Bill Text: IN HB1225 | 2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Septic tanks and sewer systems.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 3-1)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-02-01 - First reading: referred to Committee on Energy and Environmental Affairs [HB1225 Detail]
Download: Indiana-2012-HB1225-Amended.html
Citations Affected: IC 8-1; IC 13-11; IC 13-14; IC 13-26; IC 16-20.
January 9, 2012, read first time and referred to Committee on Environmental Affairs.
January 25, 2012, amended, reported _ Do Pass.
January 27, 2012, read second time, amended, ordered engrossed.
Digest Continued
a flat rate or by installing a meter to measure the actual amount of sewage. Authorizes a board to exercise reasonable discretion in temporarily adjusting fees to reflect a user's nonuse of water, sewer, or solid waste services. Provides that a board may bill and collect rates and charges only for services actually provided. Specifies that district rates, fees, and charges assessed against land or a building are liens that do not attach and must be collected by a civil action. Requires a health officer to verify the existence of unlawful conditions that transmit, generate, or promote disease before ordering their abatement. Provides that a person who provides false information to a health officer commits a Class C infraction. Makes technical corrections.
PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type, additions will appear in this style type, and deletions will appear in
Additions: Whenever a new statutory provision is being enacted (or a new constitutional provision adopted), the text of the new provision will appear in this style type. Also, the word NEW will appear in that style type in the introductory clause of each SECTION that adds a new provision to the Indiana Code or the Indiana Constitution.
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A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
environmental law.
(1) does not have shareholders;
(2) does not engage in any activities for the profit of its trustees, directors, incorporators, or members; and
(3) is organized and conducts its affairs for purposes other than the pecuniary gain of its trustees, directors, incorporators, or members.
(b) As used in this section, "sewage disposal system" means all equipment and devices necessary for proper conduction, collection, storage, treatment, and on-site disposal of sewage or other similar waste. The term includes septic tanks, soil absorption systems, holding tanks, cesspools, and privies. The term does not include a
sewer system operated by a not-for-profit public sewer utility.
(c) For purposes of this section, a sewage disposal system is
"failing" if one (1) or more of the following apply:
(1) The system refuses to accept sewage at the rate of design
application and interferes with the normal use of plumbing
fixtures.
(2) Effluent discharge exceeds the absorptive capacity of the
soil into which the system discharges, resulting in ponding,
seepage, or other discharge of the effluent to the ground
surface or to surface waters.
(3) Effluent discharged from the system contaminates a
potable water supply, ground water, or surface waters.
(b) (d) A not-for-profit utility shall be required to furnish reasonably
adequate services and facilities. The charge made by any not-for-profit
utility for any service rendered or to be rendered, either directly or in
connection with the service, must be nondiscriminatory, reasonable,
and just. Each discriminatory, unjust, or unreasonable charge for the
service is prohibited and unlawful.
(c) (e) A reasonable and just charge for water or sewer service
within the meaning of this section is a charge that will produce
sufficient revenue to pay all legal and other necessary expense incident
to the operation of the not-for-profit utility's system, including the
following:
(1) Maintenance and repair costs.
(2) Operating charges.
(3) Interest charges on bonds or other obligations.
(4) Provision for a sinking fund for the liquidation of bonds or
other evidences of indebtedness.
(5) Provision for a debt service reserve for bonds or other
obligations in an amount not to exceed the maximum annual debt
service on the bonds or obligations.
(6) Provision of adequate funds to be used as working capital.
(7) Provision for making extensions and replacements.
(8) The payment of any taxes that may be assessed against the
not-for-profit utility or its property.
The charges must produce an income sufficient to maintain the
not-for-profit utility's property in sound physical and financial
condition to render adequate and efficient service. A rate too low to
meet these requirements is unlawful.
(d) Except as provided in subsection (e), (f) This subsection does
not apply to property located in a county that has a consolidated
city. A not-for-profit public sewer utility may require connection a
property within its service territory producing sewage or similar
waste to be connected to its sewer system of property producing
sewage or similar waste and require the discontinuance of use of
privies, cesspools, septic tanks, and similar structures, a sewage
disposal system serving the property if:
(1) there is an available sanitary sewer within three hundred (300)
feet of the property line; the sewage disposal system is failing;
and
(2) the utility has given provides written notice by certified mail
to the property owner, at the address of provided by the property
owner, at least ninety (90) days before the date for connection
stated in the notice.
