AN ACT Relating to
water systems; amending RCW 57.04.050 and 43.70.195; reenacting and amending
RCW 84.09.030; adding a new section to chapter 35.13A RCW; adding a new section
to chapter 35A.21 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 36.94 RCW; adding a new
section to chapter 57.24 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 80.28 RCW; adding
a new section to chapter 54.16 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 87.03 RCW;
and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec.
1. The legislature finds
that the monitoring and treatment requirements of the federal safe drinking
water act place increasing burdens and cost on public water supply systems,
especially smaller systems and rural systems. Across the state, those systems
are turning to existing systems and their county governments for help, which
may include assumption of the system.
It is the intent of the
legislature to encourage larger existing systems to assist or acquire troubled
systems or those systems burdened by federal requirements, to provide financial
protection for that assistance, and to protect receivers of failed water
systems.
Sec. 2. RCW 57.04.050 and 1990 c
259 s 28 are each amended to read as follows:
Upon entry of the
findings of the final hearing on the petition if one or more county legislative
authorities find that the proposed district will be conducive to the public
health, welfare, and convenience and be of special benefit to the land therein,
they shall call a special election by presenting a resolution to the county
auditor at least forty‑five days prior to the proposed election date. A
special election will be held on a date decided by the commissioners in
accordance with RCW 29.13.010 and 29.13.020. The commissioners shall cause to
be published a notice of the election for four successive weeks in a newspaper
of general circulation in the proposed district, which notice shall state the
hours during which the polls will be open, the boundaries of the district as
finally adopted and the object of the election, and the notice shall also be
posted for ten days in ten public places in the proposed district. In
submitting the proposition to the voters, it shall be expressed on the ballots
in the following terms:
Water
District......................................... YES G
Water District......................................... NO
G
giving the name of the
district as provided in the petition.
At the same election a
proposition shall be submitted to the voters, for their approval or rejection,
authorizing the water district, if formed, to levy at the earliest time
permitted by law on all property located in the district a general tax for one
year, in excess of the limitations provided by law, in the amount specified in
the petition to create the district, not to exceed one dollar and twenty-five
cents per thousand dollars of assessed value, for general preliminary expenses
of the district((, the proposition to)). The proposition may not
appear at the September or November election. The proposition shall be
expressed on the ballots in the following terms:
One year
. . . . . . dollars and
. . . . . . cents per thousand dollars of assessed
value tax................. YES G
One year . . . . . . dollars and
. . . . . . cents per thousand dollars of assessed
value tax................. NO G
Such proposition to be
effective must be approved ((by a majority of at least three-fifths of the
registered voters thereof voting on the proposition)) in the manner set
forth in Article VII, section 2(a) of the Constitution of this state, as
amended by Amendment 59 and as thereafter amended.
Sec. 3. RCW 43.70.195 and 1990 c
133 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) In any action
brought by the secretary of health or by a local health officer pursuant to
chapter 7.60 RCW to place a public water system in receivership, the petition
shall include the names of one or more suitable candidates for receiver who
have consented to assume operation of the water system. The department shall
maintain a list of interested and qualified individuals, municipal entities,
special purpose districts, and investor-owned water companies with experience
in the provision of water service and a history of satisfactory operation of a
water system. If there is no other person willing and able to be named as
receiver, the court shall appoint the county in which the water system is
located as receiver. The county may designate a county agency to operate the
system, or it may contract with another individual or public water system to
provide management for the system. If the county is appointed as receiver, the
secretary of health and the county health officer shall provide regulatory
oversight for the agency or other person responsible for managing the water
system.
(2) In any petition for
receivership under subsection (1) of this section, the department shall
recommend that the court grant to the receiver full authority to act in the
best interests of the customers served by the public water system. The
receiver shall assess the capability, in conjunction with the department and
local government, for the system to operate in compliance with health and
safety standards, and shall report to the court and the petitioning agency
its recommendations for the system's future operation, including the formation
of a water district or other public entity, or ownership by another existing
water system capable of providing service.
(3) If a petition for
receivership and verifying affidavit executed by an appropriate departmental
official allege an immediate and serious danger to residents constituting an
emergency, the court shall set the matter for hearing within three days and may
appoint a temporary receiver ex parte upon the strength of such petition and
affidavit pending a full evidentiary hearing, which shall be held within
fourteen days after receipt of the petition.
(4) A bond, if any is
imposed upon a receiver, shall be minimal and shall reasonably relate to the
level of operating revenue generated by the system. Any receiver appointed
pursuant to this section shall not be held personally liable for any good
faith, reasonable effort to assume possession of, and to operate, the system in
compliance with the court's orders.
