LEGISLATION JOURNAL
posted 07/30/07
HB 289 To amend sections 931.02, 931.03, 931.04, 931.99, and 5709.28 of the Revised Code to make changes to the law governing agricultural security areas.
posted 07/06/07
HB 103 - 2007-2008 WATER FEES (Blessing) To modify the circumstances under which a lien may be created to collect unpaid water rates and charges owed local authorities and to specify certain requirements prior to creation of the lien.
HB 227 - 2007-2008 WATER DISTRICTS (Evans) To authorize regional water and sewer districts to establish police departments.
HB 62 - 2007-2008 WATER RATES (Ujvagi) To authorize a board of county commissioners or a board of trustees of a regional water and sewer district to offer discounts on water and sewer rates to persons sixty-five years of age or older.
posted 03/09/07
HB 227
WATER
DISTRICTS (Evans) To
authorize regional water and sewer districts to establish police
departments. Am. & En. 109.71, 109.73, 109.77, 6119.60, 6119.61, 6119.62,
6119.63, and 6119.64 Full
Text
NEW LEGISLATION AND ANALYSIS
posted 03/09/07
HB 62 - WATER RATES (Ujvagi) To
authorize a board of county commissioners or a board of trustees of a
regional water and sewer district to offer discounts on water and sewer
rates to persons sixty-five years of age or older. Full
Text
Rep. Ujvagi outlined the bill that he said was requested by Lucas County officials who want to offer discounted water and sewer rates to low-income seniors who live in the county, but outside of the city of Toledo.
He said the permissive measure offers the opportunity to counties to make the service available to qualifying participants who meet income requirements that match Ohio Housing Finance Agency standards. He said the change is particularly important given the increased costs that are likely to be associated with a settlement that calls for a half-billion dollars of water system repairs.
Rep. Wagner raised concerns about lowering rates for certain seniors, suggesting that the rate cuts would require others - possibly young families struggling to make ends meet - to subsidize their bills. Mr. Ujvagi responded that those families are also relying on seniors to contribute to their kids' schools.
HB 103 WATER FEES (Blessing) To modify the circumstances under which a lien may be created to collect unpaid water rates and charges owed local authorities and to specify certain requirements prior to creation of the lien. Am. 735.29, 743.04, 5321.03, 6103.02, and 6119.06 Full Text
posted 03/08/07
SB 83 SEWAGE
RULES
(Grendell) To
require the Public Health Council to rescind rules related to household
sewage treatment systems and reinstate the rules related to those systems
that were in effect prior to January 1, 2007, to require the Council
subsequently to adopt statutorily required rules related to those systems,
and to declare an emergency. Full
Text
HB 304
What follows is a letter from Lewis Blessing regarding House Bill 304. Any questions or comments may be directed to ORWA@Ohiowater.org.
February 9, 2007
With the start of the new General Assembly underway and legislative action still a couple of weeks off, I am getting a head start on my legislative agenda.
You will recall that my bill, House Bill 304, received a number of hearings in the 126th General Assembly and had a substitute bill accepted in the House Civil and Commercial Law Committee prior to the end of the session. The substitute bill incorporated a number of suggested language revisions from various stakeholders among the revisions were:
· Defining “inordinately high”.
· Added “historical usage” at the property as a benchmark for cost and usage.
· Specifies that a written notice will be sent via ordinary mail promptly.
· Clarifying that the bill applies to single-family, single metered situations.
· Support effort to remove language regarding electronic metering and monitoring.
· Continuing our responsibility for providing written proof that the property owner was not in occupancy in any or all of the property.
· Ensuring that stormwater and sewer are not included in the bill.
As there was no testimony in opposition presented in committee and no response sent back to my office on the last version of the bill that was drafted and accepted, I am again sending to you a copy of the bill and ask for you or your client to provide comments by no later than February 22, 2007. If I do not receive any specific comments by that point I will assume that your previous issues have been resolved. Please accompany any comments that are submitted with possible language suggestions to address your concerns.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact my staff.
Sincerely,
Louis Blessing
HOUSE PANEL COMPLETES WORK ON GREAT LAKES
COMPACT BILL SLATED FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY APPROVAL IN LAME DUCK
Ohio is poised to become the first state in the Great Lakes basin to
ratify a multi-state, international compact designed to protect the
valuable water resources from diversions.
