AN ACT Relating to public water systems; amending RCW 43.20.050, 80.04.110, 80.04.180, 80.28.030, and 80.28.040; and adding a new section to chapter 80.28 RCW.

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

Sec. 1. Section 43.20.050, chapter 8, Laws of 1965 as last amended by section 1, chapter 213, Laws of 1985 and RCW 43.20.050 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The state board of health shall provide a forum for the development of public health policy in Washington state. It is empowered to hold hearings and explore ways to improve the health status of the citizenry.

(2) In order to protect public health, the state board of health shall:

(a) Adopt rules and regulations ((for the protection of water supplies for domestic use, and such other uses as may affect the public health, and shall adopt standards and procedures governing the design, construction and operation of water supply, treatment, storage, and distribution facilities, as well as the quality of water delivered to the ultimate consumer;)) necessary to assure safe and reliable public drinking water and to protect the public health. Such rules and regulations shall establish requirements regarding:

(i) The design and construction of public water system facilities, including proper sizing of pipes and storage for the number and type of customers;

(ii) Drinking water quality standards, monitoring requirements, and laboratory certification requirements;

(iii) Public water system management and reporting requirements;

(iv) Public water system planning and emergency response requirements;

(v) Public water system operation and maintenance requirements; and

(vi) Water quality, reliability, and management of existing but inadequate public water systems.

(b) Adopt rules and regulations and standards for prevention, control, and abatement of health hazards and nuisances related to the disposal of wastes, solid and liquid, including but not limited to sewage, garbage, refuse, and other environmental contaminants; adopt standards and procedures governing the design, construction, and operation of sewage, garbage, refuse and other solid waste collection, treatment, and disposal facilities;

(c) Adopt rules and regulations controlling public health related to environmental conditions including but not limited to heating, lighting, ventilation, sanitary facilities, cleanliness and space in all types of public facilities including but not limited to food service establishments, schools, institutions, recreational facilities and transient accommodations and in places of work;

(d) Adopt rules and regulations for the imposition and use of isolation and quarantine; and

(e) Adopt rules and regulations for the prevention and control of infectious and noninfectious diseases, including food and vector borne illness, and rules and regulations governing the receipt and conveyance of remains of deceased persons, and such other sanitary matters as admit of and may best be controlled by universal rule.

(3) All local boards of health, health authorities and officials, officers of state institutions, police officers, sheriffs, constables, and all other officers and employees of the state, or any county, city, or township thereof, shall enforce all rules and regulations adopted by the state board of health. In the event of failure or refusal on the part of any member of such boards or any other official or person mentioned in this section to so act, he shall be subject to a fine of not less than fifty dollars, upon first conviction, and not less than one hundred dollars upon second conviction.

Sec. 2. Section 80.04.110, chapter 14, Laws of 1961 as amended by section 11, chapter 450, Laws of 1985 and RCW 80.04.110 are each amended to read as follows:

Complaint may be made by the commission of its own motion or by any person or corporation, chamber of commerce, board of trade, or any commercial, mercantile, agricultural or manufacturing society, or any body politic or municipal corporation, or by the public counsel section of the office of the attorney general, or its successor, by petition or complaint in writing, setting forth any act or thing done or omitted to be done by any public service corporation in violation, or claimed to be in violation, of any provision of law or of any order or rule of the commission: PROVIDED, That no complaint shall be entertained by the commission except upon its own motion, as to the reasonableness of the schedule of the rates or charges of any gas company, electrical company, water company, or telecommunications company, unless the same be signed by the mayor, council or commission of the city or town in which the company complained of is engaged in business, or not less than twenty-five consumers or purchasers of such gas, electricity, water or telecommunications service: PROVIDED, FURTHER, That when two or more public service corporations, (meaning to exclude municipal and other public corporations) are engaged in competition in any locality or localities in the state, either may make complaint against the other or others that the rates, charges, rules, regulations or practices of such other or others with or in respect to which the complainant is in competition, are unreasonable, unremunerative, discriminatory, illegal, unfair or intending or tending to oppress the complainant, to stifle competition, or to create or encourage the creation of monopoly, and upon such complaint or upon complaint of the commission upon its own motion, the commission shall have power, after notice and hearing as in other cases, to, by its order, subject to appeal as in other cases, correct the abuse complained of by establishing such uniform rates, charges, rules, regulations or practices in lieu of those complained of, to be observed by all of such competing public service corporations in the locality or localities specified as shall be found reasonable, remunerative, nondiscriminatory, legal, and fair or tending to prevent oppression or monopoly or to encourage competition, and upon any such hearing it shall be proper for the commission to take into consideration the rates, charges, rules, regulations and practices of the public service corporation or corporations complained of in any other locality or localities in the state.

