COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 425
(By Senators Kessler and McKenzie)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 16, 2007.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §22C-2-1 and §22C-2-5 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to the Water
Pollution Control Revolving Fund; expanding the definition of
"local entity"; and authorizing the Water Development
Authority to take security interest in property purchased by
loan from the fund.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §22C-2-1 and §22C-2-5 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931,
as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. WATER POLLUTION CONTROL REVOLVING FUND ACT.
§22C-2-1. Definitions.
Unless the context in which used clearly requires a different
meaning, as used in this article:
(a) "Authority" means the water development authority provided
for in section four, article one of this chapter.
(b) "Cost" as applied to any project financed under the provisions of this article means the total of all costs incurred by
a local entity that are reasonable and necessary for carrying out
all works and undertakings necessary or incident to the
accomplishment of any project including:
(1) Developmental, planning and feasibility studies, surveys,
plans and specifications;
(2) Architectural, engineering, financial, legal or other
special services;
(3) Acquisition of land and any buildings and improvements on
the land or buildings, including the discharge of any obligations
of the sellers of the land, buildings or improvements;
(4) Site preparation and development, including demolition or
removal of existing structures, construction and reconstruction,
labor, materials, machinery and equipment;
(5) The reasonable costs of financing incurred by the local
entity in the course of the development of the project, carrying
charges incurred before placing the project in service, interest on
funds borrowed to finance the project to a date subsequent to the
estimated date the project is to be placed in service, necessary
expenses incurred in connection with placing the project in service
and the funding of accounts and reserves which the authority may
require; and
(6) Other items that the
division of environmental protection
Department of Environmental Protection determines to be reasonable
and necessary.
(c) "Fund" means the
state water pollution control revolving fund State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund provided for in
this article as it may be expanded or modified, from time to time,
pursuant to the
clean water act Clean Water Act, 33 U. S. C. 1251,
et seq., as amended, the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act
42 U. S.
C. 300f through 300j-26, inclusive, as amended, or by the executive
order of the Governor issued to comply with federal laws relating
to the acts.
(d) "Instrumentality" means the
division of environmental
protection Department of Environmental Protection or the agency
designated by an order of the Governor as having the primary
responsibility for administering the fund pursuant to the
federal
clean water act Clean Water Act, 33 U. S. C. 1251, et seq., as
amended, and the
federal safe drinking water act Federal Safe
Drinking Water Act 42 U. S. C. 300f through 300j-26, inclusive, as
amended, or other federal laws.
(e) "Local entity" means any county, city, town, municipal
corporation, authority, district, public service district,
commission, banking institution,
or political subdivision,
in West
Virginia regional governmental authority, state government agency,
interstate agency or not-for-profit association or corporation in
West Virginia.
(f) "Project" means any
public water or wastewater treatment
facility located or to be located in or outside this state by a
local entity and includes:
(1) Sewage and wastewater collection, treatment and disposal
facilities;
(2) Public water transportation, treatment and distribution
facilities;
(3) Drainage facilities and projects;
(4) Administrative, maintenance, storage and laboratory
facilities related to the facilities delineated in subdivisions
(1), (2) and (3) of this subsection;
(5) Interests in land related to the facilities delineated in
subdivisions (1), (2), (3) and (4) of this subsection; and
(6) Other projects allowable under federal law.
§22C-2-5. Collection of money due to the fund.
(a) In order to ensure the timely payment of all sums due and
owing to the fund under a revolving fund loan agreement between the
state and a local entity, and notwithstanding any provisions of
this code to the contrary, the authority has and may, at its
option, exercise the following rights and remedies in the event of
any default by a local entity under a loan agreement:
(a) (1) The authority may directly impose, in its own name and
for its own benefit, service charges upon all users of a project
funded by a loan distributed to a local entity pursuant to this
article and may proceed directly to enforce and collect the service
charges, together with all necessary costs of the enforcement and
collection.
(b) (2) The authority may exercise, in its own name or in the
name of and as the agent for a particular local entity, all of the
rights, powers and remedies of the local entity with respect to the
project or which may be conferred upon the local entity by statute, rule, regulation or judicial decision, including all rights and
remedies with respect to users of the project funded by the loan
distributed to that local entity pursuant to this article.
(c) (3) The authority may, by civil action, mandamus or other
judicial or administrative proceeding, compel performance by a
local entity of all of the terms and conditions of the loan
agreement between the state and that local entity including:
(1) (A) The adjustment of service charges as required to repay
the loan or otherwise satisfy the terms of the loan agreement;
(2) (B) The enforcement and collection of service charges; and
(3) (b) The enforcement by the local entity of all rights and
remedies conferred by statute, rule, regulation or judicial
decision. The rights and remedies enumerated in this section are
in addition to rights and remedies conferred upon the authority by
law or pursuant to the loan agreement.
(c) For loans made for projects defined in subdivision (6),
subsection (f), section one of this article, at the direction of
the Department of Environmental Protection, the authority shall
take a security or other interest in real or personal property with
the right to foreclose upon a default to secure loans made from the
fund.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to expand the list of
eligible borrowers to conform to the federal regulations and to
expand the types of security that may be pledged to the payment of
the loans from the fund.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)
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