Addressing business community concerns while not attempting to alter
the compact itself, the House Economic Development and Environment
Committee unanimously reported Wednesday an amended version of
legislation
(HB 574) that sets parameters for Ohio's involvement and spells out the
legislature's intent on related issues.
The amendment crafted by sponsor Rep. Matthew Dolan (R-Novelty) in
conjunction with the committee chairman, speaker's office staff and
interested parties, addresses several concerns voiced by the state's
business community, which initially wanted to amend the compact itself
over
worries about abdicating state authority and unduly infringing on
economic development efforts.
The amendment clarifies that the governor, in representing the state
on finalization of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water
Resources Compact, may not cast a vote on the final plan without the
General
Assembly's approval. Similarly, the language requires legislative
approval before the governor and oversight state agency - the Department
of
Natural Resources - proceed with implementing regulations.
Further, the amendment clarifies legislative intent with regard to
consumptive use, diversion and grandfathering issues as well as the
voluntary nature of the conservation programs. It also creates a
legislative
advisory council.
Mr. Dolan said in an interview that it is important for the state to
take the first step toward finalizing the compact. "Ohio is really
exercising leadership here," he said. "Protecting the Great Lakes is
essential for our future."
Jerry Tinianow, executive director of Audubon Ohio, agreed. He noted
in proponent testimony in the House that the compact was in part a
guard against Great Lakes water diversion to other non-basin states with
increasing congressional clout.
"Ohio has the most to lose," he added, since Lake Erie is the most
shallow of the five Great Lakes.
Mr. Tinianow joined other witnesses in lauding the sponsor and
parties for working out differences while preserving the compact itself
- the
altering of which would cause problems with the participating states
and Canadian provinces. "This is the way environmental legislation is
supposed to work," he said.
Linda Woggon, vice president of Government Affairs for the Ohio
Chamber of Commerce and a representative of the Coalition for
Sustainable
Water Management, said the legislative intent language "addresses every
single one of the issues we brought forward" several months ago.
The coalition initially wanted to alter the compact itself, she
noted. "We support the concept of the compact. We don't want to put it
in
jeopardy."
Rep. Kathleen Chandler (D-Kent) raised concerns about amendment
language regarding the legislature's intent to set the baseline capacity
for
commercial water use at the larger of physical capacity or permitted
amount on the date the compact is completely ratified - which could take
several years.
Mr. Dolan replied that he didn't foresee a business constructing an
overly-large water storage facility to unduly take advantage of the
provision, underscoring that the language itself does not alter the
compact.
Molly Flanagan, testifying on behalf of the National Wildlife
Federation, also expressed some concerns but did not oppose the bill,
saying
her group is keeping its "eyes on the bigger picture."
"We are not satisfied with the amendment," she said, while the
state's business community did. "We gave a lot and where we asked for
concessions, we didn't get much in return."
NWF had proposed further changes to the bill that did not get
incorporated prior to the committee vote. Chairman Rep. Thom Collier
(R-Mt.
Vernon) said he would continue to work with the group toward its goals.
ODNR Senate Presentation: Since Ohio was a leading force in the
lengthy multi-state negotiations over the Great Lakes Compact,
Department of
Natural Resources Director Sam Speck urged the Senate Environment &
Natural Resources Committee to support the initiative.
While he believes most of the business coalition's proposed
amendments to the "auxiliary legislation" are unnecessary, they are
"acceptable," he said. However, he vehemently opposes amending the
language of the
compact itself.
"Our concern is that once we open up the compact for amendments, we
would see amendments from other states that we would rather not have,"
he said. "We have built a very delicate house of cards."
Other states and the Canadian provinces had very different priorities
and concerns, he said. The entities worked hard to strike a compromise
on several contentious points, including whether to permit diversions
for communities and counties that straddle the basin and whether to
allow businesses to ship bottled water out of the basin.
"We reached an acceptable way of dealing with these issues," he said.
Noting that several states haven't even introduced compact
legislation, Sen. Tim Grendell (R-Chesterland) asked why hurry the
measure.
