republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2017/sb-1577.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Alternative onsite sewage systems; sampling."
description: "Provides that the Department of Health shall evaluate the need for 180-day biochemical oxygen demand sampling of small alternative onsite sewage systems that serve no more than three attached or detached single-family residences with a combined average flow of less than or equal to 1,000 gallons per day of residential strength sewage, or a structure with an average daily sewage flow of less than or equal to 1,000 gallons per day of residential strength sewage, and shall report its findings to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by December 1, 2017."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "SB 1577"
citation: "Virginia SB 1577 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Health", "Study Commissions", "Committees and Reports"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Mark J. Peake"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 25
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2017-01-20"
last_action: "2017-03-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c810737e-03fd-4da2-8fbd-0cbc4ba7effd"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+SB1577"
source_hash: "38f481d1b6ea85eb1242c18097eb37a9e3a11d93ae62204e6156b9bf721820ff"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 1577 (2017) — Alternative onsite sewage systems; sampling.

Provides that the Department of Health shall evaluate the need for 180-day biochemical oxygen demand sampling of small alternative onsite sewage systems that serve no more than three attached or detached single-family residences with a combined average flow of less than or equal to 1,000 gallons per day of residential strength sewage, or a structure with an average daily sewage flow of less than or equal to 1,000 gallons per day of residential strength sewage, and shall report its findings to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by December 1, 2017.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0476)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+CHAP0476)
2. **House: Committee substitute printed 17105476D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1577H1)
3. **Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1577ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1577ER)
4. **Senate: Committee substitute printed 17105133D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1577S1)
5. **Senate: Floor substitute printed 17105230D-S2 (Ruff)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1577S2)
6. **Senate: Presented and ordered printed 17102108D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1577)

## Votes

- House substitute agreed to by Senate — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Education and Health with substitute — **15–0** (pass) · legislature
- Passed Senate — **37–2** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions with substitute — **22–0** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **39–0** (pass) · legislature
- Passed House with substitute BLOCK VOTE — **97–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Mark J. Peake — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-01-20** Presented and ordered printed 17102108D `introduction`
- **2017-01-20** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-23** Assigned Education sub: Health `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-06** Floor substitute printed 17105230D-S2 (Ruff)
- **2017-02-06** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-02-06** Committee substitute rejected 17105133D-S1
- **2017-02-06** Reading of substitute waived
- **2017-02-06** Substitute by Senator Ruff agreed to 17105230D-S2
- **2017-02-06** Engrossed by Senate - floor substitute SB1577S2
- **2017-02-08** Placed on Calendar
- **2017-02-08** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2017-02-08** Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-10** Assigned HWI sub: Subcommittee #3 `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-15** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-02-16** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2017-02-16** Committee substitute agreed to 17105476D-H1
- **2017-02-16** Engrossed by House - committee substitute SB1577H1
- **2017-02-16** Passed House with substitute BLOCK VOTE (97-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2017-02-20** Title replaced 17105476D-H1
- **2017-02-22** Enrolled
- **2017-02-22** Signed by President
- **2017-02-22** Signed by Speaker
- **2017-02-23** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on 2/23/17
- **2017-02-23** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 27, 2017
- **2017-03-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 476 (effective 7/1/17) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c810737e-03fd-4da2-8fbd-0cbc4ba7effd`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).