Rulemaking Activities—Office of Drinking Water

Recent Updates

Waterworks Operator Certification

On July 12, 2022, at 1:00PM (PST), the Department of Health (department) held a virtual public hearing and adopted the proposed amendments to chapter 246-292 WAC Waterworks Operator Certification.

The Department of Health (department) replaced the term “grandparented” with the term “legacy” in WAC 246-292-010 and 085.  The term “grandparented” and its use in WAC conforms to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final guidelines published in the Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 24 / Friday, February 5, 1999. A “grandparented” certified operator is granted an exemption from the operator in responsible charge requirements for the initial education, experience, and examination requirements for the public water system’s assigned certification classification can continue to operate under the existing set of regulations; however, the term “grandfathered” was coined in the late 1800s to suppress voting rights of people of color. 

 

The Code Revisers 103P Rulemaking Form (PDF) was filed August 24, 2022, and will be effective September 24, 2022.

For more information, contact:

Bill Bernier at william.bernier@doh.wa.gov or call 360-236-3562

Nina Helpling at nina.helpling@doh.wa.gov or call 360-236-3065.

Past Rule Updates

SHB 2246 Title 70 RCW Updates

On February 22, 2022, the Department of Health (department) held a virtual public hearing and adopted the proposed amendments updating multiple Washington Administrative Code (WAC) chapters per requirements of Substitute House Bill 2246 (SHB 2246), Chapter 20, Laws of 2020.

SHB 2246 reorganized the statutory chapters of Title 70 Revised Code of Washington (RCW) into two titles to better sort the chapters according to public health and safety, and environmental health and safety as follows.

  • Title 70 RCW, Public Health and Safety, and
  • Title 70A RCW, Environmental Health and Safety.

The adopted rules corrected the RCW citations that were affected* by the reorganization of Title 70 RCW into two titles and included non-substantive clarifying edits.

The rule will be effective on April 9, 2022

CR-103P Rule-Making Order (PDF)

For more information contact:

Brad Burnham in the Office of Drinking Water or call 360-236-3102.

Nina Helpling in the Office of the Assistant Secretary or call 360-236-3065.

*Complete list of affected WAC chapters.

Office of the Assistant Secretary—EPH

  • Chapter 246-203 WAC, General Sanitation     
  • Chapter 246-03 WAC, State Environmental Policy Act—Guidelines    
  • Chapter 246-10 WAC, Administrative Procedure—Adjudicative Proceedings     

Office of Environmental Public Health Sciences 

  • Chapter 246-205 WAC, Decontamination of Illegal Manufacturing or Storage Sites      

Office of Radiation and Protection

  • Chapter 246-220 WAC, Radiation Protection—General Provisions    
  • Chapter 246-224 WAC, Radiation Protection—Radiation Machine Assembly and Registration     
  • Chapter 246-225A WAC, Radiation Safety and Diagnostic Image Quality Standards for Dental Facilities     
  • Chapter 246-226 WAC, Radiation Protection—Computed Tomography     
  • Chapter 246-229 WAC, Radiation Protection—Particle Accelerators    
  • Chapter 246-236 WAC, Licenses and Radiation Safety Requirements for Irradiators     
  • Chapter 246-247 WAC, Radiation Protection—Air Emissions     YES
  • Chapter 246-252 WAC, Radiation Protection—Uranium or Thorium Milling    
  • Chapter 246-254 WAC, Radiation Protection—Fees    

Office of Environmental Health and Safety 

  • Chapter 246-272A WAC, On-Site Sewage Systems     In Progress
  • Chapter 246-272B WAC, Large On-site Sewage System Regulation     
  • Chapter 246-273 WAC, On-site Sewage System Additives    
  • Chapter 246-274 WAC, Greywater Reuse for Subsurface Irrigation     

Office of Drinking Water

  • Chapter 246-290 WAC, Group A Public Water Supplies    All but subsection 990
  • Chapter 246-291 WAC, Group B Public Water Systems    
  • Chapter 246-292 WAC, Waterworks Operator Certification     
  • Chapter 246-293 WAC, Water System Coordination Act    
  • Chapter 246-294 WAC, Drinking Water Operating Permits    
  • Chapter 246-295 WAC, Satellite System Management Agencies     
  • Chapter 246-296 WAC, Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program    

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