MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2002 Regular Session
To: Conservation and Water Resources
By: Representative Ellington
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 21-27-203, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT THE OPERATOR OF A SEWERAGE SYSTEM OR SEWERAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM, INCLUDING ANY COLLECTION OR TREATMENT FACILITIES OR PLANTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SYSTEM AND REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE SYSTEM DOES NOT TREAT WATER, SHALL BE REQUIRED TO BE CERTIFIED; TO AMEND SECTIONS 49-17-5, 49-17-165, 49-17-169, 49-17-305 AND 49-17-309, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 21-27-203, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
21-27-203. For purposes of Sections 21-27-201 through 21-27-221, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed herein, unless the context shall otherwise require:
(a) "Association" means the Mississippi Water and Pollution Control Operator's Association, Inc.
(b) "Board" means the Mississippi State Board of Health.
(c) "Commission" means the Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality.
(d) "Community water system" means a public water system serving piped water for human consumption to, or a sewerage disposal system serving, fifteen (15) or more individual service connections used by year-round consumers or regularly serving twenty-five (25) or more individual consumers year-round, including, but not limited to, any collection, pretreatment, treatment, storage and/or distribution facilities or equipment used primarily as part of, or in connection with, that system, regardless of whether or not the components are under the ownership or control of the operator of the system and regardless of whether the system collects or distributes, but does not treat, the water.
(e) "Nontransient, noncommunity water system" means a public water system that is not a community water system and that regularly serves at least twenty-five (25) of the same persons over six (6) months per year.
(f) "Operator" means the person who directly supervises and is personally responsible for the daily operation and maintenance of a wastewater facility, community water system, nontransient, noncommunity water system, commercial nonhazardous solid waste management landfill, sewerage system as defined in Section 49-17-5, collection or treatment facilities or plants as defined in Section 49-17-165 and Section 49-17-305, or any sewer system required to be certificated by the Public Service Commission.
(g) "Person" means the state or any agency or institution of the state, any municipality, political subdivision, public or private corporation, individual, partnership, association or other entity, including any officer or governing or managing body of any municipality, political subdivision, or public or private corporation, or the United States or any officer or employee of the United States.
(h) "Pollution" means contamination or other alteration of the physical, chemical or biological properties of any waters of the state, including change in temperature, taste, color, turbidity or odor of the waters, or the discharge of any liquid, gaseous, solid, radioactive or other substance or heat into any waters of the state.
(i) "Wastewater facilities" means pipelines or conduits, pumping stations, force mains, treatment plants, lagoons or any other structure, device, appurtenance or facility, whether operated individually or in any combination, used for collecting, treating and/or disposing of municipal or domestic wastewater, by either surface or underground methods, which is required to have a permit under Section 49-17-29.
(j) "Waters of the state" means all waters within the jurisdiction of this state, including all streams, lakes, ponds, impounding reservoirs, marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, irrigation systems, drainage systems and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface and underground, natural or artificial, situated wholly or partly within or bordering upon the state, and such coastal waters as are within the jurisdiction of the state, except lakes, ponds or other surface waters which are wholly landlocked and privately owned.
SECTION 2. Section 49-17-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-17-5. For the purposes of Sections 49-17-1 through 49-17-43, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section:
(1) Water.
(a) "Pollution" means such contamination, or other alteration of the physical, chemical or biological properties, of any waters of the state, including change in temperature, taste, color, turbidity, or odor of the waters, or such discharge of any liquid, gaseous, solid, radioactive, or other substance or leak into any waters of the state unless in compliance with a valid permit issued therefor by the Permit Board.
(b) "Wastes" means sewage, industrial wastes, oil field wastes, and all other liquid, gaseous, solid, radioactive, or other substances which may pollute or tend to pollute any waters of the state.
(c) "Sewerage system" means pipelines or conduits, pumping stations, and force mains, and other structures, devices, appurtenances and facilities used for collecting or conducting wastes to an ultimate point for treatment or disposal.
(d) "Treatment works" means any plant or other works, used for the purpose of treating, stabilizing or holding wastes.
