Opinion ID: 2280120
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Authority to Regulate Holding Tank Systems

Text: The Plaintiff next contends that even if the delegation of authority to the Department is constitutional, the Department is not authorized to regulate sewerage systems that merely store sewage underground but do not have any underground discharge. On this premise, he argues that his proposal to use holding tanks on each of the two parcels in question was not subject to Department regulations since the Code defines a holding tank as a watertight receptacle, with an alarm device, which receives waste water from a building drain, building sewer, or privy prior to disposal at an approved site. Maine State Plumbing Code c. 2. The Plaintiff claims his argument is buttressed by the presence of the adjective disposal in the provision authorizing the Department to regulate subsurface sewage disposal systems. We reject his contention for two reasons. First, as we observed above, the statutory provision conferring authority on the Department to regulate subsurface sewage disposal systems, 22 M.R.S.A. § 42(3), mandates reference to 30 M.R.S.A. § 3221(4) where holding tanks are explicitly included within the definition of such systems. See note 4 supra. Second, there is nothing inconsistent about defining holding tanks as a type of disposal system since disposal systems can reasonably mean systems by which sewage generated in a dwelling is disposed of and proper operation of temporary storage systems, like holding tanks, bears a substantial relation to legitimate public health concerns.