Grant programs · Ulster County
Ulster has 34 designated waterbodies — the largest eligible area in the Hudson Valley. But if your property sits in the New York City watershed west of the Hudson, a completely separate program may cover up to 100% of the cost instead of the state's 50%. Choosing the wrong one can cost you tens of thousands.
Ulster is the only county in the region where two separate septic grant programs overlap, and they pay very differently. Read this table before you speak to anyone.
| NYS Septic Replacement Fund | Catskill Watershed Corporation | |
|---|---|---|
| Pays | 50% of cost, max $10,000 (75% / $25,000 for enhanced systems) | Up to 100% for full-time primary residences Up to 60% for non-primary |
| Where | Within 250 feet of one of 34 designated waterbodies | The NYC watershed west of the Hudson — parts of Ulster, plus Delaware, Greene, Schoharie and Sullivan |
| System age | No age rule — must be failing or likely to fail | Must be at least 20 years old |
| Property type | Residences and small businesses | Single family homes and home-business properties, under 1,000 gallons per day |
| Run by | RUPCO, on behalf of Ulster County | Catskill Watershed Corporation, Arkville |
CWC is funded by New York City, because these watersheds feed the city's unfiltered drinking water supply. It is a voluntary program for homeowners in the West-of-Hudson NYC Watershed, covering parts of Delaware, Greene, Ulster, Schoharie and Sullivan counties.
Not covered: newly constructed homes, and any system less than 20 years old. Sales tax is not an eligible cost.
CWC also runs a Septic Maintenance Program that reimburses 50% of the cost of uncovering and pumping out a septic tank, once every three years, for homeowners in the West-of-Hudson watershed. You hire a licensed pumper, they complete the program's inspection checklist, and you submit it with the invoice, proof of payment and a reimbursement application.
Note that enzyme treatments and septic additives are not eligible costs and are not recommended. CWC does not pay sales tax.
Catskill Watershed Corporation
669 County Highway 38, Suite 1, Arkville, NY 12406
📞 (845) 586-1400
Ulster publishes an interactive map showing a 250-foot buffer around every qualifying priority waterbody. If your system falls inside the buffer you may be eligible. This is the fastest way to answer the question, and worth doing before reading further.
Open the Ulster County septic eligibility map →
Unlike Dutchess — whose map draws a 300-foot buffer against a stated 250-foot rule — Ulster's map and the state rule agree at 250 feet.
Grouped by drainage basin, which is what the first four digits of the DEC segment ID encode.
| Waterbody | DEC segment ID | Basin / roughly where |
|---|---|---|
| Hudson River (Class A) | 1301-0001 | Hudson — along the river |
| Quassaic Creek, Middle, and tribs | 1301-0184 | Hudson — southern Ulster |
| Lattintown Creek and tribs | 1301-0193 | Hudson — Marlborough area |
| Black Creek, Middle, and tribs | 1301-0203 | Hudson — central Ulster |
| Minor tribs to Rondout Reservoir | 1306-0014 | Rondout — NYC watershed |
| Rondout Creek, Upper, and minor tribs | 1306-0026 | Rondout — NYC watershed |
| DeWitt Lake | 1306-0034 | Rondout |
| Tribs to DeWitt Lake | 1306-0035 | Rondout |
| Third and First Binnewater Lakes, Twin Lake | 1306-0036 | Rondout — Rosendale area |
| Kleine Kill and tribs | 1306-0043 | Rondout |
| Palmaghatt Kill, Upper, and tribs | 1306-0050 | Rondout — Shawangunks |
| Verkeerder Kill Creek and tribs | 1306-0054 | Rondout — Shawangunks |
| Latterette Creek, Upper, and tribs | 1306-0065 | Rondout |
| Borden Creek, Upper, and tribs | 1306-0066 | Rondout |
| Lake Minnewaska | 1306-0098 | Rondout — Shawangunks |
| North Peters Kill, Lower, and tribs | 1306-0103 | Rondout — Shawangunks |
| Stony Kill and tribs | 1306-0106 | Rondout |
| Rochester Creek and minor tribs | 1306-0107 | Rondout — Town of Rochester |
| Mill Brook and tribs | 1306-0108 | Rondout |
