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On this website, it states:
“. You can’t transport human waste across property lines unless you are licensed to do so (like a portable toilet company). ”
We are planning an event in Oregon that would generate about 500 gallons of human waste. We have contacted both Oregon DOT and DEQ, and they are unaware of any such law or regulation. Can anyone tell me where they got this information?
Thanks!

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Hi,

Thanks for your message/question. It seems like these laws vary state by state. Our info was from California, and I’ve heard from people working in a few other states this is also true. But apparently not in Oregon!

We’ll update our website accordingly (in the near future).

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Laura–

Do you have a link or source that says it *is* legal in Oregon?  Since I first posted this, I came across the following:

[Note:  in the quotes below, I have eliminated words that aren’t relevant to the questions we have; the full text is at the link provided.]

“No person shall perform sewage disposal services […] without first obtaining a license from the Department of Environmental Quality.”

http://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/454.695

And their definition of sewage disposal services is:

“Sewage disposal service means:

“(a)The construction of subsurface sewage disposal systems, alternative sewage disposal systems or any part thereof.

“(b)The pumping out or cleaning of subsurface sewage disposal systems, alternative sewage disposal systems or nonwater-carried sewage disposal facilities.

“(c)The disposal of materials derived from the pumping out or cleaning of subsurface sewage disposal systems, alternative sewage disposal systems or nonwater-carried sewage disposal facilities.”

http://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/454.605

Another person who had looked into this had suggested that the regulations didn’t apply because sewage is often defined as “water carried”, and the composting toilets wouldn’t use water.  But the above definition seems to eliminate that loophole.  Also, many laws refer to “septage”, which doesn’t make that distinction:

“Septage means the domestic liquid and solid sewage pumped from septic tanks, cesspools, holding tanks, vault toilets, chemical toilets or other similar domestic sewage treatment components or systems and other sewage sludge”

http://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/454.782

 “A person may not collect, store, transport, treat, recycle or dispose of septage:

“Without first obtaining a license or permit from the Department of Environmental Quality issued under the program established under ORS 454.792 (Rules);”

http://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/454.790

So if you have a source that shows that transporting the contents of a composting toilet is legal, it would be very helpful.

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Hi Mike,

I haven’t looked into Oregon’s laws about transporting composting toilet contents. I would ask the DEQ for clarification.  In general, I know most states require licensing for it. From the info you sent it does seem like Oregon does too.

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