of an on-site sewage disposal system is performed in such a manner as to
				protect public health and the environment.
Section
			 1. Definitions.
(1) "Alter"
			 means to make a physical change in the original design, sizing, layout,
			 components, location, or method of operation, individually or in combination,
			 of an existing on-site sewage disposal system, as a result of necessary repair
			 or change in wasteload volume or characteristics.
(2) "Approved" means acceptable to the
			 cabinet for the proposed use.
(3)
			 "Area subject to flooding damage" means an area:
(a) Subject to surface ponding of rainfall
			 runoff one (1) or more times each year for more than seven (7) consecutive
			 days;
(b) In a floodplain or
			 drainageway with visible evidence of stream scouring, pot-holing, or gully or
			 ravine formation; or
(c) Within a
			 karst depression subject to backwater flooding from a subsurface
			 conduit.
(4) "Artificial
			 drainage system" means:
(a) A manmade system
			 of surface ditching or berming to divert surface water run-off;
(b) A curtain or vertical drain for
			 interception and diversion of lateral groundwater flow; or
(c) Underdrain for lowering the level of a
			 high water table.
(5)
			 "Blackwater" means wastewater containing liquid or solid waste generated
			 through use of a urinal, water closet, garbage disposal, or a similar sanitary
			 fixture.
(6) "BOD-5" means five (5)
			 day biochemical oxygen demand.
(7)
			 "Cabinet" is defined by
			 KRS
			 211.015(1)(a).
(8) "Certified inspector" means an individual
			 certified under the provisions of
			 KRS
			 211.360.
(9) "Certified installer" means an individual
			 certified under the provisions of
			 KRS
			 211.357.
(10) "Clay" means a mineral soil separate
			 consisting of particles less than 0.002 mm in equivalent diameter.
(11) "Cluster system" means a system designed
			 to:
(a) Accept effluent from more than one (1)
			 structure's or facility's sewage pretreatment unit; and
(b) Transport the collected effluent through
			 a sewer system to one (1) or more common subsurface soil treatment and
			 dispersal system of conventional, modified, or alternative design.
(12) "Effluent" means the liquid
			 discharge of a septic tank or other sewage pretreatment unit.
(13) "FOG" means fats, oils, and
			 grease.
(14) "Gravelless pipe"
			 means large diameter perforated piping encased in a synthetic filter material
			 and designed for use in a lateral field trench without trench rock or gravel
			 fill material.
(15) "Grease" is
			 defined by KRS
			 211.970(3).
(16) "Grease trap" is defined by
			 KRS
			 211.970(4).
(17) "Greywater" or "graywater":
(a) Means wastewater generated by hygiene
			 activities including wastewater from laundry, lavatory sinks, showers, bath
			 tubs, and laundry tubs, but excluding kitchen sinks and food preparation sinks;
			 and
(b) Does not mean or include
			 blackwater.
(18) "Karst"
			 means a type of topography formed over limestone, dolomite, or other soluble
			 rock, by dissolving or solution, and characterized by sinkholes, caves, and
			 underground drainage. Groundwater flow in karst occurs principally in conduits
			 and is turbulent.
