Senate Bill 2312

AN ACT TO ENACT THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEM INFRASTRUCTURE SUSTAINABILITY ACT; TO ESTABLISH AN ACCOUNTABILITY PROCESS TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY PUBLIC WASTEWATER SYSTEM INFRASTRUCTURE SUSTAINABILITY, PROMOTE THE PROTECTION OF MISSISSIPPI CITIZENS FROM ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS AND DEFICIENT WASTEWATER SERVICE, AND CREATE A TRANSPARENT PROCESS THAT PRODUCES CLEAR STANDARDS AND EXPECTATIONS FOR COMMUNITY PUBLIC WASTEWATER SYSTEMS; TO DIRECT THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY TO CREATE AND ADMINISTER A STATEWIDE FRAMEWORK FOR ACCOUNTABILITY FOR COMMUNITY PUBLIC WASTEWATER SYSTEMS THAT INCLUDES A LETTER GRADE SCHEDULE BASED ON CERTAIN CRITERIA; TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT TO PROMULGATE RULES AND REGULATIONS TO ESTABLISH AND IMPLEMENT THE COMMUNITY PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM LETTER GRADE SCHEDULE; TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT TO PUBLISH AN ANNUAL REPORT ON ITS WEBSITE CONTAINING THE ASSESSMENT, SCORES AND LETTER GRADE FOR EACH COMMUNITY PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM, AND TO REQUIRE EACH COMMUNITY PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM TO PROVIDE NOTIFICATION TO ITS CUSTOMERS OF THE BOARD'S PUBLISHED SCORE AND LETTER GRADE WITHIN 30 DAYS FOLLOWING PUBLICATION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as "Wastewater Treatment System Infrastructure Sustainability Act."

SECTION 2. As used in this act, the following terms shall have the meaning ascribed herein:

(a) "Community public wastewater system" means a public wastewater collection and/or treatment system serving at least fifteen (15) individual service connections used by year-round consumers or regularly servicing at least twenty-five (25) individual consumers year-round.

(b) "Department" means the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.

SECTION 3. There is hereby established a community public wastewater system accountability process to:

(a) Support community public wastewater system infrastructure sustainability for the citizens of Mississippi;

(b) Promote the protection of the citizens of Mississippi from environmental hazards and deficient service by assuring that wastewater collected and treated by community public wastewater systems remains consistently managed at levels essential for public health, safety, welfare and long-term sustainability; and

(c) Create a transparent accountability process that produces clear standards and expectations for community public wastewater systems so that assessment of their quality, performance and sustainability will be understood.

SECTION 4. The department shall create and administer a statewide framework of accountability for community public wastewater systems. The framework shall include a letter grade schedule based on, at a minimum, the following criteria:

(a) Compliance with state and federal permits;

(b) Compliance with water quality standards under Section 49-17-1 et seq.;

(d) Operation and maintenance performance history;

(e) Infrastructure condition and compliance; and

(f) Customer satisfaction.

SECTION 5. (1) The department shall promulgate rules and regulations to establish and implement the community public wastewater system letter grade schedule described in this section. The rules and regulations shall provide clear and appropriate point values for each standard set forth in Section 4 of this act and other assessment criteria as determined by the department to calculate the community public wastewater system's letter grade. Point values shall be based on objective criteria to ensure equal and fair assessments. Community public wastewater systems shall be assigned a letter grade of "A," "B," "C," "D" or "F". A consolidated score and letter grade shall be calculated on a weighted-average basis for any person owning more than one (1) community public wastewater system in the state.

(2) The department shall publish on its website an annual report summarizing the department's assessment, scores and letter grade for each community public wastewater system. Each community public wastewater system shall provide notification to its customers of the department's published score and letter grade within thirty (30) days following publication by the department in a manner to be established by regulation by the department.

(3) By January 1, 2028, the department shall begin publishing annual letter grades issued pursuant to this section.

SECTION 6. If there is a conflict between the provisions of any other law and this act, this act shall govern.

SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2026.