(e) "Disposal system" means a system for disposing of wastes, either by surface or underground methods, and includes sewerage systems, treatment works, disposal wells and other systems.
(f) "Waters of the state" means all waters within the jurisdiction of this state, including all streams, lakes, ponds, impounding reservoirs, marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, irrigation systems, drainage systems, and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface and underground, natural or artificial, situated wholly or partly within or bordering upon the state, and such coastal waters as are within the jurisdiction of the state, except lakes, ponds or other surface waters which are wholly landlocked and privately owned, and which are not regulated under the Federal Clean Water Act (33 USCS 1251 et seq.).
(g) "Underground water" means an underground source of drinking water as defined within the regulations of the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
(h) "Operator" means a person who directly supervises and is personally responsible for the daily operation and maintenance of a sewerage system.
(2) Air.
(a) "Air contaminant" means particulate matter, dust, fumes, gas, mist, smoke or vapor, or any combination thereof, produced by processes other than natural.
(b) "Air pollution" means the presence in the outdoor atmosphere of one or more air contaminants in quantities, of characteristic, and of a duration which are materially injurious or can be reasonably expected to become materially injurious to human, plant or animal life or to property, or which unreasonably interfere with enjoyment of life or use of property throughout the state or throughout such area of the state as shall be affected thereby.
(c) "Air contamination" means the presence in the outdoor atmosphere of one or more air contaminants which contribute to a condition of air pollution.
(d) "Air contamination source" means any source at, from, or by reason of which there is emitted into the atmosphere any air contaminant, regardless of who the person may be who owns or operates the building, premises or other property in, at, or on which such source is located, or the facility, equipment or other property by which the emission is caused or from which the emission comes.
(e) "Air-cleaning device" means any method, process or equipment, the primary function of which is to remove, reduce or render less noxious air contaminants discharged into the atmosphere.
(f) "Area of the state" means any city or county or portion thereof, or other substantial geographical area of the state as may be designated by the Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality.
(g) "Federal Clean Air Act" means the Federal Clean Air Act, 42 USCS 7401 et seq., as amended.
(3) General.
(a) "Commission" means the Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality acting through the Office of Pollution Control of the Department of Environmental Quality.
(b) "Person" means the state or other agency or institution thereof, any municipality, political subdivision, public or private corporation, individual, partnership, association or other entity, and includes any officer or governing or managing body of any municipality, political subdivision, or public or private corporation, or the United States or any officer or employee thereof.
(c) "Pollution Emergency Fund" means the fund established under Section 49-17-68.
(d) "General permit" means a permit for categories of sources that involve similar wastes and have similar monitoring requirements and restrictions.
SECTION 3. Section 49-17-165, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-17-165. Whenever used in Sections 49-17-161 through 49-17-209, the following words and terms shall have the following respective meanings unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:
(a) "Act" means the Southern Regional Wastewater Management Act, as the same may be amended.
(b) "Bonds" means any bonds, interim certificates, notes or other evidences of indebtedness of the district issued under Sections 49-17-161 through 49-17-209.
(c) "Collection facilities" means any plants, structures, facilities and other real and personal property used or useful in the collection of wastewater for ultimate discharge into trunk lines, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, sewers, conduits, pipelines, mains, pumping and ventilating stations, plants and works, connections and any other real and personal property and rights therein necessary or useful or convenient for the purposes of the district in connection therewith.
(d) "County" means Hancock County.
(e) "District" means the Southern Regional Wastewater Management District.
(f) "Management area" means all of the area lying within the territorial boundaries of Hancock County.
(g) "Person" means the state or other agency or institution thereof, any municipality, political subdivision, public or private corporation, individual, partnership, association or other entity, and includes any officer or governing or managing body of any municipality, political subdivision or public or private corporation.
(h) "Pollution" means such contamination, or other alteration of the physical, chemical or biological properties, of any waters of the state, including change in temperature, taste, color, turbidity or odor of the waters, or such discharge of any liquid, gaseous, solid, radioactive, or other substance into any waters of the state as will or is likely to create a nuisance or render such waters harmful, detrimental or injurious to public health, safety or welfare, or to domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural, recreational or other legitimate beneficial uses, or to livestock, wild animals, birds, fish or other aquatic life.