(19) "Landscape
			 position" means the location of an area on a site being evaluated for the
			 proposed installation of an on-site sewage disposal system relative to the
			 surrounding topographic relief of the land surface. Landscape positions are
			 defined as:
(a) Hill or ridge top: the
			 relatively level area occupying the summit of a hill or ridge;
(b) Shoulder slope: the transitional area
			 immediately adjacent to the hill or ridge top where the slope begins to
			 increase downward;
(c) Side slope:
			 the slightly to steeply sloping portion of a hillside lying between the
			 shoulder and foot slopes;
(d) Foot
			 slope: the slightly to steeply sloping portion of a hillside near the base or
			 lowest point of elevation;
(e) Toe
			 slope: the lowest point of elevation at the base of a hillside; generally
			 concave in cross-sectional profile;
(f) Terrace, natural: a naturally occurring
			 elevated shelf of level to slightly sloping character adjacent to current or
			 former streams and drainageways;
(g) Terrace, artificial: a manmade elevated
			 shelf or bench created by excavating into a slope or placing fill along the
			 contour;
(h) Flood plain: level to
			 slightly sloping areas adjacent to streams or other bodies of water subject to
			 flooding for extended periods, or other flood-prone areas such as sinkholes or
			 other surface depressions;
(i)
			 Depressions: sinkholes or other areas with a concave or cupped cross-sectional
			 profile and lacking surface drainage outlets;
(j) Drainageway: an area in the landscape
			 with slight to steeply sloping sides that causes accumulation of surface and
			 groundwater and channels it to surface or subsurface drainage
			 outlets;
(k) Convex slope: a
			 sloping area with a humped or upwardly bowed cross-sectional profile that
			 promotes dispersal of surface and groundwater; and
(l) Concave slope: a sloping area with a
			 cupped or downwardly bowed cross-sectional profile that causes accumulation of
			 surface and groundwater.
(20) "Lateral field" means that portion of an
			 on-site sewage treatment and dispersal system that consists of subsurface
			 trenches or beds containing materials, components, or devices for maintaining
			 exposed soil surfaces and a means to distribute effluent to those
			 surfaces.
(21) "Leaching chamber"
			 means a specially designed component for use in lateral fields, which forms an
			 open bottomed chamber or conduit over the soil absorption surface.
(22) "Low pressure pipe system" or "LPP
			 system" means an on-site sewage disposal system consisting of a sewage
			 pretreatment unit, a dosing tank with pump or siphon, a pressurized supply
			 line, manifold, lateral field, and necessary control devices and
			 appurtenances.
(23) "Mottling"
			 means spots or blotches of different colors or hues interspersed with the
			 dominant color of a soil, created by the following three (3) basic processes:
(a) Groundwater saturation of the soil for
			 varying periods of time, causing reducing conditions to occur that chemically
			 bleach or fade soil colorants evidenced by soft concretions or soil color of
			 chroma two (2) or less by Munsell notation;
(b) Parent material weathering evidenced by
			 relic fragments of more durable parent material encapsulated within a mottle of
			 weathering mineral material; or
(c)
			 Mechanical disturbance of soils by cutting, filling, soil compaction,
			 landslide, or other means evidenced in commingling of soil types and
			 destruction of original internal drainage pathways.
(24) "On-site sewage disposal system" or
			 "on-site sewage system" or "on-site system" means a system installed on a
			 parcel of land, under the control or ownership of a person, that accepts sewage
			 for treatment and ultimate disposal under the surface of the ground, including:
(a) A conventional system consisting of a
			 sewage pretreatment unit, distribution devices, and lateral piping within
			 rock-filled trenches or beds;
(b) A
			 modified system consisting of a conventional system enhanced by shallow trench
			 or bed placement, artificial drainage systems, dosing, alternating lateral
			 fields, fill soil over the lateral field, or other necessary modifications to
			 the site, system, or wasteload to overcome site limitations;
(c) An alternative system consisting of a
			 sewage pretreatment unit, necessary site modifications, wasteload
			 modifications, and a subsurface soil treatment and dispersal system using
			 methods and technologies other than a conventional or modified system to
			 overcome site limitations;
(d) A
			 cluster system; and
(e) A holding
			 tank that provides limited pretreatment and storage for off-site disposal where
			 site limitations preclude immediate installation of a subsurface soil treatment
			 and dispersal system or connection to a municipal sewer.
(25) "Overflow piping" means a system
			 composed of a supported, vertically-oriented tee connected to a nonperforated
			 gravity flow plastic pipe that conducts overflow to distribution boxes of the
			 lateral field.
(26) "Parent
			 material" means weathering fragments of bedrock underlying a soil, colluvial or
			 alluvial deposits, loess deposits, or glacial tills from which the soil is
			 being formed.
(27) "Perched water
			 table" means a saturated zone as identified by free water, soft concretions, or
			 soil color of chroma 2 or less overlying an impermeable horizon and generally
			 above the permanent water table.