The notice must also inform the property owner that the property
may qualify for an exemption as set forth in subsection (g).
(e) A not-for profit sewer utility may not require connection to its
sewer system of property producing sewage or similar waste and
require the discontinuance of use of privies, cesspools, septic tanks,
and similar structures if the source of the waste is more than five
hundred (500) feet from the point of connection to its sewer system.
(g) This subsection does not apply to a sewage disposal system
located in a county that has a consolidated city. A property owner
that receives a notice under subsection (f) is exempt from the
requirement to discontinue use of a sewage disposal system and
connect to the sewer system if, not more than twenty (20) days
after receiving the notice under subsection (f), the property owner
notifies the not-for-profit public sewer utility in writing that the
sewage disposal system is not failing or that the property owner
intends to repair or replace the sewage disposal system, as
applicable. Upon receipt of notice under this subsection, the
not-for-profit public sewer utility shall suspend the requirement to
discontinue use of the sewage disposal system for one hundred
eighty (180) days, during which the property owner shall repair or
replace the sewage disposal system as needed. Before the expiration
of the one hundred eighty (180) days, the property owner shall
notify the not-for-profit public sewer utility in writing that:
(1) the sewage disposal system has been repaired or replaced,
as applicable, and is not failing; or
(2) the property owner requires additional time to repair or
replace the system.
A not-for-profit public sewer utility that receives notice under
subdivision (2) may grant the property owner additional time as it
determines proper.
(h) This subsection applies only to property located in a county
that has a consolidated city. A not-for-profit public sewer utility
may require a property that is within its service territory and is
producing sewage or similar waste to be connected to its sewer
system and require the discontinuance of use of a sewage disposal
system serving the property if:
(1) there is an available sanitary sewer within three hundred
(300) feet of the property line; and
(2) the utility provides written notice by certified mail to the
property owner, at the address provided by the property
owner, at least ninety (90) days before the date for connection
stated in the notice.
(i) A property owner who connects to a not-for-profit public
sewer utility's sewer system may provide, at the owner's expense,
labor, equipment, materials, or any combination of labor,
equipment, and materials from any source to accomplish the
connection to the sewer system, subject to inspection and approval
by the governing board of the not-for-profit public sewer utility or
a designee of the board.
(j) This section does not prohibit the state department of health,
a local health department, or a county health officer from
proceeding under IC 16-41-20 to declare a dwelling served by a
sewage disposal system a public nuisance and pursuing all
available remedies.
(1) store;
(2) treat;
(3) make inoffensive; or
(4) dispose of;
human excrement or liquid carrying wastes of a domestic nature.
(1) away from established residences; and
(2) for educational, recreational, sectarian, or health purposes;
for at least ten (10) children who are less than eighteen (18) years of age and not accompanied by a parent or guardian.
(1) water supply;
(2) air, water, or wastewater treatment; or
(3) solid waste disposal facilities;
the department
(b) If the facts support the conclusion, the department may order the affected local governmental units to proceed under IC 13-26 to form regional water, sewage, air, or solid waste districts that are necessary under IC 13-26.
(1) At least one (1) trustee must be an elected official who represents a political subdivision that has territory in the district.
(2) Except for an elected official described in subdivision (1), each trustee must be:
(A) a ratepayer in the district; or
(B) if there are no available ratepayers in a district, a resident of the district.
(b) This subsection applies to a district that exists on or after July 1, 2012. Beginning with the initial election or appointment of a trustee to fill a vacancy that occurs on a board after June 30, 2012, or to fill the office of a trustee whose term begins after June 30, 2012, the district shall comply with the trustee requirements set forth in subsection (a) in the following order:
(1) The district shall comply with the requirement of subsection (a)(1) first.
(2) After the requirement under subsection (a)(1) is fulfilled, the district shall use subsequent elections or appointments of trustees to fill vacancies to fulfill the requirement of subsection (a)(2).
(1) in the presence of others who are present to testify; and
(2) in accordance with subsection (b).
(b) The board may limit testimony at a public hearing to a reasonable time stated at the opening of the public hearing.
(1) Sue or be sued.
(2) Make contracts in the exercise of the rights, powers, and duties conferred upon the district.
