CWC Board OKs rules for Business Septic Repair Program

MARGARETVILLE, NY, Dec. 2, 2008 - The Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC) Board of Directors on December 2 approved rules for a new program that will repair or replace failed septic systems for small businesses in the Catskill-Delaware Watershed.

The CWC will reimburse eligible small business owners - those employing 100 or fewer people -- 75% of the cost of septic repairs up to a maximum of $40,000. To be eligible, failing commercial septics must be 100 feet from a watercourse, 500 feet from a reservoir of the New York City Water System, or within a specified priority zone (the so-called "60-day travel time" area).

Apartment buildings and trailer parks are not considered small businesses for this program.

Only commercial septic systems constructed BEFORE Nov. 2, 1995 are eligible for repair reimbursement.

Business properties served or potentially served by New York City- or municipally-owned sewer projects, or by Community Wastewater Management Projects developed by the CWC, are not eligible for the new septic repair program.

Commercial enterprises in 13 areas where a new Cluster System Septic Program is being developed may also be ineligible for septic repairs as they may be served by future wastewater projects addressing clusters of buildings. Arrangements may be made, however, for temporary or managed repairs in these areas if circumstances warrant it.

The new Small Business Septic Repair Program is expected to be operational in the spring of 2009. It was outlined in the 2007 Filtration Avoidance Determination issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency to New York City to allow it to continue to avoid filtering its vast Catskill-Delaware water supply.

Four-million dollars has been committed to the Small Business Septic Program.

The program will add a new dimension to the existing CWC Septic Replacement and Rehabilitation Program, which over the past 11 years has paid for repairs to more than 2,800 systems for one- and two-family homes and home-based businesses.

For more information, contact Leo LaBuda at the CWC, 845-586-1400.

For more information on CWC programs to assist residents and businesses in the New York City Watershed, call 845-586-1400, or go to www.cwconline.org.