S*360 Session 112 (1997-1998)
S*0360(Rat #0060, Act #0041 of 1997) General Bill, By Drummond, Bryan, Ford and
Giese
A BILL TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION
48-5-55 SO AS TO ESTABLISH THE DRINKING WATER REVOLVING LOAN FUND AND PROVIDE
FOR THE MANNER IN WHICH IT MUST BE ADMINISTERED; TO AMEND ACT 513 OF 1992,
RELATING TO THE SOUTH CAROLINA WATER QUALITY REVOLVING FUND AUTHORITY ACT, SO
AS TO BRING THIS STATE'S LAWS INTO COMPLIANCE WITH THE 1996 AMENDMENTS TO THE
SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT, TITLE XIV OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT, SECTION
1452, TITLE 42, UNITED STATES CODE, AND BY ADDING AN APPROPRIATE LEGISLATIVE
FINDING; TO AMEND SECTION 45-5-20, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS USED IN THE SOUTH
CAROLINA WATER QUALITY REVOLVING FUND AUTHORITY ACT, SO AS TO CHANGE THE
DEFINITION OF "FUND" TO "CLEAN WATER FUND", ADD A DEFINITION FOR "DRINKING
WATER FUND" AND "SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT", AND CHANGE THE DEFINITION OF
"PROJECT"; TO AMEND SECTION 48-5-40, RELATING TO THE POWERS OF THE SOUTH
CAROLINA WATER QUALITY REVOLVING FUND AUTHORITY, SO AS TO ADD ADDITIONAL
POWERS INCLUDING THE AUTHORIZATION TO ESTABLISH ACCOUNTS FOR THE DEPOSIT OF
PORTIONS OF GRANTS; TO AMEND SECTION 48-5-50, RELATING TO THE CONTINUED
EXISTENCE OF THE FUND PREVIOUSLY CREATED PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 6 OF TITLE 48, SO
AS TO CLARIFY THE NAME OF THE FUND AS BEING THE CLEAN WATER FUND; TO AMEND
SECTION 48-5-60, RELATING TO THE AUTHORITY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL TO PROMULGATE REGULATIONS UNDER THE ACT, SO AS TO ADD
REFERENCE TO THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT AND AUTHORIZE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF
ACCOUNTS AND THE DEPOSITING IN THEM PORTIONS OF FEDERAL GRANTS AUTHORIZED BY
THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT; AND TO AMEND SECTION 48-5-160, RELATING TO
REPORTING REQUIREMENTS OF THE AUTHORITY TO THE GOVERNOR, GENERAL ASSEMBLY, AND
THE UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, SO AS TO ADD THE
REQUIREMENT THAT A BIENNIAL REPORT BE MADE TO THE UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY ON THE DRINKING WATER REVOLVING LOAN FUND.
02/12/97 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-6
02/12/97 Senate Referred to Committee on Medical Affairs SJ-6
03/12/97 Senate Committee report: Favorable Medical Affairs SJ-19
03/13/97 Senate Read second time SJ-24
03/18/97 Senate Read third time and sent to House SJ-11
03/19/97 House Introduced and read first time HJ-29
03/19/97 House Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Natural
Resources and Environmental Affairs HJ-30
04/16/97 House Committee report: Favorable Agriculture, Natural
Resources and Environmental Affairs HJ-10
04/23/97 House Debate adjourned until Thursday, April 24, 1997 HJ-23
04/24/97 House Read second time HJ-25
04/29/97 House Read third time and enrolled HJ-7
05/15/97 Ratified R 60
05/21/97 Signed By Governor
05/21/97 Effective date 05/21/97
06/02/97 Copies available
06/02/97 Act No. 41
(A41, R60, S360)
AN ACT TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH
CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 48-5-55 SO AS TO
ESTABLISH THE DRINKING WATER REVOLVING LOAN FUND
AND PROVIDE FOR THE MANNER IN WHICH IT MUST BE
ADMINISTERED; TO AMEND ACT 513 OF 1992, RELATING TO
THE SOUTH CAROLINA WATER QUALITY REVOLVING FUND
AUTHORITY ACT, SO AS TO BRING THIS STATE'S LAWS INTO
COMPLIANCE WITH THE 1996 AMENDMENTS TO THE SAFE
DRINKING WATER ACT, TITLE XIV OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH
SERVICE ACT, SECTION 1452, TITLE 42, UNITED STATES CODE,
AND BY ADDING AN APPROPRIATE LEGISLATIVE FINDING; TO
AMEND SECTION 48-5-20, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS USED IN
THE SOUTH CAROLINA WATER QUALITY REVOLVING FUND
AUTHORITY ACT, SO AS TO CHANGE THE DEFINITION OF
"FUND" TO "CLEAN WATER FUND", ADD
A DEFINITION FOR "DRINKING WATER FUND" AND
"SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT", AND CHANGE THE