(3) Adopt and alter a seal and use the seal by causing the seal to be impressed, affixed, reproduced, or otherwise used. However, the failure to affix a seal does not affect the validity of an instrument.
(4) Adopt, amend, and repeal the following:
(A) Bylaws for the administration of the district's affairs.
(B) Rules and regulations for the following:
(i) The control of the administration and operation of the district's service and facilities.
(ii) The exercise of all of the district's rights of ownership.
(5) Construct, acquire, lease, operate, or manage works and obtain rights, easements, licenses, money, contracts, accounts, liens, books, records, maps, or other property, whether real, personal, or mixed, of a person or an eligible entity.
(6) Assume in whole or in part any liability or obligation of:
(A) a person;
(B) a nonprofit water, sewage, or solid waste project system; or
(C) an eligible entity;
including a pledge of part or all of the net revenues of a works to the debt service on outstanding bonds of an entity in whole or in part in the district and including a right on the part of the district to indemnify and protect a contracting party from loss or liability by reason of the failure of the district to perform an agreement assumed by the district or to act or discharge an obligation.
(7) Fix, alter, charge, and collect reasonable rates and other charges in the area served by the district's facilities to every person whose premises are, whether directly or indirectly, supplied with water or provided with sewage or solid waste services by the facilities for the purpose of providing for the following:
(A) The payment of the expenses of the district.
(B) The construction, acquisition, improvement, extension, repair, maintenance, and operation of the district's facilities and properties.
(C) The payment of principal or interest on the district's obligations.
(D) To fulfill the terms of agreements made with:
(i) the purchasers or holders of any obligations; or
(ii) a person or an eligible entity.
(8) Except as provided in
(A) there is an available sanitary sewer within three hundred (300) feet of the property line;
(B) the district has given written notice by certified mail to the property owner at the address of the property at least ninety (90) days before a date for connection to be stated in the notice; and
(C) if the property is located outside the district's territory:
(i) the district has obtained and provided to the property owner (along with the notice required by clause (B)) a letter of recommendation from the local health department that there is a possible threat to the public's health; and
(ii) if the property is also located within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipal sewage works under IC 36-9-23 or a public sanitation department under IC 36-9-25, the municipal works board or department of public sanitation
has acknowledged in writing that the property is within the
municipal sewage works or department of public sanitation's
extraterritorial jurisdiction, but the municipal works board
or department of public sanitation is unable to provide sewer
service.
However, a district may not require the owner of a property
described in this subdivision to connect to the district's sewer
system if the property is already connected to a sewer system that
has received an NPDES permit and has been determined to be
functioning satisfactorily.
(9) Provide by ordinance for reasonable penalties for failure to
connect and also apply to the circuit or superior court of the
county in which the property is located for an order to force
connection, with the cost of the action, including reasonable
attorney's fees of the district, to be assessed by the court against
the property owner in the action.
(10) Refuse the services of the district's facilities if the rates or
other charges are not paid by the user.
(11) Control and supervise all property, works, easements,
licenses, money, contracts, accounts, liens, books, records, maps,
or other property rights and interests conveyed, delivered,
transferred, or assigned to the district.
(12) Construct, acquire by purchase or otherwise, operate, lease,
preserve, and maintain works considered necessary to accomplish
the purposes of the district's establishment within or outside the
district and enter into contracts for the operation of works owned,
leased, or held by another entity, whether public or private.
(13) Hold, encumber, control, acquire by donation, purchase, or
condemnation, construct, own, lease as lessee or lessor, use, and
sell interests in real and personal property or franchises within or
outside the district for:
(A) the location or protection of works;
(B) the relocation of buildings, structures, and improvements
situated on land required by the district or for any other
necessary purpose; or
(C) obtaining or storing material to be used in constructing and
maintaining the works.
(14) Upon consent of two-thirds (2/3) of the members of the
board, merge or combine with another district into a single district
on terms so that the surviving district:
(A) is possessed of all rights, franchises, and authority of the
constituent districts; and
(B) is subject to all the liabilities, obligations, and duties of each of the constituent districts, with all rights of creditors of the constituent districts being preserved unimpaired.
