Licensed Soil Scientist (LSS) COVID-19 Permit for Non-Engineered Systems

The Licensed Soil Scientist (LSS) COVID-19 Permit for Non-Engineered Systems will be removed from available options under the Professional Option Permit on the Wake County Permit Portal. Session Law 2022-11 amended Section 3.19.(e) of Session Law 2020-97 that allowed permitting by Licensed Soil Scientist (LSS) under the coronavirus emergency to expire on January 1, 2023. The expiration of this section shall not prevent a licensed soil scientist acting under this section’s authority from completing a wastewater system already under construction, but no additional applications of this type will be accepted as of January 1, 2023.

Wake County Permit Portal and Application Changes:

Wake County Environmental Services has made improvements with the residential wastewater permitting process through changes with the Wake County Permit Portal. The new residential application and permit portal changes will be live January 23^rd, 2023. The new application name is “Permit for Residential Wastewater (Septic).”

Notable changes:

• Site preparation, site plan and building permit information/requirements have been added to the permit application. This section provides a list of requirements that must be met prior to applying for a wastewater permit and an attestation from the applicant of lot readiness is required. Failure to complete all required items will result in a delay of application processing and may be subject to a $75.00 re-inspection fee and/or a denial of your application.
• Consolidation of all “Residential” Wastewater applications into a single application. This removes the need for applicants to determine the correct permit work class (Existing, Expansion, Addition, New) that is appropriate for the project. Wake County Environmental staff will determine the correct work class based on a description provided by the applicant in the application.
• Checklists have been added to the customer permit portal at crucial steps of the permitting process. These checklists will be available for customers to review when an action or item is required to continue with the permitting process. These steps include the WW – Site Visit, Improvement Permit - Customer Action Required, Construction Authorization – Customer Action Required and Operation Permit – Customer Action Required.
• Hybrid wastewater permits established in SL 2022-11 and G.S. 130A-335 will utilize the “Permit for Residential Wastewater (Septic)” application for processing.