(i) "Public agency" means any incorporated city or town, county, political subdivision, governmental district or unit, public corporation or governmental agency created under the laws of the state, lying wholly or partially within the management area.
(j) "State" means the State of Mississippi.
(k) "Treatment facilities" means treatment plants and any related trunk lines.
(l) "Treatment plants" means any plants, structures, facilities and other real and personal property used or useful in the treating, neutralizing, stabilizing or disposing of wastewater, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing plants, disposal fields and lagoons and any other real and personal property and rights therein necessary or useful or convenient for the purposes of the district in connection therewith.
(m) "Trunk lines" means trunk sewers and other structures and facilities used or useful in the conducting of wastewater from collection facilities to treatment plants, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, conduits, pipelines, mains, pumping and ventilating stations and any other real and personal property and rights therein necessary or useful or convenient for the purposes of the district in connection therewith.
(n) "Wastewater" means water containing sewage, industrial wastes, oil field wastes and other liquid, gaseous, solid, radioactive or other substances which may pollute or tend to pollute any waters of the state.
(o) "Operator" means a person who directly supervises and is personally responsible for the daily operation and maintenance of collection facilities, treatment facilities or treatment plants operated by the district.
SECTION 4. Section 49-17-169, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-17-169. (1) All powers of the district shall be vested in a board of directors which shall consist of the mayor of each city participating in the Southern Regional Wastewater Management District and the President of the Board of Supervisors of Hancock County. Each director may appoint a delegate to represent him at a meeting of the board.
(2) The board of directors may elect or appoint and prescribe the duties of such officers as the board of directors deems necessary or advisable, including an executive director and a secretary. The executive director, who, at the discretion of the board of directors, may also serve as secretary, shall be a person of good moral character and shall be a professional engineer registered in the State of Mississippi with a minimum of ten (10) years' recent practical experience in the management and administration of public works operations which may include, but is not limited to, supervision, public financing, regulatory codes and related functions as minimum qualifications to administer the programs and duties of the district. The executive director shall administer, manage and direct the affairs and business of the district, subject to the policies, control and direction of the board of directors. The executive director shall give bond executed by a surety company or companies authorized to do business in this state in the penal sum of Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) payable to the district, conditioned upon the faithful performance of his duties and the proper accounting for all funds which may come into his hands as executive director. The secretary of the district shall keep a record of the proceedings of the district and shall be custodian of all books, documents and papers filed with the district, the minute book or journal of the district and its official seal. The secretary shall have authority to cause copies to be made of all minutes and other records and documents of the district and to certify under the seal of the district that such copies are true and accurate copies, and all persons dealing with the district may rely upon such certificates.
(3) Each director may receive as compensation a sum not to exceed One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) per month for attending meetings of the board of directors during that month and may receive reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of his duties upon express authorization of the board.
(4) Each person employed by the board as an operator shall be required to obtain an operator's certificate under the provisions of Sections 21-27-201 through 21-27-221.
SECTION 5. Section 49-17-305, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-17-305. Whenever used in Sections 49-17-301 through 49-17-353, the following words and terms shall have the following respective meanings unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:
(a) "Act" means this Mississippi Gulf Coast Regional Wastewater Authority Act, as the same may be amended.
(b) "Authority" means the Mississippi Gulf Coast Regional Wastewater Authority.
(c) "Bonds" means any bonds, interim certificates, notes or other evidences of indebtedness of the authority issued under Sections 49-17-301 through 49-17-353.
(d) "Collection facilities" means any plants, structures, facilities and other real and personal property used or useful in the collection of wastewater for ultimate discharge into trunk lines, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, sewers, conduits, pipelines, mains, pumping and ventilating stations, plants and works, connections and any other real and personal property and rights therein necessary or useful or convenient for the purposes of the authority in connection therewith.
(e) "County" or "counties bordering on the Gulf of Mexico" means Hancock, Harrison or Jackson County.
