Sec. 15. (a) The board, on its own initiative, whenever any territory, by its contour and watershed, or because of the extension of sewers by the municipality, is capable of draining sewage into or connecting with the sanitary system, may incorporate any territory, whether platted or unplatted, into the district by adopting a resolution to that effect describing the reason it is to be included. A certified copy of the resolution is conclusive evidence in any proceeding that the territory described was properly incorporated and constitutes a part of the district, subject to this chapter.

     (b) Immediately after the passage of a resolution under subsection (a), a notice stating the time and place for a public hearing on the resolution shall be published in accordance with IC 5-3-1. By the date and time of the hearing any affected person may file in the office of the board a written remonstrance to having the person’s lands included. The board shall either confirm, modify, or rescind the resolution after the hearing. An appeal may be taken from the decision by one (1) or more persons considering themselves aggrieved or injuriously affected, as long as those appealing have filed written remonstrances, as provided in this subsection, by filing their complaint within thirty (30) days after the final decision of the board. The appeal shall be governed by IC 34-13-6.

     (c) If the court is satisfied upon hearing an appeal under subsection (b):

(1) that less than seventy-five percent (75%) of the persons owning property in the territory sought to be incorporated in the district have remonstrated; and

(2) that the incorporation of the territory into the district will be for its interest and will cause no manifest injury to the persons owning property in the territory;

the court shall so find and the incorporation shall be ordered. If the court is satisfied that seventy-five percent (75%) or more of the persons owning property in the territory sought to be incorporated have remonstrated, then the incorporation may not be ordered unless the court further finds from the evidence that unless it is incorporated, the health and welfare of residents of the territory or of the adjoining lands will be materially affected and that the safety and welfare of the inhabitants and property of other persons and property will be endangered.

     (d) Pending an appeal under subsection (b) and during the time within which the appeal may be taken, the territory sought to be incorporated is not a part of the district. Upon the determination of the appeal, the judgment must particularly describe the resolution upon which the appeal is based. The clerk of the court shall deliver a certified copy of the judgment to the secretary of the board, who shall record it in the minute book of the board and make a cross-reference to the page upon the margin where the original resolution was recorded. If a decision is adverse to an incorporation, further proceedings may not be taken by the board to incorporate that territory within the district for a period of one (1) year after the rendition of the judgment.

     (e) Except as provided in subsection (n) and subject to subsections (f) through (m), a property owner whose property is incorporated into a district under this section or section 14(b) of this chapter, regardless of whether the property owner has filed a written remonstrance or an appeal with respect to the incorporation, is exempt from a requirement to connect to the district’s sewer system and to discontinue use of a sewage disposal system on the property owner’s property if all of the following conditions are met:

(1) The property owner’s sewage disposal system is a septic tank soil absorption system (as defined in IC 13-11-2-199.5) or constructed wetland septic system (as defined in IC 36-9-23-30.1(a)) that:

(A) was new at the time of installation; and

(B) was approved in writing by the local health department, the department’s designee, or a qualified inspector.

(2) The property owner, at the property owner’s own expense, obtains a written determination from the local health department or the department’s designee that the property owner’s sewage disposal system is not failing. The local health department or the department’s designee shall provide the owner with a written determination not later than sixty (60) days after receipt of the owner’s request. If the local health department or the department’s designee fails to provide a written determination within the time set forth in this subdivision, the owner, at the owner’s expense, may obtain a written determination from a qualified inspector. If the local health department or the department’s designee determines that the sewage disposal system is failing, the property owner may appeal the determination to the board of the local health department. The decision of the board of the local health department is final and binding.

(3) The property owner provides the board with:

(A) a written notification of potential qualification for the exemption, as described in subsection (h); and

(B) the written determination described in subdivision (2);

within the time limits set forth in subsection (h).

     (f) If the property owner, within the time allowed under subsection (h), notifies the board in writing of the property owner’s potential qualification for the exemption, the board shall, until the property owner’s eligibility for the exemption is determined, suspend the requirement that the property owner discontinue use of the property owner’s sewage disposal system and connect to the district’s sewer system.