"If Ohio drifts, I think it raises questions about Ohio's leadership"
in the process, Mr. Speck answered. Gov. Bob Taft, who has named the
Great Lakes Compact as one of his legislative priorities, co-chaired the
Council of Great Lakes Governors that hammered out the agreement.
In addition, he said states' failure to make progress on the
agreement could to Congress acting to take over state control of water
diversions in the region.
Lawmakers allowed rules affecting drinking water and sewer
facility operators to stand Monday after hearing determined
opposition from officials representing several of Ohio's major
cities.
Opponents accused the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency of trying to "micromanage" their operations by imposing rules that would increase training, staffing, and reporting requirements for facility operators.
Robert Campbell, of the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater
Cincinnati, complained operators would have to spend four times
as much time performing certain duties to obtain credit towards
a promotion.
The cost of hiring additional staff could run as high as
$500,000 a year, he said. "It seems out of whack to us."
Claiming OEPA minimized the financial impact of the rules,
Columbus Assistant City Attorney Susan Ashbrook asked the panel
to invalidate the rules based on an incomplete fiscal analysis.
"We're not talking about environmental regulation here," she
said, arguing the city would have additional costs that have no
benefit to the environment.
In addition, the proposed rules that make the operator, rather
than the facility's owner, responsible for record keeping
requirements exceed the agency's statutory authority, she said.
The additional staffing requirements would make cities raise
their rates beyond the increases required to improve sewer
overflows during wet weather, said Michael McGlinchy, of the
Association of Ohio Metropolitan Wastewater Agencies.
Despite numerous stakeholder meetings and subsequent revisions
to the rule package over the last two years, there remains a
"philosophical difference" between the agency and facility
operators, OEPA Director Joe Koncelik told the committee.
The agency created several different classifications of
operators with different training and staffing requirements to
reflect the vast difference in types of facilities, he
explained.
"If something goes wrong in one of these huge systems, like
Cincinnati, it shouldn't be someone there who's only had
experience in a mobile home park facility," he said, arguing the
rules reflect differences in "orders of magnitude."
"A 1% failure at a massive wastewater treatment plant is a lot
different than a 1% failure at a mobile home park facility."
Rather than trying to increase compliance with environmental
regulations, the rules were designed as a "preventative
measure," he said, in response to a question from Rep. Fred
Strahorn (D-Dayton).
Opponents' claims about the rules' financial impacts were based
on a lot of "hypothetical scenarios," he said, warning that
failure to impose minimum staffing requirements could jeopardize
as much as $5 million in federal funding to improve wastewater
infrastructure in Ohio cities.
Despite several lawmakers' concerns, the panel apparently decided the rules didn't meet JCARR's limited criteria for invalidation.
Late December Meeting: Chairman Jay Hottinger (R-Newark)
said the committee would probably have another hearing on Dec.
28.
The additional hearing is necessary because a number of rules
filed during the first part of November may face a "dead period"
in the legislative review process, JCARR Executive Director Bill
Hills said in an interview.
The problem arises due to the relatively short period of time
JCARR has to hear a rule, which can occur no sooner than 41 days
after filing, he said. However, JCARR jurisdiction lasts only 65
days, after which an agency can then make a final filing and the
rule could go into effect following a 10-day waiting period.
Therefore, rules filed between Nov. 1 and Nov. 17 cannot be
heard in meetings already scheduled for Dec. 11 and Jan. 22.
Opposition to HB 304 from County
Commissioners posted 10/20/06
Letter sent
September 22, 2006
Honorable Lou Blessing
Ohio House of Representatives
77 South High Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Dear Representative Blessing:
The purpose of this letter is to comment on the provisions of Substitute HB 304 (LSC 1260346-3) which your office shared with me and CCAO earlier this year.
I have reviewed Substitute HB 304 and discussed its provisions with some of our members. CCAO is opposed to Substitute HB 304.
The substitute bill eliminates sanitary sewer, drainage and solid waste systems from its application so that it applies exclusively to water systems. The substitute bill also permits certification of liens for delinquencies of no more than 90 days in the case of certain rental customers if certain conditions are met. Notwithstanding these changes, we believe that this bill, if enacted, would make it significantly more difficult to collect on delinquent water bills and would increase county water district costs. Because virtually all county water supply systems operate as enterprise funds without subsidy from the general tax payer, the increased costs resulting from this legislation will be passed on to other water supply customers in the form of higher rates.