(28) "Permanent water table" means the zone
			 of soil and parent material saturation by groundwater that remains relatively
			 constant unless acted upon by artificial means of drainage or severe weather
			 conditions. This zone is evidenced by free water or soil colors of black (due
			 to high organic content), grays, blues, or olive greens.
(29) "Permeability test" means a scientific
			 procedure using lysimeters and other instrumentation to determine the saturated
			 hydraulic conductivity of site specific soil horizons.
(30) "Person" is defined by
			 KRS
			 211.970(6).
(31) "Plastic limit" means the moisture
			 content at which a soil changes from a semisolid to plastic.
(32) "Professional engineer" means an
			 engineer licensed under the provisions of KRS Chapter 322.
(33) "Puddling" means the creation of a thin
			 restrictive horizon atop and within an exposed soil surface by deposition of
			 waterborne silt or clay-sized soil particles.
(34) "Repair area" means an area, either in
			 its natural state or capable of being modified consistent with this
			 administrative regulation, which is reserved for the installation of an
			 additional lateral field and is not covered with permanent structures or
			 impervious materials, consistent with this administrative regulation.
(35)
(a)
			 "Residential septic tank effluent" means the liquid discharge having the
			 constituency and strength typical of liquid discharges from a domestic
			 household septic tank pretreatment unit that is generally considered to have
			 waste strength values equal to or less than the following monthly averages:
1. Twenty (20) mg/l of FOG;
2. 250 mg/l of BOD-5; and
3. 155 mg/l of TSS.
(b) Monthly average is equal to the sum of
			 measurements taken over thirty (30) consecutive days, with at least six (6)
			 measurements occurring on six (6) separate days, divided by the number of
			 measurements taken during the thirty (30) day period.
(36) "Restrictive horizon" means a soil
			 horizon relatively impervious to the movement of groundwater or effluent and
			 includes:
(a) Mineralogically-cemented soil
			 aggregates such as fragipans or iron pans;
(b) Naturally-formed structureless soils
			 (massive structural grade);
(c)
			 Naturally-formed horizontally structured soil (platy structure);
(d) Claypan, a compact, slowly permeable
			 layer in the subsoil having a much higher clay content than the overlying
			 material from which it is separated by a sharply-defined boundary. Clay pans
			 are usually hard when dry and plastic and sticky when wet; or
(e) Structurally destroyed soils in which
			 mechanical compression forces the plastic limit of the soil to be exceeded,
			 such as traffic pans, plow plans, and compacted fill.
(37) "Rock" means the consolidated or
			 partially consolidated mineral matter or aggregate, including weathered rock
			 not exhibiting soil properties, and exposed at the surface or overlain by
			 soil.
(38) "Sand" means a mineral
			 soil separate consisting of particles between two (2) and 0.05 mm in
			 diameter.
(39) "Seasonal high water
			 table" means the upper level of a zone of soil and parent material saturation
			 over restrictive horizons or the permanent water table.
(40) "Sewage" means blackwater, greywater, or
			 a combination of blackwater and greywater wastes generated in a residential,
			 commercial, institutional, or recreational facility.
(41) "Sewage pretreatment unit" is defined by
			 KRS
			 211.970(9).
(42) "Silt" means a mineral soil separate
			 consisting of particles between 0.05 mm and 0.002 mm in diameter.
(43) "Sinkhole" means a naturally occurring
			 depression in soil or bedrock:
(a) Formed in
			 a karst area by the removal of earth material from below the land
			 surface;
(b) Circumscribed by a
			 closed topographic contour; and
(c)
			 Lacking a surface drainage outlet.
(44) "Sinkhole sideslope midpoint" means the
			 line of equal elevation along the midpoint between the footslope and the
			 shoulder slope.
(45) "Sinkhole
			 throat" means an outlet for a sinkhole allowing runoff from the drainage basin
			 of the sinkhole to flow directly into the ground.
(46) "Site" means an area or parcel of land,
			 under the control of any person, on which an on-site sewage disposal system
			 serving any structures or facilities is to be located.