DEFINITION OF "PROJECT"; TO AMEND SECTION
48-5-40, RELATING TO THE POWERS OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA
WATER QUALITY REVOLVING FUND AUTHORITY, SO AS TO
ADD ADDITIONAL POWERS INCLUDING THE AUTHORIZATION
TO ESTABLISH ACCOUNTS FOR THE DEPOSIT OF PORTIONS OF
GRANTS; TO AMEND SECTION 48-5-50, RELATING TO THE
CONTINUED EXISTENCE OF THE FUND PREVIOUSLY CREATED
PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 6 OF TITLE 48, SO AS TO CLARIFY THE
NAME OF THE FUND AS BEING THE CLEAN WATER FUND; TO
AMEND SECTION 48-5-60, RELATING TO THE AUTHORITY OF
THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL
CONTROL TO PROMULGATE REGULATIONS UNDER THE ACT,
SO AS TO ADD REFERENCE TO THE SAFE DRINKING WATER
ACT AND AUTHORIZE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCOUNTS
AND THE DEPOSITING IN THEM PORTIONS OF FEDERAL
GRANTS AUTHORIZED BY THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT;
AND TO AMEND SECTION 48-5-160, RELATING TO REPORTING
REQUIREMENTS OF THE AUTHORITY TO THE GOVERNOR,
GENERAL ASSEMBLY, AND THE UNITED STATES
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, SO AS TO ADD THE
REQUIREMENT THAT A BIENNIAL REPORT BE MADE TO THE
UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ON
THE DRINKING WATER REVOLVING LOAN FUND.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund established
SECTION 1. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 48-5-55. (A) There is established the Drinking Water
Revolving Loan Fund, which must be held and administered by the
authority in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and policies,
rules, regulations, directives, and agreements as may be promulgated or
entered into by the authority pursuant to this chapter. Earnings on
balances in the drinking water fund must be credited to the drinking water
fund. Amounts remaining in the drinking water fund at the end of a fiscal
year accrue only to the credit of the drinking water fund. Amounts in the
drinking water fund must be available in perpetuity for the purpose of
providing financial assistance in accordance with the provisions of this
chapter and the Safe Drinking Water Act.
(B) There must be deposited in the drinking water fund:
(1) federal capitalization grants, awards, or other federal assistance
received by the department under authority of the Safe Drinking Water
Act for purposes of the drinking water fund;
(2) funds appropriated by the General Assembly for deposit to the
drinking water fund;
(3) payments received from a project sponsor in repayment of a
loan, including amounts withheld by the State Treasurer and paid to the
authority pursuant to Section 48-5-170;
(4) net proceeds of bonds issued by the authority;
(5) interest or other income earned on the investment of monies in
the drinking water fund; and
(6) additional monies made available from public or private sources
for the purposes for which the drinking water fund has been established.
(C) Amounts in the drinking water fund may be used only:
(1) to make loans to project sponsors in accordance with provisions
of this chapter and the Safe Drinking Water Act;
(2) to buy or refinance debt obligations of project sponsors at or
below market rates, if the debt obligations were incurred after July 1,
1993;
(3) to guarantee, or purchase insurance for, bonds, notes, or other
evidences of obligation issued by a project sponsor for the purpose of
financing all or a portion of the cost of a project, if the action improves
credit market access or reduces interest rates;
(4) as a source of revenue or security for the payment of principal
and interest on bonds issued by the authority if the proceeds of the sale of
the bonds are deposited in the drinking water fund;
(5) to earn interest on drinking water fund accounts; and
(6) for any other purposes authorized by the Safe Drinking Water
Act.
(D) The authority may establish accounts and subaccounts within the
drinking water fund as considered desirable to effectuate the purposes of
this chapter, to comply with the provisions of a bond resolution, or to
meet a requirement of the Safe Drinking Water Act."
