S-2261

AN ACT Relating to regulation of public water systems; amending RCW 70.119.030, 70.119A.115, and 70.119A.170; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds and declares that:

(1) The provision of safe and reliable water supplies to the people of the state of Washington is fundamental to ensuring public health and continuing economic vitality of this state.

(2) The department of health, pursuant to legislative directive in 1995, has provided a report that incorporates the findings and recommendations of the water supply advisory committee as to progress in meeting the objectives of the public health improvement plan, changes warranted by the recent congressional action reauthorizing the federal safe drinking water act, and new approaches to providing services under the general principles of regulatory reform.

(3) The environmental protection agency has recently completed a national assessment of public water system capital needs, which has identified over three billion dollars in such needs in the state of Washington.

(4) The changes to the safe drinking water act offer the opportunity for the increased ability of the state to tailor federal requirements and programs to meet the conditions and objectives within this state.

(5) The department of health and local governments should be provided with adequate authority, flexibility, and resources to be able to implement the principles and recommendations adopted by the water supply advisory committee.

(6) Statutory changes are necessary to eliminate ambiguity or conflicting authorities, provide additional information and tools to consumers and the public, and make necessary changes to be consistent with federal law.

(7) A basic element to the protection of the public's health from waterborne disease outbreaks is systematic and comprehensive monitoring of water supplies for all contaminants, including hazardous substances with long-term health effects, and routine field visits to water systems for technical assistance and evaluation.

(8) The water systems of this state should have prompt and full access to the newly created federal state revolving fund program to help meet their financial needs and to achieve and maintain the technical, managerial, and financial capacity necessary for long-term compliance with state and federal regulations. This requires authority for streamlined program administration and the provision of the necessary state funds required to match the available federal funds.

(9) Stable, predictable, and adequate funding is essential to a state-wide drinking water program that meets state public health objectives and provides the necessary state resources to utilize the new flexibility, opportunities, and programs under the safe drinking water act.

Sec. 2. RCW 70.119.030 and 1995 c 376 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) A public water system shall have a certified operator if:

(a) It is a group A water system; or

(b) It is a public water system using a surface water source or a ground water source under the direct influence of surface water.

(2) The certified operators shall be in charge of the technical direction of a water system's operation, or an operating shift of such a system, or a major segment of a system necessary for monitoring or improving the quality of water. The operator shall be certified as provided in RCW 70.119.050.

(3) A certified operator may provide required services to more than one system or to a group of systems. The amount of time that a certified operator shall be required to be present at any given system shall be based upon the time required to properly operate and maintain the public water system as designed and constructed in accordance with RCW 43.20.050. The employing or appointing officials shall designate the position or positions requiring mandatory certification within their individual systems and shall assure that such certified operators are responsible for the system's technical operation.

(4) The department shall, in establishing by rule or otherwise the requirements for public water systems with fewer than one hundred connections, phase in such requirements in order to assure that (a) an adequate number of certified operators are available to serve the additional systems, (b) the systems have adequate notice and time to plan for securing the services of a certified operator, (c) the department has the additional data and other administrative capacity, (d) adequate training is available to certify additional operators as necessary, and (e) any additional requirements under federal law are satisfied. The department shall require certified operators for all Group A systems as necessary to conform to federal law or implementing rules or guidelines. Unless necessary to conform to federal law, rules, or guidelines, the department shall not require a certified operator for a system with fewer than one hundred connections unless that system is determined by the department to be in significant noncompliance with operational, monitoring, or water quality standards ((~~which~~)) that would put the public health at risk, as defined by the department by rule, or has, or is required to have, water treatment facilities other than simple disinfection.

(5) Any examination required by the department as a prerequisite for the issuance of a certificate under this chapter shall be offered in each region where the department has a regional office.

(6) Operators not required to be certified by this chapter are encouraged to become certified on a voluntary basis.

Sec. 3. RCW 70.119A.115 and 1994 c 252 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

The department shall develop and implement a voluntary consolidated source monitoring program sufficient to accurately characterize the source water quality of the state's drinking water supplies and to maximize the flexibility allowed in the federal safe drinking water act to allow public water systems to be waived from full testing requirements for organic and inorganic chemicals under the federal safe drinking water act. The department shall ((~~pay~~)) arrange for the initial sampling and provide for testing and programmatic costs ((~~for the area-wide waiver program~~)) to the extent that the legislature provides funding for this purpose in water system operating permit fees or through specific appropriation of funds from other sources. The department shall assess a fee using its authority under RCW 43.20B.020, sufficient to cover all testing and directly related costs to public water systems that ((~~apply for an area-wide waiver~~)) otherwise are not funded. The department shall adjust the amount of the fee based on the size of the public drinking water system. Fees charged by the department for this purpose may not vary by more than a factor of ten. The department shall, to the ((~~maximum~~)) extent ((~~possible~~)) feasible and cost-effective, use the services of local governments, local health departments, and private laboratories to implement the ((~~area-wide~~)) testing program. The department shall consult with the departments of agriculture and ecology for the purpose of exchanging water quality and other information.

