Lewis and Clark Board Schedules Feb. 24 Hearing on Wastewater Variance

The Lewis & Clark City-County Board of Health scheduled a public hearing for Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, to consider a request for a variance from the county’s On-Site Wastewater Treatment Regulations. The action was posted to the county’s Public Health page and places the Board squarely in charge of deciding whether the regulation can be set aside for this particular application.

County staff posted the notice on the Lewis and Clark County Public Health page on Feb. 20, 2026, identifying a specific variance application to be considered at the Feb. 24 hearing. The notice on the county page framed the matter as an exception request to the existing On-Site Wastewater Treatment Regulations that govern septic permitting and system siting in unincorporated areas and city-county jurisdictions across Lewis and Clark County.

A variance to On-Site Wastewater Treatment Regulations carries public health and environmental stakes for neighborhoods served by on-site systems. The Board of Health, which scheduled the Feb. 24 hearing, is the local body responsible for interpreting county standards designed to protect groundwater and community sanitation under those regulations. The hearing would determine whether the application meets the threshold for an exception to engineering, setback, or treatment requirements established by the county.

As of Feb. 25, 2026, the county’s Public Health page still listed the Feb. 24 hearing notice posted on Feb. 20, 2026, as the formal public record of the variance request. The Board of Health’s decision stemming from that hearing will directly affect how the county enforces its On-Site Wastewater Treatment Regulations and how future applicants may seek exceptions to those rules in Lewis and Clark County.