Further legislative findings
SECTION 2. Section 1, Act 513 of 1992, is amended by adding:
"(5) The Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996, which
amends Title XIV of the Public Heath Service Act, Section 1452 (42,
U.S.C. 300f et seq.), provides for federal grants to the states to fund
drinking water revolving loan funds and related activities and requires that
the states contribute at least twenty percent in matching funds for such
grants for deposit into the revolving fund."
Definitions
SECTION 3. Section 48-5-20 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 513
of 1992, is amended to read:
"Section 48-5-20. As used in this chapter, unless a different
meaning clearly appears from the context:
(1) 'Agency' means the United States Environmental Protection
Agency.
(2) 'Authority' means the South Carolina Water Quality Revolving
Fund Authority.
(3) 'Bonds' means bonds, notes, debentures, interim certificates,
commercial paper, bond, grant, or revenue anticipation notes, or any other
evidence of indebtedness of the authority.
(4) 'Clean Water Act' means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act,
Chapter 26, Title 33, United States Code, as modified or amended, and
any successor, substitute, or replacement provisions of law, and the rules
and regulations promulgated under it.
(5) 'Clean water fund' means the water pollution control revolving
loan fund originally established pursuant to Section 48-6-20 and
comprising monies derived from capitalization grants pursuant to the
Clean Water Act and associated state match money, as well as repayments
of all principal and interest on loans made from the clean water fund,
investment earnings, and any other money committed to the clean water
fund.
(6) 'Department' means the South Carolina Department of Health and
Environmental Control.
(7) 'Drinking water fund' means the drinking water revolving loan
fund established pursuant to Section 48-5-55, and comprising monies
derived from capitalization grants pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water
Act and associated state match money, as well as repayments of all
principal and interest on loans made from the drinking water fund,
investment earnings, and any other money committed to the drinking
water fund.
(8) 'Loan' means a loan from the authority to a project sponsor for the
purpose of financing all or a portion of the cost of a project.
(9) 'Loan agreement' means a written agreement between the
authority and a project sponsor with respect to a loan.
(10) 'Loan obligation' means a bond, note, or other evidence of
obligation issued by a project sponsor to evidence its indebtedness under
a loan agreement with respect to a loan.
(11) 'Project' means:
(a) publicly-owned treatment works, or the capacity or rights to the
capacity of a publicly-owned treatment work, including any devices and
systems used in the storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of
municipal sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature or necessary to
recycle or reuse water at the most economical cost over the estimated life
of the works, including intercepting sewers, outfall sewers, sewage
collection systems, pumping, power, and other equipment and their
appurtenances; extensions, improvements, remodeling, additions, and
alterations thereof; elements essential to provide a reliable recycled supply
such as standby treatment units; and any works, including site acquisition
of the land that will be an integral part of the treatment process (including
land used for the storage of treated wastewater in land treatment systems
before land application), or is used for ultimate disposal of residues
resulting from the treatment and any other method or system for
preventing, abating, reducing, storing, treating, separating, or disposing
of municipal waste, including stormwater runoff and waste in combined
stormwater and sanitary sewer systems;
(b) management programs authorized under the Clean Water Act;
(c) development and implementation of a conservation and
management plan authorized under the Clean Water Act;
(d) construction or improvements to drinking water supply, storage,
treatment, and distribution facilities and associated costs authorized by the
Safe Drinking Water Act; and
(e) other projects as the authority and the department determine are
permissible uses of the clean water fund and the drinking water fund
under the terms of the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act,
respectively, to the extent then applicable.
(12) 'Project sponsor' means a county, municipality, special purpose or
special service district, commissioners of public works, or any other
public body or agency of the State which may own or operate a project;
this term includes any combination of two or more of these entities acting
jointly to construct, own, or operate a project. With respect to the
drinking water fund, project sponsor also means a nonprofit corporation
established under Title 33, Chapter 35.
(13) 'Safe Drinking Water Act' means Title XIV of the Public Health
Service Act, Title 42, United States Code, as modified or amended, and
any successor, substitute, or replacement provisions of law, and the rules
and regulations promulgated under it."
