T
14
Fall 2014
feature
he North Carolina Rural Water Association, Inc.
®
(NCRWA) was
established in 1976 to serve as the “voice” of the water and wastewater
industry of our state. Our legislative and regulatory efforts today have
one primary mission: to represent our members’ interests in the US
Congress, the US EPA, the NC General Assembly, and the NCDENR.
We appreciate the continued support of our members through both
your personal participation in these efforts and your membership,
which funds our legislative and regulatory efforts.
The North Carolina General Assembly convened for its Short Session
in May and adjourned the Session on August 21, 2014. The General
Assembly will convene its long Session on January 14, 2015. During
this Short Session, hundreds of bills were addressed following the
rules that dictate what can occur in the session. NCRWA’s Legislative
Team continuously ensured that your interests were represented.
Legislative Committee Chair Wilmer Melton of the City of
Kannapolis, the NCRWA Legislative Committee, Executive Director
Daniel Wilson, and our Lobbyist Jon Carr worked daily tracking
legislation, developing position and strategy, and responding to the
many Bills that were introduced in Raleigh. The following list of
legislation includes the Session Laws that we feel most affect your
water and/or wastewater system. If you have questions or comments
pertaining to any of these laws or have specific laws or regulations
that you would like for us to discuss in more detail on your behalf,
please contact me at
Due to the many types of systems represented by NCRWA, please
consult with your General Counsel for a better understanding of
exactly how certain legislation will affect your system. These Session
Laws can be accessed through the General Assembly’s website
(
see “Shortcuts” and Session Law reference on right
hand side of the home page).
•
Session Law (S.L.) 2014-41 and later amended by S.L. 2014-115
Section 55.5:
An Act to Improve Source Water Protection Planning:
This law requires that every supplier of water operating a public water
system and furnishing water from surface supplies create and implement
a source water protection plan. In the coming months, proposed rules
will be developed that address the standard format for these plans,
the schedule for implementation, and any other related requirements.
NCRWA opposed this mandate but later worked to ensure that rules
would be developed to simplify and streamline the current EPA format
for Source Water Protection Plans. If you would like to get on NCRWA’s
list for plan development to meet this requirement, please send an email
to
NCRWA has assisted more systems with
the development of Source Water Protection Plans to date than any other
entity in the state, and we hope to have the resources available to meet
the needs of our members pertaining to these new requirements.
NCRWA
Legislative
Update
