On-site sewage system non-compliance fee

In 2025, the Clark County Board of Health approved a Public Health fee for on-site sewage systems (OSS). The OSS non-compliance fee will be assessed to onsite sewage system owners who are not in compliance with required OSS inspections per Clark County Code 24.17.180(d).

OSS non-compliance fee policy

Any OSS owner who is more than one year past their required OSS inspection date as of December 31 will receive the OSS non-compliance fee on their Clark County property tax bill.

Example: An OSS was due for inspection on Dec. 30, 2024. The inspection is still not completed on Dec. 31, 2025. The property will be assessed the OSS non-compliance fee on its 2026 property taxes.

OSS fees

  1. All properties with an OSS pay an annual OSS operating permit fee.
  2. Properties that are more than a year past due for routine OSS inspection will be assessed the additional non-compliance fee.

Actions owners of non-compliant systems should take

Property owners with an out-of-compliance OSS should contact a certified inspector to schedule a full inspection. The inspection must be completed and reported to Clark County Public Health (CCPH) before December 31 to avoid the non-compliance fee. Please note: It may take inspectors up to two weeks to report inspections to CCPH.

Important: CCPH does NOT require OSS pumping as part of inspection compliance. Pumping is a maintenance action. In addition, only pumping the system does not meet the inspection requirement. 

Additional resources

Frequently asked questions

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You can view inspection reports at OnlineRME.com. Follow the example below to search for your address. 

Example property address: 12345 NE Hills Road.  

In the search fields, you would enter the following: 

County = Clark 

Street Number = 12345 

Street Name = Hills 

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Inspectors submit their reports to the OnlineRME database, which works in partnership with Clark County Public Health's property database. If you see an inspection report in OnlineRME, CCPH has record of it as well. 

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No. Ensure the inspector that performs your inspection enters their report to OnlineRME. CCPH will be notified when the inspection report is uploaded.

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Contact your OSS inspector and ask them to enter their report in OnlineRME. Please also notify our department at phossom@clark.wa.gov. 

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A non-compliance fee will be applied to your next year's property taxes. Please refer to the Environmental Public Health fee schedule for current rates.

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No. Inspections are required; pumping your system is not required. Pumping is a maintenance action to remove excess solids from the septic tank to prevent them from clogging up your drainfield and other components.

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Yes. On-site sewage inspection frequency is determined by system type, not property occupancy rates.

System Type Required Inspection Frequency  
Conventional gravity  3 year 
Pump to gravity 3 year 
Pressure distribution 2 year 
Advanced, such as sand filter, sand mound, 
aerobic treatment unit, and other proprietary treatment devices.  		Annual

 

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You can find as-builts, designs, permits, and other system records in the “Misc. Documents” tab of your property record in Clark County’s Geographic Information Services (GIS) Property Information Center (PIC). 

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OSS inspection requirements are designed to protect public health and groundwater. CCPH will use the funding from this fee to enhance education and outreach efforts to increase the OSS inspection compliance rate in Clark County. Additionally, funding will be used to increase access to financial assistance programs.

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On average, about 70% of OSS are in compliance with inspection requirements. The compliance rate increased in 2016-17 but has remained about 70% since then (see Chart 1). A significant portion of the 30% OSS that are out of compliance have been so for multiple years (see Chart 2). 

Chart 1

Graph showing OSS inspection compliance since July 2015

 

Chart 2
About 69% of non-compliant OSS are more than a year beyond required inspections. Approximately 34% of non-compliant OSS have not had a required inspection for five years or more.

Graph showing number of years past due for OSS in Clark County
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CCPH records show that you have a septic system. You need to provide CCPH with a record of your septic tank decommissioning and evidence from the utility that you’re connected to public sewer. To avoid the OSS fees, provide this information to CCPH by Dec. 31, 2025.

Still have questions? Contact the Onsite Sewage System Operation & Maintenance program at 564.397.8007 or PHossOM@clark.wa.gov.