BP BHEAD INT S

AN ACT Relating to regulation of public water systems; and amending RCW 43.70.195.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 43.70.195 and 1994 c 292 s 3 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, to conduct the assessment required under subsection (2) of this section, and to prepare the plan required under subsection (6) of this section.

(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.

(9) Any county that has been appointed to act as a receiver for a system may, beginning three years after the appointment, petition the court to be relieved as receiver of the system. The court shall grant the petition, after hearing, if the county shows:

(a) It has explored, in consultation with the department and the local health jurisdiction, all reasonable and feasible alternatives for the long-term ownership and operation of the system, including the use of existing satellite system management agencies or the creation of new ones;

(b) It has taken all reasonable and feasible steps, including the provision of available financial assistance and the exercise of powers within the county’s jurisdiction, to facilitate or develop long-term ownership and operational alternatives, including the creation of a public entity such as a water district or a local improvement district;

(c) Before the filing of the petition, it conducted one or more public meetings with the customers of the water system to discuss the present options available to the customers for ensuring a safe supply of drinking water, the status of the water system, the county’s desire to be relieved as the receiver, and the likely consequences of such an action;

(d) Being relieved as receiver is consistent with the provisions of any locally adopted coordinated water system plan or other regional water supply plan; and

(e) It is requiring the physical connection of proposed new water systems to existing ones, as authorized under RCW 19.27.097, and is ensuring that under RCW 70.119A.060 any new systems within its jurisdiction have sufficient management and financial resources to provide long-term safe and reliable service.