Additional powers
SECTION 4. That portion of Section 48-5-40 of the 1976 Code, as
added by Act 513 of 1992 which precedes item (1), is amended to read:
"The authority has all powers necessary, useful, or appropriate to
fund, invest, use, and administer the clean water fund, the drinking water
fund, and other authorized activities permitted by the Safe Drinking Water
Act including, but not limited to, the power to:"
References corrected
SECTION 5. Section 48-5-40 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 513
of 1992, is amended by adding:
"(21) establish accounts for the deposit of portions of the federal
capitalization grants, as authorized by the Safe Drinking Water Act, for
purposes of certain other authorized activities."
Name of fund clarified
SECTION 6. Section 48-5-50 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 513
of 1992, is amended to read:
"Section 48-5-50. (A) The clean water fund established pursuant
to the former provisions of Chapter 6 of Title 48 is continued in existence
and held and administered by the authority in accordance with the
provisions of this chapter and policies, rules, regulations, directives, and
agreements as may be promulgated or entered into by the authority
pursuant to this chapter. Earnings on balances in the clean water fund
must be credited to the clean water fund. Amounts remaining in the clean
water fund at the end of a fiscal year accrue only to the credit of the clean
water fund. Amounts in the clean water fund must be available in
perpetuity for the purpose of providing financial assistance in accordance
with the provisions of this chapter and the Clean Water Act.
(B) There must be deposited in the clean water fund:
(1) federal capitalization grants and awards or other federal
assistance received by the department under authority of the Clean Water
Act for purposes of the clean water fund;
(2) funds appropriated by the General Assembly for deposit to the
clean water fund;
(3) payments received from a project sponsor in repayment of a
loan, including amounts withheld by the State Treasurer and paid to the
authority pursuant to Section 48-5-170;
(4) net proceeds of bonds issued by the authority;
(5) interest or other income earned on the investment of monies in
the clean water fund; and
(6) additional monies made available from public or private sources
for the purposes for which the clean water fund has been established.
(C) Amounts in the clean water fund may be used only:
(1) to make loans to project sponsors in accordance with provisions
of this chapter and the Clean Water Act;
(2) to buy or refinance debt obligations of project sponsors at or
below market rates, if the debt obligations were incurred after March 7,
1985;
(3) to guarantee or purchase insurance for bonds, notes, or other
evidences of obligation issued by a project sponsor for the purpose of
financing all or a portion of the cost of a project, if the action improves
credit market access or reduces interest rates;
(4) as a source of revenue or security for the payment of principal
and interest on bonds issued by the authority if the proceeds of the sale of
the bonds are deposited in the clean water fund;
(5) to earn interest on clean water fund accounts;
(6) for the reasonable costs of administering the clean water fund
and conducting activities under the Clean Water Act; and
(7) for any other purpose authorized by the Clean Water Act.
(D) The authority may establish accounts and subaccounts within the
clean water fund as considered desirable to effectuate the purposes of this
chapter, to comply with the provisions of a bond resolution, or to meet a
requirement of the Clean Water Act."
Reference added
SECTION 7. Section 48-5-60 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 513
of 1992, is amended to read:
"Section 48-5-60. The department may:
(1) promulgate regulations with authority input to effectuate the
provisions of this chapter and the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking
Water Act;
(2) develop priority systems with authority input which ensure
consistency with the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act for
the clean water fund and drinking water fund, respectively;
(3) prepare annual plans in accordance with the Clean Water Act and
Safe Drinking Water Act after providing for input from the authority and
public comment and review;
(4) receive monies from the clean water fund for program and project
management activities of the clean water fund;
(5) establish accounts and deposit portions of the federal capitalization
grants, as authorized by the Safe Drinking Water Act, for the purposes of
administering the drinking water fund and other authorized activities; and
(6) enter into binding agreements with the agency as necessary to
effect the implementation of this chapter."
Biennial report required
SECTION 8. Section 48-5-160 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 513
of 1992, is amended to read:
"Section 48-5-160. The authority shall submit, following the
close of each fiscal year, an annual report of its activities for the preceding
year to the Governor and to the members of the General Assembly. The
authority in cooperation with the department shall also submit to the
agency an annual report in accordance with requirements of the Clean
Water Act and a biennial report in accordance with requirements of the
Safe Drinking Water Act. The State Auditor or, upon his approval, an
independent certified public accountant shall perform an audit of the
books and accounts of the authority at least once in each fiscal
year."
Time effective
SECTION 9. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
Approved the 21st day of May, 1997. |