Bill Text: CT SB00865 | 2015 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: An Act Concerning Allowable Costs For The Installation Of Certain Oversized Water Mains.
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Passed) 2015-06-19 - Signed by the Governor [SB00865 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2015-SB00865-Introduced.html
General Assembly |
Raised Bill No. 865 | ||
January Session, 2015 |
LCO No. 3162 | ||
*03162_______ENV* | |||
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT |
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Introduced by: |
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(ENV) |
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AN ACT CONCERNING ALLOWABLE COSTS FOR THE INSTALLATION OF OVERSIZED WATER MAINS AND THE BACKUP WELL SITING REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN WATER COMPANY DIVERSIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 22a-471 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(b) (1) (A) Any municipality not responsible for the pollution of the groundwaters [which] that is ordered to provide potable drinking water in accordance with subsection (a) of this section may apply to the commissioner for a grant as provided by this subsection. Except as provided in subparagraph (C) of subdivision (1) of this subsection and in subdivision (2) of this subsection, the commissioner shall make grants for the short-term provision of potable drinking water and the construction or installation of individual wells or individual water treatment systems, including, but not limited to, carbon absorption filters and shall make grants for other capital improvements for the long-term provision of potable drinking water from any bond authorization established for that purpose.
(B) The amount distributed to a municipality shall, as funds allow, equal one hundred per cent of the cost of short-term provision of potable drinking water, one hundred per cent of the cost of the engineering report required by this section, one hundred per cent of the cost of capital improvements for the most cost-effective long-term method of providing potable drinking water as determined by the commissioner and the Commissioner of Public Health upon consideration of such engineering report, and one hundred per cent of the cost during the first five years of installation of monitoring and maintaining individual water treatment systems and monitoring drinking water wells located in an area where the commissioner determines that pollution of the groundwater is reasonably likely to occur. No state funds shall be distributed to a municipality for the cost of operating or maintaining any potable water supply facilities other than as specified in this subsection.
(C) Notwithstanding any provision of this subsection to the contrary, the commissioner may advance to a municipality, from the proceeds of any bonds authorized for the provision of potable drinking water, any percentage of the cost of short-term and long-term provision of potable drinking water [which] that he deems necessary.
(2) (A) If the commissioner is unable to determine the person or municipality responsible for rendering the groundwaters unusable for potable drinking water or if the commissioner determines that the responsible persons have no assets other than land, buildings, business machinery or livestock and are unable to secure a loan at a reasonable rate of interest to provide potable drinking water, a water company [which] that has less than ten thousand customers and [which] that owns, maintains, operates, manages, controls or employs a water supply well [which] that is rendered unusable for potable drinking water, may apply to the commissioner for a grant from funds established pursuant to section 22a-451 or from the proceeds of any bonds authorized for the provision of potable drinking water. If, upon review of the engineering report required by this subsection to be submitted with an application for such a grant, the commissioner determines that a grant to a water company from available appropriations or from the proceeds of any bonds authorized for the provision of potable drinking water is appropriate, the commissioner may make such a grant in accordance with regulations adopted by the commissioner pursuant to subsection (e) of this section.
(B) The total amount distributed to a water company pursuant to this subsection shall, as funds allow, equal fifty per cent of the cost of the engineering report required by this subsection and fifty per cent of the cost of the most cost-effective long-term method of rendering the water supply in question usable for potable drinking water, as determined by the commissioner and the Commissioner of Public Health upon consideration of the required engineering report.
(C) For purposes of this section, "water company" and "customer" have the same meanings as provided in section 25-32a.
(D) Any water company applying for a grant pursuant to this section shall prepare or have prepared an engineering report [which] that shall be subject to the approval of the commissioner and the Commissioner of Public Health and include, but not be limited to, a description in detail of the problem, area and population affected by pollution of the groundwaters; alternate solutions including relative cost of construction or installation, operation and maintenance; design criteria on all alternate solutions and any other information the commissioner deems necessary.
(3) (A) If a municipality or water company receives funding from a private source, a federal grant or another state grant for any cost for which a grant may be awarded pursuant to this section, the grant under this section shall equal the specified percentage of the costs specified in this subsection minus the amount of the other funding.
(B) If a municipality or water company receives a grant under this section and is compensated by a person who or municipality [which] that is responsible for rendering the groundwaters unusable for potable drinking water, the municipality or water company shall reimburse the account from which the funds were made available for the grant as follows: If the compensation from the responsible party equals or exceeds the costs toward which the grant was to be applied, the municipality or water company shall reimburse the total amount of the grant; if the compensation is less than the cost toward which the grant was to be applied, the municipality or water company shall reimburse a percentage of the compensation equal to the percentage of such costs paid by the grant.
(4) (A) Notwithstanding any request for a hearing or a pending appeal therefrom, if a person or municipality responsible for pollution of the groundwaters fails to comply with an order of the commissioner issued pursuant to this section, the municipality wherein such pollution is located may, after giving written notice of its intent to the commissioner and the responsible person or municipality, undertake the actions required by the order and seek reimbursement for the cost of such actions from the responsible person or municipality. If at any time after receipt of such a notice, the responsible party intends to comply with a step of the order [which] that the municipality has not yet completed, the responsible party may do so with the written approval of the commissioner and municipality, provided the actions [which] that the responsible party takes are consistent with those taken by the municipality.
