The contents of a letter sent to all sewage enforcement officers in the state could greatly damage the economy, jobs, taxes and growth, said a number of public officials and experts.

The state Department of Environmental Protection sent a letter dated March 2 to all sewage enforcement officers stating that although Gov. Tom Wolf signed Act 34 to allow for alternate sewer systems to be placed on lots where conventional sewer systems are not feasible, the DEP does not permit the alternate sewer systems because such lots have no “site suitability criteria.”

Ron Andrasko, a certified professional soil scientist with Andrasko and Associates in Jeannette, Pa., who also has clients in Butler County, said of the 3,700 properties in the region he approved for sewer system permits last year, 70% have alternate sewer systems.

He said the systems, like the drip irrigation system, are modern alternatives to the traditional septic systems that many rural properties are not suited for today.

Andrasko said any on-lot sewer system developed after the 1980s is an alternate system, which he has been approving since the mid-1990s.

He said the alternate systems have not yet been added to the DEP code, although the agency's officials are aware the systems have been used throughout the state for many years.“It's just because the state hasn't caught up with the technology,” Andrasko said.He said DEP officials have always debated whether alternate systems can be used on new lots in a subdivision, so Wolf last year signed Act 34 allowing alternate systems so that construction and subdivision in Pennsylvania can continue.But the March 2 DEP letter is the mandate Andrasko must follow, as he reports all his septic-related soil tests to DEP.“I don't think the DEP understands the fallout of what they have done,” a frustrated Andrasko said.Kim Geyer, a Butler County commissioner, said disallowing alternate sewer systems will have a devastating affect on the county.She said construction contractors, roofers, plumbers, excavators, electricians and others will take a huge hit if homes cannot be built because no sewer system is permitted on a property.Geyer said such a mandate couldn't come at a worse time, with many finding themselves unemployed because of the coronavirus pandemic.“It's tough on taxpayers and the people in these industries,” she said. “It just doesn't make a lot of sense.”She said instead of receiving taxpayer-funded replacement income such as unemployment insurance or federal stimulus dollars, county residents would rather resume their employment.“People are looking to get back to work and earn money,” she said.

The DEP's insistence that alternate sewer systems are not allowed will also affect the homebuying market, Geyer said.“People are trying to capitalize on the current low interest rates to build a house,” she said.Andrasko also pointed out that every home that is built represents tax revenue for townships, boroughs, school districts and counties for at least a hundred years.“There are a lot of ancillary ripples to this mandate,” Geyer said.Andrasko said in recent years, 23 discount department stores have been built in the region.“All of the ones I've done in Butler County have had alternate systems,” he said.Another problem Andrasko sees is the inability of elderly farmers to subdivide off a few acres where their adult children can build homes.“I have a 70-year-old lady who wants to cut two lots in her land, and she doesn't understand why she can't,” he said.Andrasko said in the past two weeks, six subdivisions in the region he was contracted to test have been denied because lots cannot be created using alternate sewer systems.He said at an average cost of $300,000 to build a home, that represents $1.8 million in revenue that will not go into the economy.“Talk about halting our recovery from this virus,” Andrasko said.The DEP mandate is also affecting his business.“I've had multiple clients cancel, and I've had to cancel clients because I can't help them now,” Andrasko said. “I don't want to charge them when I know they're going to be denied.”

State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-12th, fired off a scathing letter to the DEP in Harrisburg when he learned of the sewage enforcement officers letter.In the March 16 letter to DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell, Metcalfe took McDonnell to task on DEP's “decision to ignore the clear text of a recently passed law, Act 34 of 2020.”Metcalfe, who is the chairman of the house environmental resources and energy committee, said by refusing to implement Act 34, the DEP is “both greatly harming our chances at a complete economic recovery and ironically endangering the environment by encouraging inefficient land use.”He called alternate sewer systems “by far the safest and most effective systems in many situations,” and said they have been used safely for many years.Metcalfe said the DEP's “backward approach to this issue” harms businesses and citizens without any environmental benefit in return.“What gives you the right to rewrite the law to your own liking, not through legislation, or even regulation or policy, but through a letter sent to the state's sewage enforcement officers?” Metcalfe wrote.He said the DEP continually demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of its role as an executive agency within the state's three branches of government.“As most children learn in the most basic of civics classes, your role is to implement the laws passed by the General Assembly and not to make your own laws,” Metcalfe wrote.He cited the real-world consequences he predicts the mandate will cause.“When many construction projects should be commencing throughout the state, DEP's decision made with no warning has thrown a wrench into the plans of Pennsylvania's developers, builders, workers and residents, who have been given no time to adjust,” Metcalfe wrote. “This comes at a horrible time when our economy is hurting and desperate for the projects that you have effectively just halted.”In closing, Metcalfe demanded that the DEP “cease your illegal interpretation of the law that could not have been drafted more clearly and immediately implement Act 34 as written.”

Geyer said hearings on the matter are coming up, and she will attend them to represent Butler County residents and businesses, even if they are not virtual and she must travel to Harrisburg to attend in person.“I'll do whatever it takes,” Geyer said.According to Metcalfe's letter, the problem has been ongoing in Harrisburg since 2017, when Act 26 attempted to rectify the issue.DEP officials did not answer questions from the Butler Eagle on Monday or on Tuesday by press time.The March 2 letter to sewage enforcement officers, which was signed by Brian Schlauderaff, environmental group manager, DEP planning section, said the department is working on additional guidance “to address specific items associated with the implementation of (Act 34).”Schlauderaff said that guidance would be “forthcoming in an 'all-SEO' letter.'”