ENGROSSED

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

Senate Bill No. 456

(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, and Buckalew,

By Request of the Executive)

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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;

reported April 2, 1997.]

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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 establishing an administrative penalty authority for drinking water systems violating the safe drinking water act.

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 BUREAU OF PUBLIC HEALTH.
ยง16-1-9a. Public water system defined; regulation of maximum contaminant levels in water systems; authorizing inspections; penalties.

(a) A public water system is any water supply or system which regularly supplies or offers to supply, piped water to the public for human consumption 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 shall may not include a system which meets all of the following conditions: (1) Which consists only of distribution and storage facilities (and does not have any collection and treatment facilities); (2) which obtains all of its water from, but is not owned or operated by, a public water system which otherwise meets the definition; (3) which does not sell water to any person; and (4) which is not a carrier conveying passengers in interstate commerce.
(b) The state board of health 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 it deems appropriate, treatment techniques that reduce the contaminant or contaminants to a level which will not adversely affect the health of the consumer. Such 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 which would adversely affect the health of the consumer.
(c) It 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; recordkeeping; laboratory certification; as well as procedures and conditions for granting variances and exemptions to public water systems from state public water systems regulations. In addition, the state board of health shall establish by legislative rule, as set out in chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, requirements covering the production and distribution of bottled drinking water and may by legislative rule, as set out in chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, establish requirements governing the taste, odor, appearance and other consumer acceptability parameters of drinking water.
(d) Authorized representatives of the state board of health shall 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 inspection, sampling or testing, and shall be furnished records or information reasonably required for a complete inspection.
(e) 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 shall violate any provision of subsections (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) of this section, or any of the regulations or orders issued pursuant thereto, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than two hundred dollars, and each day's violation shall constitute a separate offense. In addition thereto, the state board of health or the state director of health, or his authorized representative may 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. For a willful violation of subsections (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) of this section, or of any of the regulations or orders issued thereunder, 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 thereof 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.
(f) The division of health shall have the authority to assess administrative penalties and initiate such proceedings as may be necessary for the enforcement of drinking water regulations. The administrative penalty shall be a minimum of one thousand dollars per day per violation and each day's violation shall be grounds for a separate penalty. No penalty may exceed an aggregate amount of five thousand dollars for systems serving a population of less than ten thousand people and may not exceed twenty-five thousand dollars for systems serving a population of ten thousand people or more. Payments shall be payable to the division of health, safe drinking water fund. All moneys collected under this section shall be deposited in a special revenue account in the office of the state treasurer to be known as the "safe drinking water fund". All accrued money shall be used by the commissioner, division of health or designee, to provide technical assistance to public water systems.
(g) All regulations authorized under this section shall be promulgated by legislative rules in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.