Pursuant to the federal Clean Water Act, the
Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) has codified
“Water Quality Standards” in Chapter 173-201A WAC
“Water Quality Standards for Surface Waters of the State
of Washington. The federal government has delegated Ecology the
authority to enforce these standards, therefore, the Health District
cannot enforce violations of state surface water quality standards.
on-site sewage and solid waste regulations
The Health District’s Water Quality
Program can, however, enforce the correction of failing on-site
sewage systems and animal waste handling problems that can lead
to bacterial pollution of surface waters. This is accomplished
pursuant to local on-site sewage system regulations (Section 6
“On-Site Sewage Adequacy Standards”) and solid waste
regulations (Section 4.B.1 “Animal Waste”).