(f) "Persons" means a natural person, public agency, state or other agency or institution thereof, any municipality, political subdivision, cooperative or public or private corporation, partnership, association or other entity of any nature whatsoever organized and existing under the laws of any state or of the United States or any instrumentality thereof, and includes any officer or governing or managing body of any municipality, political subdivision, or public or private corporation.
(g) "Pollution" means such contamination, or other alteration of the physical, chemical or biological properties, of any waters of the state, including change in temperature, taste, color, turbidity or odor of the waters, or such discharge of any liquid, gaseous, solid, radioactive, or other substance into any waters of the state as will or is likely to create a nuisance or render such waters harmful, detrimental or injurious to public health, safety or welfare, or to domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural, recreational or other legitimate beneficial uses, or to livestock, wild animals, birds, fish or other aquatic life.
(h) "Public agency" means any incorporated city or town, county, political subdivision, governmental district or unit, public corporation or governmental agency created under the laws of the state, lying wholly or partially within the territorial boundaries of the counties bordering on the Gulf of Mexico.
(i) "State" means the State of Mississippi.
(j) "Treatment facilities" means treatment plants and any related trunk lines.
(k) "Treatment plants" means any plants, structures, facilities and other real and personal property used or useful in the treating, neutralizing, stabilizing or disposing of wastewater, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing plants, disposal fields and lagoons and any other real and personal property and rights therein necessary or useful or convenient for the purposes of the authority in connection therewith.
(l) "Trunk lines" means trunk sewers and other structures and facilities used or useful in the conducting of wastewater from collection facilities to treatment plants, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, conduits, pipelines, mains, pumping and ventilating stations and any other real and personal property and rights therein necessary or useful or convenient for the purposes of the authority in connection therewith.
(m) "Wastewater" means water containing sewage, industrial wastes, oil field wastes and all other liquid, gaseous, solid, radioactive or other substances which may pollute or tend to pollute any waters of the state.
(n) "Operator" means a person who directly supervises and is personally responsible for the daily operation and maintenance of collection facilities, treatment facilities or treatment plants operated by the authority.
SECTION 6. Section 49-17-309, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-17-309. (1) All powers of the Authority shall be vested in a board of commissioners which shall be composed, and whose members shall be selected, as follows:
(a) Initially, the board of commissioners shall be composed as follows:
(i) Within thirty (30) days of the effective date of Sections 49-17-301 through 49-17-353, the board of supervisors of each county and the governing body of each incorporated city or town lying within such county shall nominate one (1) person for appointment by the Governor to the board of commissioners.
(ii) Within thirty (30) days following such nomination, each such board of supervisors and such governing body of an incorporated city or town lying within said county shall certify in writing to the Governor the nominations of the individuals for appointment to the board of commissioners; provided, that each such board of supervisors or such governing body shall nominate only individuals who are residents of its respective county and who do not hold any elected public office or any position as a paid employee of any public agency.
(iii) Within fifteen (15) days of receiving such nominations, the Governor shall appoint to the board of commissioners of the Authority each individual so nominated. Each member of the board of commissioners appointed as provided in subsection (1)(a) of this section shall remain in office until the time of reorganization of the board of commissioners as provided in subsection (1)(b) of this section.
(b) At such time as determined by the board of commissioners, but in no event later than one (1) year following the effective date of Sections 49-17-301 through 49-17-353, the board of commissioners shall adopt a resolution declaring the commencement of the reorganization of said board, which reorganization shall be as follows:
(i) Each member of the board of commissioners appointed by a board of supervisors of a county or by a governing body of an incorporated city or town which has not prior to the declaration of commencement of the reorganization of the board contracted with the Authority under the provisions of Sections 49-17-301 through 49-17-353, shall have his or her term of office automatically terminated by operation of Sections 49-17-301 through 49-17-353 and no appointment of a successor shall thereafter be permitted, except as provided in subsection (1)(b)(iv) of this section.
(ii) Within thirty (30) days of the declaration of commencement of the reorganization of the board, the chairman of the board as reconstituted under the provision of subsection (1)(b)(i) of this section, shall certify the nomination in writing to the Governor of the individual members of the board of commissioners who were originally nominated by such board of supervisors or the governing body of an incorporated city or town lying within said county prior to its reconstitution and who are selected for removal from the board of commissioners.
