S 0485 General Bill, By Leventis, Drummond, Patterson, Peeler and J.V. Smith
 A BILL TO AMEND SECTION 44-55-120, CODE OF LAWS, 1976, RELATING TO THE SAFE
 DRINKING WATER FUND, SO AS TO SPECIFY THE CRITERIA UPON WHICH THE MONITORING
 FEE ON PUBLIC DRINKING WATER SYSTEMS MUST BE BASED AND TO AUTHORIZE THE
 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL TO PROMULGATE REGULATIONS
 RELATIVE TO THE COLLECTION AND ENFORCEMENT OF THIS FEE.

   03/05/97  Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-9
   03/05/97  Senate Referred to Committee on Medical Affairs SJ-9

TO AMEND SECTION 44-55-120, CODE OF LAWS, 1976, RELATING TO THE SAFE DRINKING WATER FUND, SO AS TO SPECIFY THE CRITERIA UPON WHICH THE MONITORING FEE ON PUBLIC DRINKING WATER SYSTEMS MUST BE BASED AND TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL TO PROMULGATE REGULATIONS RELATIVE TO THE COLLECTION AND ENFORCEMENT OF THIS FEE.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 44-55-120(A) of the 1976 Code, as added by Part II, Section 75A, Act 164 of 1993, is amended to read:

"(A) In order to comply with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, in addition to other fees authorized under this article, the department is authorized to collect an annual fee, which must be established annually in the general appropriations act, from each public drinking water system assess a monitoring fee on each public drinking water system for which the department performs water monitoring services. The fee structure, to be established annually in the annual appropriations act, must be based on characteristics of the public water systems that affect actual monitoring requirements and costs, including system type, the number and types of water sources, number of taps, and the size of the population served by each system. The fee structure shall reflect the actual cost of monitoring and analytical services performed on each system in the year for which the fee is assessed. The department shall submit an annual request for appropriation to cover the cost of the services performed by the department pursuant to this article, other than drinking water sample collection and laboratory services."

SECTION 2. Section 44-55-120 of the 1976 Code, as added by Part II, Section 75A, Act 164 of 1993, is amended by adding at the end:

"(F) The department shall promulgate a regulation that prescribes specific procedures and penalties for the enforcement and collection of all fees assessed pursuant to this article."

SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.