Sec. 4. RCW 70.119A.170 and 1995 c 376 s 10 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) A drinking water assistance account is created in the state treasury. The purpose of the account is to allow the state to ((~~take advantage of~~)) use any federal funds that become available ((~~for safe drinking water~~)) to states from congress to fund a state revolving loan fund as part of the reauthorization of the federal safe drinking water act. Expenditures from the account may only be made by the secretary ((or)), the public works board, or the department of community, trade, and economic development, after appropriation. Moneys in the account may only be used to assist water systems to provide safe drinking water through a program administered through the department of health ((~~and~~)), the public works board, and the department of community, trade, and economic development and for other activities authorized under federal law. Money may be placed in the account from the proceeds of bonds when authorized by the legislature, transfers from other state funds or accounts, federal capitalization grants or other financial assistance, all repayments of moneys borrowed from the account, all interest payments made by borrowers from the account or otherwise earned on the account, or any other lawful source. ((~~Expenditures from the account may only be made by the secretary or the public works board after appropriation.~~)) All interest earned on moneys deposited in the account, including repayments, shall remain in the account and be used for any eligible purpose. Moneys in the account may only be used to assist local governments and water systems to provide safe and reliable drinking water, for other services and assistance authorized by federal law to be funded from these federal funds, and to administer the program.

(2) The department, the public works board, and the department of community, trade, and economic development shall establish and maintain a program to use the moneys in the drinking water assistance account as provided by the federal government under the safe drinking water act. The department, the public works board, and the department of community, trade, and economic development shall, in consultation with purveyors, local governments, local health jurisdictions, financial institutions, other state agencies, and other affected and interested parties, establish guidelines and requirements for the provision of financial assistance to public water systems as authorized under federal law. The department, the public works board and the department of community, trade, and economic development shall make every reasonable effort to ensure that the guidelines or other requirements are developed promptly to ensure the state's receipt and disbursement of federal funds to eligible public water systems as quickly as possible after the federal government has made them available.

(3) If the department, public works board, or any other department, agency, board, or commission of state government participates in providing service under this section, the administering entity shall endeavor to provide cost-effective and timely services. Mechanisms to provide cost-effective and timely services include: (a) Whenever allowed by law, the use of policy statements or guidelines, including federal guidelines, rather than administrative rules; (b) using existing management mechanisms rather than creating new administrative structures; (c) investigating the use of service contracts, either with other governmental entities or with nongovernmental service providers; (d) the use of joint or combined financial assistance applications; and (e) any other method or practice designed to streamline and expedite the delivery of services and financial assistance.

(4) The department shall establish and maintain a program to use the moneys in the drinking water assistance account as provided by the federal government under the safe drinking water act. The department shall determine assistance priorities and carry out oversight and activities related to such assistance. The department shall, in consultation with the board, the department of community, trade, and economic development, purveyors, local health departments, and other interested parties, establish guidelines and requirements for the provision of grants, loans, or other financial assistance to public water systems that are consistent with the purposes and guidelines authorized in this chapter. The department shall ensure that guidelines and requirements:

(a) Utilize, to the maximum extent, all available federal financial assistance and are consistent with federal requirements;

(b) Are consistent with existing water resource planning and management, including coordinated water supply plans, regional water resource plans, and comprehensive plans under the growth management act, chapter 36.70A RCW;

(c) Prioritize (i) least-cost solutions, including consolidation and restructuring of small systems, where appropriate, into more economical units; (ii) the provision of regional facilities; (iii) projects and activities that facilitate compliance with the federal safe drinking water act; and (iv) projects and activities that are intended to achieve the public health objectives of federal and state drinking water laws;

(d) Assure implementation of water conservation and other demand management measures consistent with state guidelines for water utilities;

(e) Provide assistance for the necessary planning and engineering to assure that consistency, coordination, and proper professional review are incorporated into projects or activities proposed for funding;

(f) Include minimum standards for water system capacity, financial viability, and water system planning;

(g) Provide for testing and evaluation of the water quality of the state's public water systems to assure that priority for financial assistance is provided to systems and areas with threats to public health from contaminated supplies and reduce in appropriate cases the substantial increases in costs and rates that customers of small systems would otherwise incur under the monitoring and testing requirements of the federal safe drinking water act;

(h) Are coordinated, to the maximum extent possible, with other state programs that provide financial assistance to public water systems and state programs that address existing or potential water quality or drinking water contamination problems; and

(i) Utilize definitions of "affordability" and "disadvantaged community" that are consistent with these and similar terms in use by other state and federal assistance programs.

(5) The public works board shall develop a financial assistance program using appropriated funds from the drinking water assistance account to meet the purposes and guidelines authorized in this chapter. The board shall consult with the department and water purveyors in developing the financial assistance program. The board shall, to the extent necessary to meet federal requirements, administer the program in order to ensure that all federal capitalization grants, together with loan repayments and interest, are separately accounted for and used solely for the purposes prescribed by federal law.

The board shall develop, in conjunction with the department, criteria for financial assistance to be made to public water systems. The criteria shall emphasize public water systems with the most critical public health needs; the capacity of the water system to effectively manage its resources; the ability to promptly commence the project; and the relative benefit to the community served. Priority shall be given to those systems that are ready to proceed, that will provide water system improvements to the greatest number of people, and that meet any other criteria that the board develops in consultation with the department and water system purveyors or that may be required under federal law or guidance.

(6) The board and department shall begin disbursement of funds to eligible water systems no later than October 1, 1997.