| Vernoy Kill, Upper, and tribs | 1306-0110 | Rondout |
| Shingle Gully, North/South Gully, and tribs | 1306-0115 | Rondout |
| Leuren Kill and tribs | 1306-0121 | Rondout |
| Ashokan Reservoir | 1307-0004 | Esopus — NYC watershed |
| Minor tribs to Ashokan Reservoir | 1307-0005 | Esopus — NYC watershed |
| Esopus Creek, Upper, and minor tribs | 1307-0007 | Esopus — NYC watershed |
| Plattekill Creek, Lower, and minor tribs | 1307-0013 | Esopus — Saugerties / Woodstock |
| Plattekill Creek, Upper, and tribs | 1307-0014 | Esopus — Woodstock |
| Saw Kill, Upper, and tribs | 1307-0019 | Esopus — Woodstock |
| Kingston Reservoirs 1 and 2 | 1307-0020 | Esopus — Kingston water supply |
| Kingston Reservoir 4 | 1307-0021 | Esopus — Kingston water supply |
| Cooper Lake | 1307-0022 | Esopus — Woodstock, Kingston's supply |
| Bushkill and tribs | 1307-0029 | Esopus — NYC watershed |
| Mink Hollow Brook and tribs | 1307-0034 | Esopus — Woodstock |
| Mill Brook and tribs | 1403-0039 | Delaware — NYC watershed |
Source: NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation, Septic System Replacement Fund Priority Waterbody List, updated 14 July 2026, cross-checked against the list published by RUPCO. Waterbody names and DEC segment IDs are copied exactly. The "basin / roughly where" column is our own orientation guide from the basin code and is not part of the state list — the county decides whether a specific address qualifies. Two separate waterbodies named "Mill Brook" appear on Ulster's list under different IDs. The list is final and closed to additions.
RUPCO's page tells homeowners they can receive up to 50% of the cost, to a maximum of $10,000. That is correct for a conventional replacement — but it is not the whole state programme.
| System type | Reimbursement rate | Maximum per project |
|---|---|---|
| Conventional septic system | 50% of eligible costs | $10,000 |
| Enhanced septic system | 75% of eligible costs | $25,000 |
The enhanced tier is a performance threshold, not a brand: the system must be designed to reduce total nitrogen in treated effluent to 19 mg/L or better, or measurably reduce phosphorus or PFAS. Several Ulster design firms already work with enhanced units such as peat fibre biofilters. More on how these systems work and what they cost →
Source: NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation, Septic System Replacement Fund Program Outline, December 2025 edition. The 19 mg/L threshold and the phosphorus/PFAS alternative are the Fund’s own definition of an Enhanced Septic System — a state rule, not a county one.
Eligible: replacing a cesspool with a septic system; installing, replacing or upgrading a system or its components; enhanced treatment technologies; and design costs limited to work needed to complete the approved design.
Not eligible: routine maintenance such as tank pump-outs, undocumented expenses, government permit fees, interest and late fees, fines and penalties, sales tax, non-essential site beautification or interior plumbing changes, administrative work by the engineer, construction observation by the engineer where that same engineer is also doing the work, and connection to a public or community sewer.
Ulster does not license septic installers the way Putnam does. Instead, the county puts a design professional at the centre of the job. Under State Education Law, plans for a sewage disposal system must be prepared by a professional engineer or registered architect licensed in New York by the State Education Department — and the county's own instructions state that the steps below are performed by that design professional, not by you and not by your excavator.
Ulster County Department of Health — Environmental Health Services Division
239 Golden Hill Lane, Kingston, NY 12401
📞 (845) 340-3010 · Fax (845) 340-3045
Forms: the SDS Application (2025), the Sewage Disposal System Instructions (2026), and NYSDOH form DOH-1327 for percolation test data are all published on the county's Sewage Disposal System Application page.