Many county water supply systems collect water supply rates and charges on a quarterly basis. In most instances the customers pay in arrears and thus owe their bill on the previous quarter’s service. The legislation requires a notice of delinquency to be mailed within thirty days of the charges becoming due. The bill also requires the county to terminate the water service within 90 days after the rates or charges become due. If the county can only certify delinquencies of no more than 90 days and it takes anywhere from 45 to 90 days to provide the delinquent customer with proper notice and a meaningful process to obtain payment prior to termination of service, it is easy to see how the county water district could be left with significant unpaid accounts. These costs will ultimately be borne by other rate payers.
There is no question that termination of service provides a customer with an incentive to pay the bill. However, if the customer in question happens to be a rental customer who has abandoned the property and moved to a new location, the water district will be unable to certify the delinquency, and the bill will become uncollectible. Again, uncollectible bills will simply drive up the cost to other users of the system.
In addition to sending a written notice of a delinquency to the property owner and terminating service within 90 days, there is a third condition that would have to be met before a county water district could certify a delinquency to the county auditor for collection on the tax bill. The third condition is if the service is monitored and metered electronically, the county water district would have to send written notice to the property owner whenever the district detects “inordinately high” water usage. CCAO does not believe it should be the responsibility of the county to monitor a property owner’s or landlord’s property to determine when a tenant is engaging in acts of vandalism against the property owner or there is simply a substantive change in water usage. It is the responsibility of the property owner, not a water utility to monitor and otherwise manage the business relationship that a landlord has with their tenants. It is also unclear how “inordinately high” will be defined. Will the county need to notify a property owner when water usage increases by 20%, 30%, 50% or some other spike in usage? There are counties with thousands and in some cases tens of thousands of customers. This proposed provision would result, once again, in cost increases that would be passed on to customers of the system.
It is worth pointing out that current law permits county commissioners to establish a security deposit to protect the county from the effects of delinquent rate payers. However, the authority to establish security deposits and terminate water service was provided by the passage of HB 549, effective 3-12-01. Therefore, even if a county has adopted rules within the past five years requiring security deposits, if you have 20,000 customers it is obvious that the security deposit would only be required of new customers or when accounts change hands. It would take many years to gradually implement such a policy and managing security deposits (tracking and safekeeping funds, providing refunds, ect.) would entail significant costs to the county water district and its customers.
For all of these reasons, CCAO opposes Substitute HB 304. We would have no objection to a statutory change that would require the county water district to send a notice to the property owner whenever rates and charges are delinquent. We would be happy to discuss this alternative approach.
We appreciate having had the opportunity to review Substitute HB 304. If you have any questions about our position on this legislation, I may be reached by calling (614) 221-5627 or you may email me at bcole@ccao.org
Sincerely,
Brad Cole
Senior Policy Analyst
| JCARR CLEARANCE OF HOUSEHOLD SEWAGE RULES SETS UP ANOTHER LEGISLATIVE SHOWDOWN (posted 10/11/06) |
|
Controversial regulation changes affecting household sewage
treatment systems were again the topic of extensive debate
Tuesday before clearing the Joint Committee on Agency Rule
Review.
And again, some legislators clearly were opposed to the
direction of the Department of Health package but
nevertheless unable to justify an invalidation of the
proposals based on a violation of JCARR "prong," such as a
rule's misalignment with legislative intent.
"Unfortunately, the rules do meet the four prongs of the
JCARR test," Chairman
Sen. Jay Hottinger (R-Newark) said.
The final disposition of the rules package, however, seems
likely to be the subject of further legislation given the
apparently deep levels of dissatisfaction emanating from the
General Assembly.
Sen. Hottinger said he was disappointed ODH wasn't able to
address lawmakers' concerns over the package, which applies
to such issues as permits, soil absorption, leaching trench
requirements and variances, and that he looked forward to
being involved in a legislative solution in the coming
weeks.
The legislature - members from both parties have concerns
over the new rules - is likely to take up the issue in the
two-month lame duck session following the Nov. 7 elections.
