SUN JOURNAL • June 3, 2025
Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill into law Tuesday updating septic system regulations aiming to safeguard Maine’s lakes and ponds. The new law, LD 1550, addresses “short circuiting” in systems on properties abutting freshwater bodies like lakes and ponds. Short circuiting occurs when septic system effluent skirts natural filtration processes by draining quickly through sandy soils or along shallow bedrock and into water bodies. Maine Department of Health and Human Services will be required to revise design standards for septic fields in high-risk soil profiles only which address nutrient pollution through natural soil processes.