(5) The court shall
authorize the receiver to impose reasonable assessments on a water system's
customers to recover expenditures for improvements necessary for the public
health and safety.
(6) No later than
twelve months after appointment of a receiver, the petitioning agency, in
conjunction with the county in which the system is located, and the appropriate
state and local health agencies, shall develop and present to the court a plan
for the disposition of the system. The report shall include the recommendations
of the receiver made pursuant to subsection (2) of this section. The report
shall include all reasonable and feasible alternatives. After receiving the
report, the court shall provide notice to interested parties and conduct such
hearings as are necessary. The court shall then order the parties to implement
one of the alternatives, or any combination thereof, for the disposition of the
system. Such order shall include a date, or proposed date, for the termination
of the receivership. Nothing in this section authorizes a court to require a
city, town, public utility district, water district, or irrigation district to
accept a system that has been in receivership unless the city, town, public
utility district, water district, or irrigation district agrees to the terms
and conditions outlined in the plan adopted by the court.
(7) The court shall
not terminate the receivership, and order the return of the system to the
owners, unless the department of health approves of such an action. The court
may impose reasonable conditions upon the return of the system to the owner,
including the posting of a bond or other security, routine performance and
financial audits, employment of qualified operators and other staff or
contracted services, compliance with financial viability requirements, or other
measures sufficient to ensure the ongoing proper operation of the system.
(8) If, as part of
the ultimate disposition of the system, an eminent domain action is commenced
by a public entity to acquire the system, the court shall oversee any appraisal
of the system conducted under Title 7 RCW to assure that the appraised value
properly reflects any reduced value because of the necessity to make
improvements to the system. The court shall have the authority to approve the
appraisal, and to modify it based on any information provided at an evidentiary
hearing. The court's determination of the proper value of the system, based on
the appraisal, shall be final, and only appealable if not supported by substantial
evidence. If the appraised value is appealed, the court may order that the
system's ownership be transferred upon payment of the approved appraised value.
Sec. 4. RCW 84.09.030 and 1989 c
378 s 8 and 1989 c 217 s 1 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
Except as follows, the
boundaries of counties, cities and all other taxing districts, for purposes of
property taxation and the levy of property taxes, shall be the established
official boundaries of such districts existing on the first day of March of the
year in which the property tax levy is made.
The official boundaries
of a newly incorporated taxing district shall be established at a different
date in the year in which the incorporation occurred as follows:
(1) Boundaries for a
newly incorporated city shall be established on the last day of March of the
year in which the initial property tax levy is made, and the boundaries of a
road district, library district, or fire protection district or districts, that
include any portion of the area that was incorporated within its boundaries
shall be altered as of this date to exclude this area, if the budget for the
newly incorporated city is filed pursuant to RCW 84.52.020 and the levy request
of the newly incorporated city is made pursuant to RCW 84.52.070. Whenever a
proposed city incorporation is on the March special election ballot, the county
auditor shall submit the legal description of the proposed city to the
department of revenue on or before the first day of March;
(2) Boundaries for a
newly incorporated port district shall be established on the first day of
October if the boundaries of the newly incorporated port district are
coterminous with the boundaries of another taxing district, as they existed on
the first day of March of that year;
(3) Boundaries of any
other newly incorporated taxing district shall be established on the first day
of June of the year in which the property tax levy is made if the taxing
district has boundaries coterminous with the boundaries of another taxing
district, as they existed on the first day of March of that year;
(4) Boundaries for a
newly incorporated water district shall be established on the fifteenth of June
of the year in which the proposition under RCW 57.04.050 authorizing a water
district excess levy is approved.
The boundaries of a
taxing district shall be established on the first day of June if territory has
been added to, or removed from, the taxing district after the first day of
March of that year with boundaries coterminous with the boundaries of another
taxing district as they existed on the first day of March of that year.
However, the boundaries of a road district, library district, or fire
protection district or districts, that include any portion of the area that was
annexed to a city or town within its boundaries shall be altered as of this
date to exclude this area. In any case where any instrument setting forth the
official boundaries of any newly established taxing district, or setting forth
any change in such boundaries, is required by law to be filed in the office of
the county auditor or other county official, said instrument shall be filed in
triplicate. The officer with whom such instrument is filed shall transmit two
copies to the county assessor.
