Both laws passed this year aim to prevent nitrogen pollution from private homes using faulty septics. But the septic laws have some residents complaining the county government wants to meddle in their private waste without showing that the septic changes will have much effect on the health of the Chesapeake Bay, which forms the county's western border.

"It appears this is a do-good, feel-good law you are foisting upon us," said Jim Flaherty of Stevensville, speaking against the five-year rule at a recent county commission meeting. "Keep your noses out of our business."

Most residents who spoke at the septic hearing opposed the pump-out requirement - but after hearing the complaints, commissioners passed the ordinance 4-1. Supporters said the county's septic agenda is a no-brainer considering the county's position alongside the Chesapeake.

"It's the right thing to do in terms of protecting our groundwater resources and the bay," said Eric Wargotz, a Republican who is president of the county council and sponsored the five-year septic bill.

Mr. Wargotz conceded that the ordinance's requirements, which have yet to be worked out, but would likely require septic owners to maintain records to prove to the county at random audits that they've had their septics pumped within five years, could become a burden to homeowners.

But with some 11,000 septic systems serving nearly half the county's residents, Mr. Wargotz said he believes tougher septic laws are necessary to preserve what makes Queen Anne's popular with retirees and vacationers.

"Most of us have moved here, most of us are not native," Mr. Wargotz said. "And we were attracted not only by the rural and agricultural topography, but we were attracted to the water, to the bay. And when you make that kind of decision, you have an obligation to protect it for future generations."

The septic laws, similar to those already required in coastal Virginia counties, have been backed by state environmentalists. Both the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the state Department of the Environment sent county officials letters of support for the mandatory pump-out law.

Not everyone agrees, though, that the septic pump law will improve the environment. Even the county's top environmental health officer, John Nickerson, said it's unclear how much nitrogen floating out of septic tanks ends up in the Chesapeake.

"The environmental impact of this is debatable, to be honest with you," Mr. Nickerson said.

Septic pump-outs are designed to remove "scum mats," which build up from years of soap, dirt and grease going down the drain. Human waste, a greater threat to the environment and human health, is broken down by bacteria in the tanks or filtered by soil if the tank is full.

"I don't know particularly that there's real conclusive proof that pumping tanks regularly will prevent nutrients from seeping down," Mr. Nickerson said.

But he added that the five-year pump-out requirement could help pinpoint the few homeowners who don't take care of their septic tanks. Mr. Nickerson said there have been cases of unscrupulous homeowners diverting their waste into a nearby ditch rather than paying to have their tanks maintained, a practice that's already illegal but hard to track.

"They may let their septic system weep out into a ditch or something for years before it's caught," Mr. Nickerson said.

A commissioner who voted for the pump-out law, Democrat Paul Gunther, said septic pump-out laws were called for as early as the late 1970s, when Maryland and the other Chesapeake states started making pollution agreements. But so far, Queen Anne's is the first Maryland county to act.

"It's a shame that government has to step up and mandate what people should be doing on their own," Mr. Gunther said.

Some angry residents insist it's their business how often to pump out their septics, and that many live in Queen Anne's part-time and therefore don't need their tanks pumped as often. Residents took special exception to a provision in the law that allows county officials to charge residents a fee to cover compliance checks, even though county officials claim they won't need additional tax money to pay for the septic law.

"This is a crappy law, no pun intended," argued John Lofland of Sudlersville, who installs septic tanks and questioned the value of five-year pump-outs.

But a main supporter of the Queen Anne's bill - Jay Falstad of the Queen Anne's Conservation Association - compares pump-out laws to car-emissions inspections. Though a conscientious car owner keeps his vehicle in good repair, the state inspections are required because some don't, hurting the environment for everyone else.

"Because there is no requirement, people have gone years or sometimes decades without servicing their septic systems," Mr. Falstad said. "And when they fail, they hurt everyone's groundwater."

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Read the septic ordinance at: http://www.qac.org/depts/cmnrs/ord8/cor0809.pdf