Senate Bill No. 734
(By Wooton, Snyder, Caldwell, Fanning, Hunter, Kessler, Minard
Mitchell, Redd, Ross and Deem,)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported April 6, 2001.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section nine-a, article one, chapter
sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to public and
community water systems, and administrative penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section nine-a, article one, chapter sixteen of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. STATE PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM.
§16-1-9a. Public water system and community water system defined;
regulation of maximum contaminant levels in water systems;
authorization of inspections; violations; criminal, civil
and administrative penalties; safe drinking water penalty
fund.
(a) A public water system is any water supply or system
that regularly supplies or offers to supply water for human
consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances, if
serving at least an average of twenty-five individuals per day
for at least sixty days per year, or which has at least fifteen
service connections, and shall include: (1) Any collection,
treatment, storage and distribution facilities under the control
of the owner or operator of such system and used primarily in
connection with such system; and (2) Any collection or
pretreatment storage facilities not under such control which are
used primarily in connection with such system. A public water
system does not include a system that meets all of the following
conditions: (1) Consists only of distribution and storage
facilities (and does not have any collection and treatment
facilities); (2) Obtains all of its water from, but is not owned
or operated by, a public water system that otherwise meets the
definition; (3) Does not sell water to any person; and (4) Is not
a carrier conveying passengers in interstate commerce.
(b)(1) The secretary shall prescribe by legislative rule
the maximum contaminant levels to which all public water systems
shall conform in order to prevent adverse effects on the health
of individuals, and, if the secretary considers appropriate, treatment techniques that reduce the contaminant or contaminants
to a level which will not adversely affect the health of the
consumer. The rule shall contain provisions to protect and
prevent contamination of wellheads and well fields used by public
water supplies so that contaminants do not reach a level that
would adversely affect the health of the consumer.
(2) The secretary shall further prescribe by legislative
rule minimum requirements for: Sampling and testing; system
operation; public notification by a public water system on being
granted a variance or exemption or upon failure to comply with
specific requirements of this section and regulations promulgated
under this section; record keeping; laboratory certification; as
well as procedures and conditions for granting variances and
exemptions to public water systems from state public water
systems regulations.
(3) In addition, the secretary shall establish by
legislative rule, in accordance with article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code, requirements covering the production
and distribution of bottled drinking water and may by legislative
rule, in accordance with article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of
this code, establish requirements governing the taste, odor,
appearance and other consumer acceptability parameters of drinking water.
(c) Authorized representatives of the bureau have right of
entry to any part of a public water system, whether or not the
system is in violation of a legal requirement, for the purpose of
inspecting, sampling or testing, and shall be furnished records
or information reasonably required for a complete inspection.
(d)(1) Any individual, partnership, association, syndicate,
company, firm, trust, corporation, government corporation,
institution, department, division, bureau, agency, federal
agency, or any entity recognized by law who violates any
provision of this section, or any of the rules or orders issued
pursuant to this section, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty dollars
nor more than five hundred dollars, and each day's violation
shall constitute a separate offense. The commissioner or his or
her authorized representative may also seek injunctive relief in
the circuit court of the county in which all or part of the
public water system is situated for threatened or continuing
violations.
(2) For a willful violation of a provision of this section,
or of any of the rules or orders issued under this section for
which a penalty is not otherwise provided under subdivision (3) of this subsection, an individual, partnership, association,
syndicate, company, firm, trust, corporation, government
corporation, institution, department, division, bureau, agency,
federal agency, or entity recognized by law, upon a finding of a
willful violation by the circuit court of the county in which the
violation occurs, shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more
than five thousand dollars, and each day's violation shall be
grounds for a separate penalty.
(3) The commissioner or his or her authorized
representative shall have authority to assess administrative
penalties and initiate any proceedings necessary for the
enforcement of drinking water rules. The administrative penalty
for a violation of any drinking water rule is a minimum of one
thousand dollars per day per violation
and a maximum of two
thousand five hundred dollars per day per violation for systems
serving more than ten thousand persons, a minimum of two hundred
fifty dollars per day per violation and a maximum of five hundred
dollars per day per violation for systems serving over three
thousand three hundred persons up to and including ten thousand
persons, a minimum of one hundred dollars per day per violation
and a maximum of two hundred dollars per day per violation for
systems serving three thousand three hundred or fewer persons, and each day's violation shall be grounds for a separate penalty.
In any action brought to enforce drinking water rules, the
administrative penalty may not exceed an aggregate amount of five
thousand dollars for systems serving a population of less than
ten thousand persons and may not exceed twenty-five thousand
dollars for systems serving a population of ten thousand persons
or more. Penalties are payable to the commissioner. All moneys
collected under this section shall be deposited into a restricted
account known as the safe drinking water penalty fund previously
created in the office of the state treasurer. All money deposited
into the fund shall be used by the commissioner to provide
technical assistance to public water systems.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to change administrative
penalties to comply with federal requirements.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
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