New regulations requiring treatment of storm water runoff may cost Fayette County millions of dollars in coming years, and the county is bracing for that impact.

And a number of other environmental concerns are pushing toward the top of the agenda for county governments, according to local officials. Among them are the handling of solid waste, air quality and transportation, development in water recharge areas, the handling of septage human waste that is pumped out of septic tanks and erosion control.

"Fayette County is designated as a phase two urbanized area" in federal Environmental Protection Agency records, county administrator Billy Beckett told the County Commission during its recent planning retreat. That means that regulations currently being written for major metropolitan areas will apply to Fayette.

"By far the most onerous are the storm water regulations," Beckett told The Citizen. "You're talking about millions of dollars if the regulations go through like they're talking about," he added.

As currently drafted, the rules will require that Fayette and other similar counties collect and treat storm water. For counties that already have storm sewer systems and sewer systems, the resulting expenditure may not be as great. But Fayette has neither, he said.

Even water that runs into ditches along the sides of the county's dirt roads may have to be collected and treated, he said.

Final regulations have been delayed until Oct. 29, Beckett said, adding that some counties in Texas have filed suit in attempts to reduce the financial impact of the proposed rules.

Meanwhile, Fayette staff members are working to prepare. County engineer Kirk Houser is a member of the environmental and land use committees of the National Association of Counties working on the problem, and also is on the Atlanta Regional Commission committee that is writing plans for a regional response to the new regulations, Beckett said.

Also, a new inspector recently hired is being sent to classes to "get up to speed on storm water," and county staffers are studying EPA "best management practices" for new construction, to be sure local projects conform to the latest rules.

Hot on the heels of storm water regulations are federal concerns over the Atlanta region's air quality. Transportation projects have been halted until the region can come up with a transportation plan that provides hope that the area's air quality will improve.

Beckett said a special blend of gasoline that reduces auto emissions holds some promise. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Regional Commission reports that it will have "an air-quality conforming, 20-year regional transportation plan" by next March, and both houses of the state legislature have approved Gov. Roy Barnes' plan to set up a 15-member transportation task force charged with making sure the state complies.

Future handling of solid waste also remains a concern, said Beckett. Fayette allows open competition among companies that haul trash in local neighborhoods, but competition is shrinking, he said.

"It was in the news this morning [Tuesday] that Allied bought out BFI," he said, adding that the county is keeping an eye on "any trends toward rising costs because of the reduction in the number of providers."

The county's contract with Allied Waste Management Company to operate a transfer station here, collecting trash and hauling it to a landfill in Taylor County, expires in a few years, Beckett added. County commissioners directed him to report by July 1, making specific recommendations about how waste should be handled after that.

The county may consider franchising garbage service as a way of holding costs down, Beckett said.

Fayette environmental health director Rick Fehr and the county staff environmental committee are currently compiling information on failures of septic tanks in Fayette to determine whether there is a significant problem.

"We want to find out what kind of failure rate we're having with sewer systems in the county," said Fehr. "Is there a significant, light, ridiculously high rate? Then we can get an idea just what sort of problem we are facing."

The committee also is pondering where septic tank contents will be taken in the future when the trucks come to pump them out.

"The best information I have," Beckett told the County Commission, "is that it's a ticking time bomb."

Municipal sewer systems don't take septage, he said, and "there are fewer and fewer [commercial] sites available. Prices may soon be out the roof, and you may not be able to dispose of it anyway," he added.

Groundwater recharge areas, places where the ground allows rain water to seep into the water table in great quantities, have been identified in recent years and local governments are probably going to be required to take them into account in future land use planning, Beckett said.

The county zoning staff currently is studying the land use plan and will use an overlay showing recharge areas in the process of rewriting the plan, Beckett said.

On erosion and sediment control, Beckett told commissioners, "The county's efforts have been average at best."

A new erosion control inspector is on board working to improve that performance, he said, adding that state and federal agencies are "becoming increasing aggressive in their enforcement of erosion control measures."

'Ticking time bombs'

Storm water treatment.

Air quality/transportation.

Solid waste handling.

Septic tank failures/septage handling.

Groundwater recharge areas.

Erosion control