This is a subsurface sewage treatment system commonly used in Ulster and approved by the New York State Department of Health specifically for use in the county. It is built on two feet of in-situ soil with a percolation rate between 3 and 10 inches per minute. If a designer quotes you one, that is what they mean — it is a recognised system type, not a proprietary product.
An Ulster septic job usually needs two parties, not one: a design professional to design, submit and certify, and a contractor to excavate and build. That is a real difference from neighbouring counties and a common source of surprise on the first quote.
These firms publicly advertise residential septic design in Ulster County. Their licences can be checked against the New York State Education Department's Office of the Professions licence verification search — ask for the licence number and confirm it before signing.
Services: Residential septic system design, subdivisions, site plans, civil engineering
Principal Robert Hagopian, P.E. Over 30 years in water and wastewater engineering, including more than 12 years as an engineer with the Ulster County Health Department before founding the firm in 2002. Sourced from the firm's own website, 23 August 2026 — not yet contacted directly.
Phone: 845-331-5279 · Website
Services: Septic system design to NYSDOH, county and NYC DEP standards; permit submission; construction inspection and certification
States that it works with clients in the NYC Watershed west of the Hudson to obtain Catskill Watershed Corporation reimbursement for repair or replacement of failing systems — useful if you are pursuing the CWC route in section 2. Sourced from the firm's own website, 23 August 2026 — not yet contacted directly.
Services: Residential and commercial wastewater system design, percolation and deep soil testing, enhanced treatment units
Designs range from conventional in-ground systems to enhanced treatment units such as peat fibre biofilters. States experience working with NYSDOH, county health departments, NYC DEP, NYSDEC and the Catskill Watershed Corporation. Sourced from the firm's own website, 23 August 2026 — not yet contacted directly.
Services: Residential septic design, percolation tests, pre-purchase site evaluations
George Baxter, licensed New York State Professional Engineer practising since 1987; personally involved in all design work and inspections. Offers pre-purchase site evaluations covering dwelling, well and septic locations. Sourced from the firm's own website, 23 August 2026 — not yet contacted directly.
These entries were compiled from each firm's own website on 23 August 2026 and have not yet been confirmed by direct contact, which is why they show as verification in progress. We list design professionals rather than installers because Ulster County does not maintain a septic installer register — the county relies on the design professional's stamp and certification instead.
Ulster does license the people who pump your tank. Under Article III of the Ulster County Sanitary Code it is unlawful to engage in the business of removing, transporting or disposing of "offensive material" — which includes the contents of septic systems — without a permit from the Commissioner of Health, issued for each vehicle. Permits expire on 30 April each year.
The county publishes the application forms for this permit but not the list of current permit holders. We have requested it; this section will list permitted haulers once we have it in hand.
If your water comes from a private well rather than town water, New York State's Private Well PFAS Testing and Mitigation Rebate Pilot covers Ulster County. The program offers free testing, and rebates up to $5,000 for whole-house treatment systems or $1,000 for point-of-use filters in homes where PFOA or PFOS exceeds 10 parts per trillion.
For full details on how the programme works, what you can claim, and how to apply, see the New York PFAS rebate guide. For county-specific information and to confirm the current programme contact, start with the Ulster County Department of Health or the NYSDOH information line on 800-458-1158.
Last checked 23 August 2026. Sources: NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation Septic System Replacement Fund programme page and Priority Waterbody List dated 14 July 2026; RUPCO Ulster County Septic System Replacement Program; Catskill Watershed Corporation Septic Repair and Replacement Program and Article 2-A program rules; Ulster County Department of Health Sewage Disposal System Application and Refuse/Sludge Hauler Permit pages; Ulster County Sanitary Code. The published Sanitary Code is revision 5.7.12, effective September 2012, so later amendments may exist. Grant programmes change and allocations run out — confirm current figures before spending money.
Tell us what's going on and we'll connect you with design professionals and septic contractors serving Ulster County. Free, no obligation — you deal directly with them.