     (g) A property owner who qualifies for the exemption provided under this section may not be required to connect to the district’s sewer system for a period of ten (10) years beginning on the date of the written determination of the local health department, the department’s designee, or a qualified inspector under subsection (e)(2) that the property owner’s sewage disposal system is not failing. A property owner may apply for two (2) five (5) year extensions of the exemption provided under this section by following the procedures set forth in this section. If ownership of an exempt property is transferred during a valid exemption period, including during an extension of an initial exemption:

(1) the exemption applies to the subsequent owner of the property for the remainder of the exemption period during which the transfer occurred; and

(2) the subsequent owner may apply for any remaining extensions.

However, the total period during which a property may be exempt from the requirement to connect to a district’s sewer system under this section may not exceed twenty (20) years, regardless of ownership of the property.

     (h) To qualify for an exemption under this section, a property owner must:

(1) not later than sixty (60) days after being notified of the requirement to connect to the district’s sewer system, notify the board in writing that the property owner qualifies for an exemption under this section; and

(2) not later than one hundred twenty (120) days after the board receives the written notice provided under subdivision (1), provide the board with the written determination required under subsection (e)(2).

     (i) When a property owner who qualifies for an exemption under this section subsequently discontinues use of the property owner’s sewage disposal system and connects to the district’s sewer system, the property owner may be required to pay only the following to connect to the sewer system:

(1) The connection fee the property owner would have paid if the property owner connected to the sewer system on the first date the property owner could have connected to the sewer system.

(2) Any additional costs:

(A) considered necessary by; and

(B) supported by documentary evidence provided by;

the board.

     (j) A property owner who connects to a district’s sewer system may provide, at the owner’s expense, labor, equipment, materials, or any combination of labor, equipment, and materials from any source to accomplish the connection to the sewer system, subject to inspection and approval by the board or a designee of the board.

     (k) This section does not affect the authority of the Indiana department of health, a local health department, or a county health officer with respect to a sewage disposal system.

     (l) For purposes of this section, a sewage disposal system is “failing” if one (1) or more of the following apply:

(1) The system refuses to accept sewage at the rate of design application and interferes with the normal use of plumbing fixtures.

(2) Effluent discharge exceeds the absorptive capacity of the soil into which the system discharges, resulting in ponding, seepage, or other discharge of the effluent to the ground surface or to surface waters.

(3) Effluent discharged from the system contaminates a potable water supply, ground water, or surface waters.

     (m) As used in this section, “qualified inspector” means any of the following:

(1) An employee of a local health department who is designated by the local health department as having sufficient knowledge of onsite sewage systems to determine if an onsite sewage system is failing.

(2) An individual who is certified by the Indiana Onsite Wastewater Professionals Association as an onsite sewage system installer or inspector.

(3) An individual listed by the Indiana department of health or a local health department with jurisdiction over the service area of the property inspected as having sufficient knowledge of onsite sewage systems to determine if an onsite sewage system is failing.

     (n) Subsections (e) through (i) do not apply to a property owner whose property is incorporated into a district under this section or section 14(b) of this chapter if:

(1) the district has received approval from the Indiana finance authority before January 1, 2022, of a preliminary engineering report:

(A) for a project to construct the sewer line to which the property owner’s property is being required to connect; and

(B) in connection with funding from the wastewater or drinking water revolving loan program under IC 5-1.2-10; and

(2) the timing and requirements for connection to the district’s sewer system are the same for all property owners being required to connect to the district’s sewer system under the terms of the project.

     (o) Immediately after the adoption of a resolution under subsection (a), and following the completion of any appeals under subsections (b) and (c), the board shall do the following:

(1) Notify any impacted property owners of the sewer project within three hundred (300) feet of the property line.

(2) Give notice by certified mail to the property owner at the address of the property at least ninety (90) days before the date specified for mandatory connection in the notice.

(3) Give notice by certified mail to the property owner at the address of the property of the applicable exemptions from connecting to the sewer system available to the property owner that are described in subsection (e) at least ninety (90) days before the date specified for connection in the notice.

[Pre-Local Government Recodification Citation: 19-2-14-7 part.]

As added by Acts 1981, P.L.309, SEC.98. Amended by Acts 1981, P.L.45, SEC.67; P.L.1-1998, SEC.216; P.L.127-2017, SEC.319; P.L.167-2022, SEC.15; P.L.56-2023, SEC.338; P.L.232-2023, SEC.16.