No property tax levy
shall be made for any taxing district whose boundaries are not established as
of the dates provided in this section.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
5. A new section is added to
chapter 35.13A RCW to read as follows:
A city assuming
responsibility for a water system that is not in compliance with state or
federal requirements for public drinking water systems, and its agents and
employees, are immune from lawsuits or causes of action, based on
non-compliance with state or federal requirements for public drinking water
systems, which pre-date the date of assuming responsibility and continue after
the date of assuming responsibility, provided that the city has submitted and
is complying with a plan and schedule of improvements approved by the
department of health. This immunity shall expire on the earlier of the date
the plan of improvements is completed or four years from the date of assuming
responsibility. This immunity does not apply to intentional injuries, fraud,
or bad faith.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
6. A new section is added to
chapter 35A.21 RCW to read as follows:
A code city assuming
responsibility for a water system that is not in compliance with state or
federal requirements for public drinking water systems, and its agents and
employees, are immune from lawsuits or causes of action, based on
non-compliance with state or federal requirements for public drinking water
systems, which pre-date the date of assuming responsibility and continue after
the date of assuming responsibility, provided that the city has submitted and
is complying with a plan and schedule of improvements approved by the
department of health. This immunity shall expire on the earlier of the date
the plan of improvements is completed or four years from the date of assuming
responsibility. This immunity does not apply to intentional injuries, fraud,
or bad faith.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
7. A new section is added to
chapter 36.94 RCW to read as follows:
A county assuming
responsibility for a water system that is not in compliance with state or
federal requirements for public drinking water systems, and its agents and
employees, are immune from lawsuits or causes of action, based on
non-compliance with state or federal requirements for public drinking water
systems, which pre-date the date of assuming responsibility and continue after
the date of assuming responsibility, provided that the county has submitted and
is complying with a plan and schedule of improvements approved by the
department of health. This immunity shall expire on the earlier of the date
the plan of improvements is completed or four years from the date of assuming
responsibility. This immunity does not apply to intentional injuries, fraud,
or bad faith.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
8. A new section is added to
chapter 57.24 RCW to read as follows:
A water district
assuming responsibility for a water system that is not in compliance with state
or federal requirements for public drinking water systems, and its agents and
employees, are immune from lawsuits or causes of action, based on
non-compliance with state or federal requirements for public drinking water
systems, which pre-date the date of assuming responsibility and continue after
the date of assuming responsibility, provided that the water district has
submitted and is complying with a plan and schedule of improvements approved by
the department of health. This immunity shall expire on the earlier of the
date the plan of improvements is completed or four years from the date of
assuming responsibility. This immunity does not apply to intentional injuries,
fraud, or bad faith.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
9. A new section is added to
chapter 80.28 RCW to read as follows:
A water company
assuming responsibility for a water system that is not in compliance with state
or federal requirements for public drinking water systems, and its agents and
employees, are immune from lawsuits or causes of action, based on
non-compliance with state or federal requirements for public drinking water
systems, which pre-date the date of assuming responsibility and continue after
the date of assuming responsibility, provided that the water company has
submitted and is complying with a plan and schedule of improvements approved by
the department of health. This immunity shall expire on the earlier of the
date the plan of improvements is completed or four years from the date of
assuming responsibility. This immunity does not apply to intentional injuries,
fraud, or bad faith.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
10. A new section is added to
chapter 54.16 RCW to read as follows:
A public utility
district assuming responsibility for a water system that is not in compliance
with state or federal requirements for public drinking water systems, and its
agents and employees, are immune from lawsuits or causes of action, based on
non-compliance with state or federal requirements for public drinking water
systems, which pre-date the date of assuming responsibility and continue after
the date of assuming responsibility, provided that the public utility district
has submitted and is complying with a plan and schedule of improvements
approved by the department of health. This immunity shall expire on the
earlier of the date the plan of improvements is completed or four years from
the date of assuming responsibility. This immunity does not apply to intentional
injuries, fraud, or bad faith.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
11. A new section is added to
chapter 87.03 RCW to read as follows:
An irrigation district
assuming responsibility for a water system that is not in compliance with state
or federal requirements for public drinking water systems, and its agents and
employees, are immune from lawsuits or causes of action, based on
non-compliance with state or federal requirements for public drinking water
systems, which pre-date the date of assuming responsibility and continue after
the date of assuming responsibility, provided that the irrigation district has
submitted and is complying with a plan and schedule of improvements approved by
the department of health. This immunity shall expire on the earlier of the
date the plan of improvements is completed or four years from the date of
assuming responsibility. This immunity does not apply to intentional injuries,
fraud, or bad faith.
