The Senate Agriculture and Veterans Affairs Committee on Thursday removed a provision from a septic-systems bill that would have created a new advisory committee and signaled support for placing licensing and oversight with the Department of Environmental Quality.

Senator Yana Meerdal, who described negotiating amendments with DEQ and the governor’s office, said the package would place licensing with DEQ while allowing health units to continue inspections under contract. “I don't support ... establishing a new bureaucracy,” Meerdal said, arguing the governor’s office prefers fewer advisory boards. She told the committee the DEQ fiscal estimate for the change was “about $90,000.”

Meerdal and other senators described long-running conflict over which agency should regulate on-site septic-system design and inspection, and said installers and some local health units have disagreed over fees and competence. Meerdal said installers had continued to press that their existing training needs protection and that some health units “don't know their stuff,” producing inconsistent costs and outcomes for homeowners.

A motion to remove the advisory-committee language (lines beginning at page 5, line 19 through page 6, line 11) passed on a roll-call vote. The motion was moved by Senator Weber and seconded by Senator Weston. The clerk recorded yes votes from Senator Marsalais, Senator Weston, Senator Weber, Chairman Lewick, Vice Chair Meerdal and Senator Lam; no opposing votes were recorded on the roll call.

Committee discussion left enforcement and rulemaking authority with DEQ while continuing to allow DEQ to contract inspections to local health units. Meerdal said DEQ would “set the admin rules” and would take a “big bird’s-eye view” while contracting local units for on-the-ground inspections. Installers expressed worry in committee testimony that DEQ could centralize training and licensing, and some installers asked for protections to preserve their role in training.

The committee voted to remove the advisory-committee section and said it would hold the bill pending parallel action in the House. Representatives cited in the discussion included Representative Koppelman and Representative Porter; the committee said it would monitor what happens to companion legislation in the House before taking further action.

No final floor passage of the underlying bill was reported in the transcript; the committee indicated it would hold the bill and revisit it if the House alters its companion measure.