(B) The commissioner may order any person or municipality responsible for pollution of the groundwaters to reimburse the state, a water company, and any municipality [which] that is not responsible for pollution but received an order pursuant to this section or [which] that did not receive such an order but voluntarily provided potable drinking water, for (i) the expenses each incurred in providing potable drinking water to any person affected by such pollution, provided the required reimbursement for such expenses shall not exceed the actual cost of short-term provision of potable drinking water and an amount equal to the reasonable cost of planning and implementing the most cost-effective long-term method of providing potable drinking water as determined by the commissioner and the Commissioner of Public Health; (ii) costs for recovering such reimbursement; (iii) interest on the expenses specified in (i) at a rate of ten per cent a year from the date such expenses were paid; and (iv) reasonable attorney's fees. The commissioner may request the Attorney General to bring a civil action to recover any costs or expenses incurred by the commissioner pursuant to this subsection provided no such action may be brought later than ten years after the date of discovery of the pollution of public or private sources of water for drinking or other personal or domestic use.
(C) If a municipality fails to recover all expenses specified in subparagraph (B)(i) of subdivision (4) of this subsection from the responsible party, the municipality may apply to the commissioner for a grant in accordance with this subsection, provided the total amount of funds received from the commissioner and the responsible party shall not exceed the amounts specified in subparagraph (B) of subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this section.
(5) For purposes of this section except subdivision (3) of subsection (a) and subparagraph (B)(ii) of subdivision (4) of this subsection, "cost" includes only those costs [which] that the commissioner determines are necessary and reasonable, including, but not limited to, the cost of plans and specifications, construction or installation and supervision thereof.
(6) If any grant application is pending on June 7, 1994, and is approved by the commissioner, the percentage of costs to be paid by the grant shall be determined in accordance with this section. Any order pending on May 31, 1985, shall be construed in accordance with this section.
(7) Any person who or municipality [which] that provides potable drinking water pursuant to this section may, with the approval of the commissioner, construct or install facilities beyond the areas included in the order or facilities [which] that are more costly than those [which] that are determined to be most cost-effective, provided any request for a grant or reimbursement shall be limited to the amounts specified in this section.
(8) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (7) of this subsection, any facility, or part thereof, that is larger than necessary to serve the contaminated area in order to meet the public health and firefighting flow needs of a municipality shall be considered an allowable cost for the purpose of making a grant to a municipality pursuant to this subsection.
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 22a-377 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(a) The following diversions are exempt from the provisions of sections 22a-365 to 22a-378a, inclusive: (1) One or more wells joined in one system whose combined maximum withdrawal will not exceed fifty thousand gallons of water during any twenty-four-hour period; (2) the maximum withdrawal of fifty thousand gallons of surface water during any twenty-four-hour period; (3) discharges permitted under the provisions of section 22a-430; (4) a storm drainage system [which] that collects the surface water runoff of an area of less than one hundred acres; (5) water for fire emergency purposes; (6) diversions within, extensions and relocation of water supply system distribution mains; (7) roadway crossings or culverts [which] that allow for continuous flow or passage of an existing watercourse; (8) diversions directly related to routine maintenance and emergency repairs of dams; and (9) diversions by a water company, as defined in section 25-32a, that are necessary to protect the security of public water supplies, including: (A) A diversion from a [back-up] backup well where a primary well is out of service, provided (i) the [back-up] backup well is located within [two] seven hundred fifty feet of such primary well, (ii) the total quantity of water withdrawn does not result in an increase in the rate or quantity of a diversion registered or permitted by the commissioner pursuant to section 22a-368 or 22a-378a, and (iii) not later than January thirtieth of each year, the commissioner is supplied a written annual report, for the prior year, that identifies the location of each [back-up] backup well, the construction type of each [back-up] backup well, the date of installation and the daily water use from each primary well and each [back-up] backup well for those days on which the [back-up] backup well operated; or (B) a transfer of water from one distribution system to another during a water supply emergency declared pursuant to section 22a-378 or 25-32b or otherwise declared according to law, provided the transfer (i) is limited to the period during which the emergency exists, (ii) does not result in an increase in the rate or quantity of a diversion registered or permitted by the commissioner pursuant to section 22a-368 or 22a-378a, (iii) is accomplished through existing, authorized, installed capacity to transfer or through temporary equipment that is removed within thirty days after the last day of the water supply emergency, and (iv) the commissioner is notified, in writing, of any such transfer and its location within three days of the transfer and the commissioner is provided a written report of the daily transfer of water that occurred during the emergency and any other related information the commissioner may request.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
from passage |
22a-471(b) |
Sec. 2 |
from passage |
22a-377(a) |
Statement of Purpose:
To allow a municipality that installs a larger than necessary water main for the provision of water to a contaminated drinking water area and for requisite firefighting flow needs to be eligible to receive a grant from the state for the costs associated with such water main and, for purposes of diversion exemptions, to provide a larger area in which a backup well can be located where the primary well is out of service.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]