(47) "Slope" means the deviation of the
			 surface of the land from true horizontal, measured as the rise or fall in feet
			 and inches from a fixed point to another point 100 feet distant, expressed as a
			 percentage of slope.
(48) "Soil"
			 means the naturally occurring unconsolidated mineral and organic material of
			 the land surface consisting of:
(a) Sand,
			 silt, and clay minerals;
(b)
			 Variable amounts of organic materials; and
(c) Void areas between mineral and organic
			 matter particles.
(49)
			 "Soil absorption" means the movement of effluent into and through
			 interconnected voids within the soil.
(50) "Soil compaction" means permanent damage
			 to, or destruction of, natural soil structural features by mechanical
			 compression or puddling that restricts or prevents natural air and water
			 movement through the soil.
(51)
			 "Soil horizon" means a layer of soil, soil material, rock fragments, and other
			 unconsolidated material approximately parallel to the land surface and
			 differing from adjacent genetically related layers in:
(a) Physical, chemical, and biological
			 properties; or
(b) Characteristics
			 such as:
1. Color;
2. Structure;
3. Texture;
4. Consistence; and
5. pH.
(52) "Soil map" means a map showing the
			 distribution of soil series or other soil mapping units in relation to the
			 prominent physical and cultural features of the earth's surface.
(53) "Soil morphology" means the physical
			 constitution, particularly the structural properties, of a soil profile as
			 exhibited by the:
(a) Kinds, thickness, and
			 the arrangement of the horizons in the profile; and
(b) Texture, structure, uniformity, and
			 internal soil drainage of each horizon.
(54) "Soil series" means a basic unit of soil
			 classification, consisting of soils that are essentially alike in all major
			 profile characteristics.
(55) "Soil
			 structure" means the combination or arrangement of individual soil particles
			 into definable aggregates, or peds, which are characterized and classified on
			 the basis of size, shape, and degree of distinctness.
(56) "Soil survey" means the systematic
			 examination, description, classification, and mapping of soils in an
			 area.
(57) "Soil tests" means tests
			 and evaluations of soil morphology and land features required to complete a
			 site evaluation for a proposed site.
(58) "Soil texture" means the relative
			 proportions of sand, silt, and clay in a soil and may include particles greater
			 than two (2) mm in diameter, such as gravel, cobblestones, flagstones, and
			 chert.
(59) "Subdivision" means the
			 separation of a parcel or tract of land into two (2) or more parcels or tracts
			 for the purpose of development into residential, commercial, or public building
			 sites.
(60) "Subsoil" means that
			 part of the soil below the A horizon.
(61) "Subsurface soil treatment and dispersal
			 system" means the portion of an on-site sewage disposal system that accepts
			 effluent from a sewage pretreatment unit for further treatment by microbial,
			 plant, and animal life within the soil, as well as treatment by filtration,
			 chemical decomposition, and bonding within the soil, and consists of:
(a) Devices, components, and piping to:
1. Transport effluent under pressure or by
			 gravity flow; and
2. Distribute the
			 effluent to the soil absorption surfaces;
(b) Trenches, beds, chambers, mounds,
			 lagoons, artificial marshes, separately or in combination, that form or enclose
			 the soil absorption surfaces; and
(c) Rock, gravel, or other fill materials
			 required within the system, including barrier materials, and fill soil within
			 or over the system.
(62)
			 "System replacement area" means a parcel of land under the control of an
			 on-site system owner and reserved for system alteration, expansion, or
			 replacement.
(63) "Textural class"
			 means soil groupings based upon a specified range in texture.
(64) "Topsoil" means the A or Ap horizon as
			 defined in the Soil Survey Manual, 1993, Soil Survey Division Staff, USDA
			 Handbook No. 18, located at the Web site:
			 nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSEDOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2050993.
(65) "TSS" means total suspended solids or a
			 measure of solid material, including organic and inorganic, that are suspended
			 or dissolved in wastewater, effluent, or water bodies and related to both
			 specific conductance and turbidity.
(66) "Variance" means a waiver of certain
			 specified requirements of this administrative regulation granted by the
			 cabinet.