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Introduced Version House Bill 2712 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2712


(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegate Ashley)
[By Request of the Executive]
[Introduced March 25, 1997; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]



A BILL to amend article one, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section nine-b, relating to creating the drinking water state revolving fund, and allowing the division of health to manage and administer the new drinking water state revolving fund program.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter sixteen, article one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended by adding thereto a new section, designated nine-b, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. STATE DIVISION OF HEALTH.
§16-1-9b. Drinking water state revolving fund.
Unless the context in which used clearly requires a different meaning, as used in this section:
(a) "Authority" means the water development authority provided for in chapter twenty-two-c, section four, article one.
(b) "Capacity development" means the public water systems technical, managerial and financial capability.
(c) "Cost" means the cost of all labor, materials, machinery, equipment, lands, property, rights and easements, plans and specifications and all other expenses necessary or incident to the acquisition, construction, improvement, expansion, extension, repair or rehabilitation of all or part of a project.
(d) "Disadvantaged community" means the service area of a public water system that meets affordability criteria established after public review and comment by the state.
(e) "Fund" means the drinking water state revolving fund provided for in this section as it may be expanded or modified from time to time pursuant to the federal safe drinking water act, as amended.
(f) "Instrumentality" means the division of health as having the primary responsibility for administering the fund pursuant to the federal safe drinking water act, as amended.
(g) "Local Entity" means any municipality, public utility, or person, including any individual, firm, partnership, association, not-for-profit corporation or other corporation organized and existing under the laws of the state which is empowered to construct and operate an eligible project.
(h) "Public water system" means that term as defined in section nine-a, article one, chapter sixteen of the code.
(i) "Project" means a project for improving a drinking water system for the purpose of achieving or maintaining compliance with applicable state and federal drinking water regulations.
(k) "Set-aside accounts" means those accounts that may be set up for activities required by the safe drinking water act, as amended, and the moneys for these accounts may be taken from the federal capitalization grant for these nonproject activities before the capitalization grant is deposited into the fund.
The division of health shall act as the instrumentality that is empowered to enter into capitalization agreements with the "United States Environmental Protection Agency" and to accept capitalization grant awards made under the federal safe drinking water act, as amended, to administer and manage the drinking water state revolving fund provided for in this section in accordance with the requirements of the federal laws.
As allowed by the federal safe drinking water act, as amended, set-aside accounts may be set up in separate accounts from the drinking water state revolving fund. These set-asides shall include, but not be limited to, administration costs, source water protection, operator training and certification, technical assistance to systems, local assistance, and other state activities. The commissioner of the division of health or his or her designee shall direct the authority to establish and administer the set-aside accounts as allowed in the federal safe drinking water act. An application fee may be charged and deposited into the administrative account to defray the cost of administering the program.
The commissioner of the division of health or his or her designee shall propose regulations in accordance with provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of the code. These include, but shall not be limited to requirements for: (1) Capacity development; (2) environmental review; (3) disadvantaged community designation; (4) receipt and disbursement of fund moneys; and (5) establishment of a drinking water state revolving fund program to direct the financial management of the fund to water systems and establish the interest rates and repayment terms of the loans.
Under the direction of the division of health, the authority shall establish, administer and manage a perpetual fund to be known as the "West Virginia drinking water state revolving fund." The fund shall be comprised of moneys appropriated to the fund by the Legislature, moneys allocated to the state by the federal government expressly for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a drinking water state revolving fund, all receipts from loans made from the fund, all income from the investment of moneys held in the fund, and all other sums designated for deposits to the fund from any source, public or private. Moneys in the fund shall be used solely to make loans or other allowable financial assistance to eligible projects for public water systems, as described in the federal safe drinking water act, as amended.
In order to carry out the administration and management of the fund, the authority is authorized to employ officers, employees, agents, advisors and consultants, including attorneys, financial advisors, engineers, other technical advisors and public accountants, and notwithstanding any provisions of this code to the contrary, to determine their duties and compensation without the approval of any other agency or instrumentality.
The authority shall propose legislative rules in accordance with the provisions of article three chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to govern the pledge of loans to secure bonds of the authority.
All moneys belonging to the fund shall be kept in appropriate depositories and secured in conformance with this code. Disbursements from the fund shall be authorized for payment by the director of the authority or the director's designee. Any depository or officer of the depository to which moneys of the fund are paid shall act as trustee of the moneys and shall hold and apply them solely for the purposes for which the moneys are provided under this article. Moneys in the fund shall not be commingled with other money of the authority. Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, amounts in the fund shall be deposited by the authority in one or more banking institutions: Provided, That any moneys so deposited shall be deposited in a banking institution located in this state. The banking institution shall be selected by the authority by competitive bid. If not needed for immediate use or disbursement, moneys in the fund may be invested or reinvested by the authority in obligations or securities which are considered lawful investments for public funds under this code.
The authority shall manage the funds for accounting purposes. The authority shall cause an audit of its books and accounts to be made at least once each fiscal year and the cost thereof may be defrayed as administrative expense under provisions of this section. The audit shall be conducted by a certified public accountant and provide an auditors opinion on the fund financial statements, a report on the internal controls and a report compliance with the safe drinking water act, as amended.
In order to ensure the timely payment of all sums due and owing to the fund under a revolving fund loan agreement between the state and a local entity, and notwithstanding any provisions of this code to the contrary, the authority has and may, at its option, exercise the following rights and remedies in the event of any default by a local entity under a loan agreement:
(a) The authority may directly impose, in its own name and for its own benefit, service charges upon all users of a project funded by a loan distributed to a local entity pursuant to this section, and may proceed directly to enforce and collect the service charges, together with all necessary costs of the enforcement and collection.
(b) The authority may exercise, in its own name or in the name of and as the agent for a particular local entity, all of the rights, powers and remedies of the local entity with respect to the project or which may be conferred upon the local entity by statute, rule, regulation or judicial decision, including all rights and remedies with respect to users of the project funded by the loan distributed to that local entity pursuant to this article.
(c) The authority may, by civil action, mandamus or other judicial or administrative proceeding, compel performance by a local entity of all the terms and conditions of the loan agreement between the state and that local entity including:
(1) The adjustment of service charges as required to repay the loan or otherwise satisfy the terms of the loan agreement;
(2) The enforcement and collection of service charges; and
(3) The enforcement by the local entity of all rights and remedies conferred by statute, rule, regulation or judicial decision.
The rights and remedies enumerated in this section are in addition to rights and remedies conferred upon the authority by law or pursuant to the loan agreement.
The provisions of this section shall be liberally construed to the end that its beneficial purposes may be effectuated. Insofar as the provisions of this article are inconsistent with the provisions of any other general, special or local law, the provisions of this section are controlling.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to set up the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and define the requirements to administer and manage the program.

This section is new; therefore, strike throughs and underscoring have been omitted.

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