Lawmakers, in fact, previously tried to put the skids on the
rules (HB231,
125th General Assembly) only to see Governor Bob Taft veto
budget correction measure (HB
530 Not withstanding the governor's position, opponents to the ODH rules package swamped JCARR a month later with a litany of complaints, many of which earned a sympathetic ear from lawmakers who had already fielded concerns including the impact on home prices and the cost homeowners would have to bear in updating their current systems.
Nevertheless, JCARR was forced to side with supporters of
the plan based in part on the statutory requirement to file
the permanent rules package by early May. (See
Gongwer Ohio Report, April 24, 2006)
Under an agreement with ODH, department officials were to
work with concerned constituencies on various outstanding
issues in the hopes that compromise could be reached before
the regulations' final implementation date of Jan. 1. ODH's
proposed amendments to the plan were the subject of JCARR's
hearing Tuesday. "We made a good faith effort through the summer to work on issues," Sen. Tom Niehaus (R-New Richmond), the sponsor of the implementing legislation as a former House member, said before the hearing. Opponents broke off further talks when it became apparent that ODH's amendments would not address their concerns, Sen. Niehaus said. "The Health Department, in my opinion, addressed those 10" issues, he said.
ODH Director Dr. J. Nick Baird said in testimony that the
amendments would, among other things, expand the number of
lots eligible for the pre-approval process and
"significantly expand" the grace period through 2010 to a
larger number of pre-approved systems installed under the
former rules. "This allows lot owners with existing and
future lots additional time and options to install their
systems with a subsequent cost savings as well," he said.
Opponents who provided testimony Tuesday included the Ohio
Township Association, the Ohio Manufactured Homes
Association and septic system manufacturer Ring Industrial,
LP.
OMHA argued that the rules should be invalidated because
they violate legislative intent and were not submitted by
ODH with an accurate summary and fiscal analysis.
Attorney Christopher Schraff, testifying on behalf of Ring
Industrial, said the amendments make the rules worse. "The
proposed rule revisions before you today not only continue -
and worsen - the anticompetitive and discriminatory effect
of the new Ohio Sanitary Code, but also discourage, and in
many cases, effectively block the use of new, innovative
treatment systems in Ohio for many years to come."
Sen. Niehaus said after the hearing that the amendments
would provide more options to the concerned constituents. "I
believe these rules will provide more options for
homeowners, builders and local health departments," he said.
"They will also ensure there will be more competitive
products." Also on Tuesday, stakeholders who came prepared to testify against a three-rule package of child care rules proposed by the Department of Job and Family Services were able to keep their powder dry after the agency withdrew two of the more controversial proposals. ODJFS will resubmit the rules at a later date. |
Legislation Under Consideration
posted 10/09/06
|
HB 123 - 2005-2006 TAX LAWS (Skindell) To revise the corporation franchise tax law by lowering tax rates, adding alternative minimum tax bases, expanding add-backs for expenses paid to related companies, adding a sales factor "throwback," eliminating future net operating loss deductions, requiring "water's edge" combined tax reporting, eliminating the implied deduction for taxes paid to other jurisdictions, increasing the maximum tax computed on a net worth basis, expressly narrowing the net worth exclusion for financial institutions relative to appreciation, clarifying the pass-through entity withholding tax base, requiring corporate taxpayers to disclose certain tax-related information, and eliminating several credits and to eliminate corresponding personal income tax credits for business owners. |
|
HB 147 - 2005-2006 PARK FEES (Fessler) To prohibit the Division of Parks and Recreation in the Department of Natural Resources from adopting rules establishing a fee for parking a motor vehicle in a state park or for admission to a state park, to allow the Director of Natural Resources to transfer up to four million dollars from the Waterways Safety Fund to the State Park Fund, and to declare an emergency |
|
HB 215 - 2005-2006 WATER & SEWER RATE DISCOUNTS (Ujvagi) To authorize a board of county commissioners or a board of trustees of a regional water and sewer district to offer discounts on water and sewer rates to persons sixty-five years of age or older. |
|
HB 277 - 2005-2006 WATER/SEWER DISTRICT POLICE (Trakas) To authorize regional water and sewer districts to establish police departments. |
|
