In the coming months, thousands of Island County homeowners will be facing mandatory septic system inspections and the accompanying bills.

County officials will soon have a new program in place outlining the inspections homeowners will need for their septic systems.

The new requirements come down from the state in an effort to reduce the amount of pollution running into Puget Sound. Part of the solution requires assuring that private septic systems are functioning properly.

Exactly when and how those inspections will take place remains unanswered questions. The county faces a July 1 deadline to implement a management plan and code changes for inspections of on-site sewer systems.

The Island County Board of Health met Monday afternoon in a workshop to continue hashing out the details of the new inspection system the county is required to implement due to changes in state regulations.

The number and type of inspections depends on the type of septic system a homeowner uses and where it is located in the county.

Preliminary plans show that a home with a traditional, gravity system would need inspection one time every three years while alternative systems would have to be inspected annually.

Tim McDonald, Island County Health Department director, said he didn’t know yet when the inspections will begin because the county would need time to inform residents of the changes.

“It wouldn’t surprise me at all if there was a period of time for education,” McDonald said.

County leaders are also still figuring out costs associated with the new inspections. Officials estimate it would cost the county approximately $320,000 to institute the new inspection program. That will pay for three additional full-time employees, and education budget, vehicles, communication and management of the new program.

County leaders are still discussing how to implement the inspection system.

Homeowners could have to pay a professional to inspect their systems depending on the type of system and where it’s located. That cost would depend on the standards set by the county and the market.

Several people in the audience, including some who own septic businesses, wanted to know the standards that are going to be used to guide inspectors. That way they could set a price for homeowners who need to pay for inspections.

There is talk of allowing homeowners to inspect their own system, but only if it’s a gravity system and it’s located in less environmentally-sensitive areas.

However, some county Board of Health members were skeptical of having homeowner-inspection without some kind of education system in place.

“A homeowner without training would be a useless category,” board member Barbara Saugen said.

County Commissioner John Dean also questioned whether there will be a safety net for low- income seniors who need to have their systems inspected.

County employees have a lot of work to do once the July 1 deadline happens.

“We are going to have a daunting task,” Keith Higman, county environmental health director, said in front of 30 people who attended the special meeting. He said staff will be busy identifying unknown septic systems in the county, educating residents about the inspection system and helping homeowners identify solutions to problem systems.

Higman said the systems that would likely pose the most significant risk are the older ones, built from the 1940s through the 1960s. The county doesn’t have records for those older systems.

“Since the 1970s, we have a pretty good handle on what’s out there,” Higman said.

The Board of Health didn’t make any recommendations during the Monday afternoon workshop.

The board will discuss the subject again during another workshop after their next meeting that takes place April 16.

Commissioner Mike Shelton said the bulk of the program’s cost will be going after people who don’t want to follow the new regulations.

“The vast majority of the cost of the system is chasing the people who don’t comply,” Shelton said.

Higman said staff are looking at instituting a phased approach, between sending letters out to non-compliant homeowners and getting the prosecutor’s office involved, to help encourage compliance.

Options to help with compliance include linking inspections to other permits, increased fees for late inspections and administrative penalties.