(15) Provide by agreement with another eligible entity for the joint construction of works the district is authorized to construct if the construction is for the district's own benefit and that of the other entity. For this purpose the cooperating entities may jointly appropriate land either within or outside their respective borders if all subsequent proceedings, actions, powers, liabilities, rights, and duties are those set forth by statute.
(16) Enter into contracts with a person, an eligible entity, the state, or the United States to provide services to the contracting party for any of the following:
(A) The distribution or purification of water.
(B) The collection or treatment of sanitary sewage.
(C) The collection, disposal, or recovery of solid waste.
(17) Make provision for, contract for, or sell the district's byproducts or waste.
(18) Exercise the power of eminent domain, including for purposes of siting sewer or water utility infrastructure, but only after the district attempts to use existing public rights-of-way or easements.
(19) Remove or change the location of a fence, building, railroad, canal, or other structure or improvement located within or outside the district. If:
(A) it is not feasible or economical to move the building, structure, or improvement situated in or upon land acquired; and
(B) the cost is determined by the board to be less than that of purchase or condemnation;
the district may acquire land and construct, acquire, or install buildings, structures, or improvements similar in purpose to be exchanged for the buildings, structures, or improvements under contracts entered into between the owner and the district.
(20) Employ consulting engineers, superintendents, managers, and other engineering, construction, and accounting experts, attorneys, bond counsel, employees, and agents that are necessary for the accomplishment of the district's purpose and fix their compensation.
(21) Procure insurance against loss to the district by reason of damages to the district's properties, works, or improvements resulting from fire, theft, accident, or other casualty or because of
the liability of the district for damages to persons or property
occurring in the operations of the district's works and
improvements or the conduct of the district's activities.
(22) Exercise the powers of the district without obtaining the
consent of other eligible entities. However, the district shall:
(A) restore or repair all public or private property damaged in
carrying out the powers of the district and place the property
in the property's original condition as nearly as practicable; or
(B) pay adequate compensation for the property.
(23) Dispose of, by public or private sale or lease, real or personal
property determined by the board to be no longer necessary or
needed for the operation or purposes of the district.
(1) The system refuses to accept sewage at the rate of design application and interferes with the normal use of plumbing fixtures.
(2) Effluent discharge exceeds the absorptive capacity of the soil into which the system discharges, resulting in ponding, seepage, or other discharge of the effluent to the ground surface or to surface waters.
(3) Effluent discharged from the system contaminates a potable water supply, ground water, or surface waters.
(b)
(1) that the property owner may be required to discontinue the use of a
(2) that the property owner may qualify for an exemption from the requirement to discontinue the use of the
(3) of the procedures to claim an exemption.
(1) the sewage disposal system has been repaired or replaced, as applicable, and is not failing; or
(2) the property owner requires additional time to repair or replace the system.
A district that receives notice under subdivision (2) may grant the property owner additional time as it determines proper.
(e) A property owner who qualifies for an exemption under this section:
(1) may not be required to:
(A) connect to a district's sewer system; and
(B) discontinue use of a sewage disposal system;
for five (5) years beginning on the date the exemption begins; and
(2) may apply for additional and unlimited five (5) year extensions of the exemption if the owner obtains and provides to the district, at the owner's expense, a certification from the local health department or the department's designee that the sewage disposal system is not failing.
(f) A property owner who connects to a district's sewer system may provide, at the owner's expense, labor, equipment, materials, or any combination of labor, equipment, and materials from any source to accomplish the connection to the sewer system, subject to inspection and approval by the board or a designee of the board.
(g) This section does not prohibit the state department of health, a local health department, or a county health officer from proceeding under IC 16-41-20 to declare a dwelling served by a sewage disposal system a public nuisance and pursuing all available remedies.
(1) the property is located on at least ten (10) acres;
(2) the owner can demonstrate the availability of at least two (2) areas on the property for the collection and treatment of sewage that will protect human health and the environment;
(3) the waste stream from the property is limited to domestic sewage from a residence or business;
(4) the system used to collect and treat the domestic sewage has a maximum design flow of seven hundred fifty (750) gallons per day; and
(5) the owner, at the owner's own expense, obtains and provides to the district a certification from the local health department or the department's designee that the system is functioning satisfactorily.
(1) A flat charge for each connection. If a board uses a flat charge as factor to determine a rate or charge for a waterworks, the board must:
(A) prepare a written statement of not more than one (1) page in length that summarizes the calculations and processes used to determine the amount of the flat charge; and
(B) provide a copy of the written statement to each person who:
(i) is required to pay the rate or charge; and
(ii) requests a paper copy of the summary.