HB 304 - 2005-2006 SERVICE LIENS (Blessing) To modify the circumstances under which a lien may be created an action at law commenced to collect unpaid water, sewage, and other service rates and charges owed local authorities. |
|
SB 306 - 2005-2006 LITTER PENALTIES (Zurz) To establish penalties for depositing potentially dangerous litter on public or private property or in or on the waters of the state; to increase the penalty for littering from a motor vehicle or watercraft and to make littering penalties consistent. |
|
SB 319 - 2005-2006 WATER RESROUCES COMPACT (Spada) To ratify the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact and to establish related requirements. |
|
HB 387 - 2005-2006 COASTAL MANAGEMENT OFFICE (McGregor, J.) To abolish the Office of Coastal Management created by the Department of Natural Resources and to transfer its duties to the Division of Soil and Water Conservation within the Department. |
|
HB 569 - 2005-2006 SEWAGE DISCHARGE NOTIFICATION (Oelslager) To establish notification requirements for the discharge of untreated or partially treated sewage onto land or into the waters of the state. |
|
HB 574 - 2005-2006 WATER RESOURCES COMPACT (Dolan) To ratify the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact and to establish related requirements. |
The Washington Report
(posted 10/03/06)
Rural Water Grassroots Campaign Succeeds in Making New Chemical Security
Legislation Better for Water Supplies (PDF
doc)
(Sept. 29,
2006) Just this week - in the closing days of this Congress, some U.S.
House and Senate lawmakers proposed an amendment to the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) spending bill that would give the Department
authority to issue new chemical security regulations. The regulatory
proposal would have covered water and wastewater supplies – and included new
civil penalties for violations of the proposed regulations. As the Congress
was deciding on the final legislation, state rural water associations urged
Congress to treat small communities differently than the chemical industry.
"Small communities' water and wastewater utilities routinely use chemicals to
treat/disinfect drinking water and wastewater to promote public health and protect the environment. However, small and rural community water supplies are self-governing, non-profit organizations, they are not businesses, and have no incentive not to take all security actions possible. They are fundamentally different from chemical businesses. A list of over 50,000 small communities (many governed by local volunteers, teachers, mayors, doctors, retired citizens, farmers, etc.) that would be open to new regulations and new civil penalties under these legislative proposals is available at:
www.ruralwater.org/seclist.txt.
Advancing security in small communities is more of a RESOURCE problem than a REGULATORY problem. Every small community faces unlimited challenges and needs – with limited financial, administrative, and technical resources -- and they need to ensure these resources are most effectively allocated. Please consider an approach to enhance security by prioritizing funding, technical assistance, education, and federal resources - the most effective methods for the federal government to protect small wastewater systems without overburdening the capabilities and resources of small local government."
[Cite: www.ruralwater.org/seccollins2.pdf ]
On September 25, 2006, we were successful – thanks to our grassroots effort to persuade Congress to stand up for small and rural communities. Congress exempted water and wastewater supplies from the new chemical facilities regulation. Congratulations to all the rural water members who urged their Congressmen and Senators to "stand up for rural water." Many of the biggest industry and environmental community lobbyists, who were closely watching the legislation, were impressed
with rural
water’s ability to persuade key decision makers on Capitol Hill of our
position in the final days of this process.
The President has signed this bill into law. For the text of the legislation (House Report No. 109– 699, Conference Report on H.R. 5441) and more information on this and other topics, please see http://www.ruralwater.org.
Sub House Bill 304: (posted
9/20/06)
Click Here for Intro Memo (Word
DOC) to Sub HB 304
Click Here for PDF of Sub HB 304
Click
the image to the left for our latest Newsletter.
Be sure to magnify /
zoom to see the entire document. You can
also right-click (the larger image) and choose 'Save As' to save a copy to your PC.
Legislative Links
All US Congress Representatives for State of Ohio
Contact Your
State Representative
Contact Your State Senator
Contact Your Congressman
Contact Your US Senator
Ohio Bills Introduced
Ohio Bills Analyzed
Important Organizations
National Rural Water Association
Ohio EPA
US EPA
Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation
RHS Solutions
Contact Info
55 Whites Rd
Zanesville, OH 43701
ph: 740-455-3911
fax: 740-455-3899
tollfree: 800-589-7985
email:
ORWA@Ohiowater.org