All matters upon which complaint may be founded may be joined in one hearing, and no motion shall be entertained against a complaint for misjoinder of complaints or grievances or misjoinder of parties; and in any review of the courts of orders of the commission the same rule shall apply and pertain with regard to the joinder of complaints and parties as herein provided: PROVIDED, All grievances to be inquired into shall be plainly set forth in the complaint. No complaint shall be dismissed because of the absence of direct damage to the complainant.

Upon the filing of a complaint, the commission shall cause a copy thereof to be served upon the person or corporation complained of, which shall be accompanied by a notice fixing the time when and place where a hearing will be had upon such complaint. The time fixed for such hearing shall not be less than ten days after the date of the service of such notice and complaint, excepting as herein provided. Rules of practice and procedure not otherwise provided for in this title may be prescribed by the commission.

The commission shall, as appropriate, exercise auditing and accounting supervision or initiate a complaint upon receipt of an administrative order from the department, or the city or county in which the water system is located, finding that the water delivered by a system does not meet state board of health standards adopted under RCW 43.20.050(2)(a) or standards adopted under chapter 70.116 RCW.

Sec. 3. Section 82.04.180, chapter 14, Laws of 1961 and RCW 80.04.180 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The pendency of any writ of review shall not of itself stay or suspend the operation of the order of the commission, but the superior court in its discretion may restrain or suspend, in whole or in part, the operation of the commission's order pending the final hearing and determination of the suit.

(2) No order so restraining or suspending an order of the commission relating to rates, charges, tolls or rentals, or rules or regulations, practices, classifications or contracts affecting the same, shall be made by the superior court otherwise than upon three days' notice and after hearing((~~, and~~)). If a supersedeas is granted the order granting the same shall contain a specific finding, based upon evidence submitted to the court making the order, and identified by reference thereto, that great or irreparable damage would otherwise result to the petitioner, and specifying the nature of the damage. A water company seeking a supersedeas must demonstrate to the court that it is in compliance with the state board of health standards adopted pursuant to RCW 43.20.050 and chapter 70.116 RCW relating to the purity, volume, and pressure of water.

(3) In case the order of the commission under review is superseded by the court, it shall require a bond, with good and sufficient surety, conditioned that such company petitioning for such review shall answer for all damages caused by the delay in the enforcement of the order of the commission, and all compensation for whatever sums for transmission or service any person or corporation shall be compelled to pay pending the review proceedings in excess of the sum such person or corporations would have been compelled to pay if the order of the commission had not been suspended.

(4) The court may, in addition to or in lieu of the bond herein provided for, require such other or further security for the payment of such excess charges or damages as it may deem proper.

Sec. 4. Section 80.28.030, chapter 14, Laws of 1961 and RCW 80.28.030 are each amended to read as follows:

Whenever the commission shall find, after such hearing, that the illuminating or heating power, purity or pressure of gas, the efficiency of electric lamp supply, the voltage of the current supplied for light, heat or power, or the purity, quality, volume, and pressure of water, supplied by any gas company, electrical company or water company, as the case may be, is insufficient, impure, inadequate or inefficient, it shall order such improvement in the manufacture, distribution or supply of gas, in the manufacture, transmission or supply of electricity, or in the storage, distribution or supply of water, or in the methods employed by such gas company, electrical company or water company, as will in its judgment be efficient, adequate, just and reasonable. Failure of a water company to comply with state board of health standards adopted under RCW 43.20.050(2)(a) or department standards adopted under chapter 70.116 RCW for purity, volume, and pressure shall be prima facie evidence that the water supplied is insufficient, impure, inadequate, or inefficient.

In ordering improvements in the storage, distribution, or supply of water, the commission shall consult and coordinate with the department. In the event that a water company fails to comply with an order of the commission in a timely fashion, the commission may request that the department petition the court to place the company in receivership.

Sec. 5. Section 80.28.040, chapter 14, Laws of 1961 and RCW 80.28.040 are each amended to read as follows:

Whenever the commission shall find, after hearing, that any rules, regulations, measurements or the standard thereof, practices, acts or services of any such gas company, electrical company or water company are unjust, unreasonable, improper, insufficient, inefficient or inadequate, or that any service which may be reasonably demanded is not furnished, the commission shall fix the reasonable rules, regulations, measurements or the standard thereof, practices, acts or service to be thereafter furnished, imposed, observed and followed, and shall fix the same by order or rule.

In ordering improvements to the service of any water company, the commission shall consult and coordinate with the department. In the event that a water company fails to comply with an order of the commission within the deadline specified in the order, the commission may request that the department petition the court to place the company in receivership.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 80.28 RCW to read as follows:

The commission may develop and enter into an agreement with a county to carry out the regulatory functions of this chapter with regard to water companies located within the boundary of that county. The duration of the agreement, the duties to be performed, and the remuneration to be paid by the commission are subject to agreement by the commission and the county.