(iii) Within fifteen (15) days of receiving the nominations for removal made in accordance with subsection (1)(b)(ii) of this section, the Governor shall dismiss from office each individual member of the board of commissioners of the Authority so nominated. The Governor shall thereupon establish staggered terms of office for the remaining members of the board of commissioners; provided, however, that each term of office shall be not less than two (2) years, nor more than six (6) years and the terms of all offices with respect to each such county shall be staggered over time as evenly as practicable, as shall be determined by the Governor. Each member shall remain in office for the period of such member's term and until a successor shall be duly appointed and qualified.
(iv) The number of members of the board of commissioners shall be increased by one (1) each time a county, or an incorporated city or town, which has not theretofore contracted with the Authority enters into such a contract. Within fifteen (15) days following the entering into of said contract, the board of supervisors of the county, or the governing body of the incorporated city or town, entering into such contract shall nominate for appointment one (1) person to the board of commissioners for the county entering into such contract or in which such incorporated city or town is located. Within fifteen (15) days following the execution of such contract, the board of commissioners shall certify in writing to the Governor the individual nominated for appointment to the board of commissioners. The Governor shall appoint such individual so nominated to the board of commissioners of the Authority within fifteen (15) days of receiving such certification. The Governor shall establish the term of office of such member of the board of commissioners in compliance with the provisions of subsection (1)(b)(iii) of this section regarding staggered terms.
(v) The successor of each member of the board of commissioners shall be nominated and appointed in the same manner provided in subsection (1)(b)(iv) of this section for the nomination and appointment of additional members, and shall serve a term of six (6) years, and for such period thereafter until a successor shall be duly appointed and qualified.
(c) Each member of the board of commissioners shall be eligible for reappointment. All vacancies shall be filled by nomination and appointment in the same manner provided in subsection (1)(b)(v) of this section for the appointment of successors, provided that any person appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve only for the unexpired term. Any member may be removed at any time prior to the expiration of said member's term of office for misfeasance, malfeasance or willful neglect of duty, as determined by the Governor with the concurrence of the nominating public agency. Before assuming office, each member shall take and subscribe to the constitutional oath of office before a chancery clerk, and a record of such oath shall be filed with the Secretary of State. The board of commissioners shall annually select a chairman and a vice chairman from among its members.
(2) The board of commissioners shall elect or appoint and prescribe the duties of such officers as the board of commissioners deems necessary or advisable, including a general manager and a secretary. The general manager, who, at the discretion of the board of commissioners, may also serve as secretary, shall be a person of good moral character and shall be a person of proven ability as an administrator with a minimum of five (5) years' experience in the management and administration of a public works operation or comparable experience which may include, but is not limited to, supervision, public financing, regulatory codes and related functions as minimum qualifications to administer the programs and duties of the Authority. The general manager shall administer, manage and direct the affairs and business of the Authority, subject to the policies, control and direction of the board of commissioners. The general manager shall give bond executed by a surety company or companies authorized to do business in this state in the penal sum of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) payable to the Authority conditioned upon the faithful performance of his duties and the proper accounting for all funds which may come into his hands as general manager. The secretary of the Authority shall keep a record of the proceedings of the Authority and shall be custodian of all books, documents and papers filed with the Authority, the minute book or journal of the Authority and its official seal. The secretary shall have authority to cause copies to be made of all minutes and other records and documents of the Authority and to certify under the seal of the Authority that such copies are true and accurate copies, and all persons dealing with the Authority may rely upon such certificates.
(3) Upon express, prior authorization of the Authority, each commissioner may receive a per diem of not to exceed Fifty Dollars ($50.00) per day for attending each day's meeting of the board of commissioners and for each day spent in attending to the business of the Authority and, in addition, may receive reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred.
(4) Each person employed by the board as an operator shall be required to obtain an operator's certificate under the provisions of Sections 21-27-201 through 21-27-221.
SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2002.