SB0426: Water utilities.

Legislative Summary

Water utilities. Includes water utilities within the scope of the statute that subjects wastewater utilities that: (1) are not under the jurisdiction of the Indiana utility regulatory commission (IURC) for the approval of rates and charges; and (2) have been issued one or more enforcement orders by the department of environmental management; to a series of oversight actions by the IURC for each additional enforcement order, including rate review, rate regulation, and the initiation of a receivership proceeding. Makes a conforming amendment to the statute that governs the process by which water utilities and wastewater utilities may withdraw from the jurisdiction of the IURC. Amends the statute governing the acquisition of water utilities and wastewater utilities to require the IURC to consider and authorize mechanisms to allow utility companies to integrate into their systems, invest in, and earn on acquired utility assets, subject to a finding by the IURC that the proposed mechanism is just and reasonable and in the public interest. Amends the statute governing the recovery of costs for eligible infrastructure improvements made by water or wastewater utilities to provide that, in the case of a public utility (as defined in the Indiana Code), "infrastructure improvement costs" eligible for recovery include: (1) deferred depreciation expense; and (2) post in service carrying costs; for the eligible infrastructure improvements. Adds language to the Indiana Code chapter governing public water supplies to provide that a complaint: (1) seeking damages from a water utility; and (2) arising out of an alleged exposure to drinking water supplied by the water utility; is barred if the water supplied by the water utility met applicable regulatory standards under specified federal and state law. Amends the Indiana Code section prohibiting the department of natural resources (department) from regulating certain activities within the 100 year flood level of a water supply reservoir owned and operated by a municipality or a public utility for the purpose of providing water utility service to the public to also prohibit the department from ordering the closure or removal, or the partial closure or removal, of: (1) a dam that forms such a water supply reservoir; or (2) a dam that forms or contains a body of water that is used to supply one or more private water wells; if the closure or removal, or the partial closure or removal, of the dam would impact the provision of water utility service to the public or the supply of water to one or more private water wells.