(2) The amount of water consumed.
(3) The size of the meter or connection.
(4) Whether the property served has been or will be required to pay separately for the cost of any of the facilities of the works.
(5) A combination of these or other factors that the board determines is necessary to establish just and equitable rates and charges.
(1) A flat charge for each connection. If a board uses a flat charge as factor to determine a rate or charge for a sewage works, the board shall:
(A) prepare a written statement of not more than one (1) page in length that summarizes the calculations and processes used to determine the amount of the flat charge; and
(B) provide a copy of the written statement to each person who:
(i) is required to pay the rate or charge; and
(ii) requests a paper copy of the summary.
(2) The amount of water used on the premises.
(3) The number and size of water outlets on the premises.
(4) The amount, strength, or character of sewage discharged into the sewers.
(5) The size of sewer connections.
(6) Whether the property served has been or will be required to pay separately for the cost of any of the facilities of the works.
(7) A combination of these or other factors that the board determines is necessary to establish nondiscriminatory, just, and equitable rates or charges.
(b)
subsection (a), the campground may instead elect to be billed for the
sewage service under this subsection by installing, A campground or
youth camp may be billed for sewage service at a flat rate or by
installing, at the campground's or youth camp's expense, a meter to
measure the actual amount of sewage discharged by the campground
or youth camp into the sewers. If a campground or youth camp elects
to be billed by use of a meter:
(1) the rate charged by a board for the metered sewage service
may not exceed the rate charged to residential customers for
equivalent usage; and
(2) the amount charged by a board for the campground's or youth
camp's monthly sewage service for the period beginning
September 1 and ending May 31 must be equal to the greater of:
(A) the actual amount that would be charged for the sewage
discharged during the month by the campground or youth
camp as measured by the meter. or
(B) the lowest monthly charge paid by the campground for
sewage service during the previous period beginning June 1
and ending August 31.
(c) If a campground or youth camp does not install a meter under
subsection (b) and is billed for sewage service at a flat rate, under
subsection (a), for a calendar year beginning after December 31, 2004,
each campsite at the campground or youth camp may not equal more
than one-third (1/3) of one (1) resident equivalent unit. The basic
monthly charge for the campground's or youth camp's sewage service
must be equal to the number of the campground's or youth camp's
resident equivalent units multiplied by the rate charged by the board for
a resident unit.
(d) The board may impose additional charges on a campground or
youth camp under subsections (b) and (c) if the board incurs
additional costs that are caused by any unique factors that apply to
providing sewage service for the campground or youth camp,
including, but not limited to:
(1) the installation of:
(A) oversized pipe; or
(B) any other unique equipment;
necessary to provide sewage service for the campground or youth
camp; and
(2) concentrations of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) that
exceed federal pollutant standards.
1 and 2 of this chapter, a district may bill and collect rates and
charges only for the services to be actually provided after the contract
for construction of a sewage works has been let and actual work
commenced in an amount sufficient to meet the interest on the revenue
bonds and other expenses payable before the completion of the works.
during the applicable billing cycle.
(1) lot;
(2) parcel of land; or
(3) building;
connected
(1) do not attach; and
(b) A health officer, upon
complaint as provided in subsection (d). Upon verifying the
information contained in the complaint, the health officer shall
order the abatement of those conditions. The order must:
(1) be in writing; if demanded;
(2) specify the conditions that may transmit disease; and
(3) name the shortest reasonable time for abatement.
(c) If a person refuses or neglects to obey an order issued under this
section, the attorney representing the county of the health jurisdiction
where the offense occurs shall, upon receiving the information from the
health officer, institute proceedings in the courts for enforcement. An
order may be enforced by injunction. If the action concerning public
health is a criminal offense, a law enforcement authority with
jurisdiction over the place where the offense occurred shall be notified.
(d) A complaint made under subsection (b) must include
adequate details to allow the health officer to verify the existence
of the unlawful conditions that are the subject of the complaint. A
health officer must provide a copy of a complaint upon request to
the person who is the subject of the complaint.
(e) A person who provides false information upon which a
health officer relies in issuing an order under this section commits
a Class C infraction.
