IA

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. J. RES. 129

Granting the consent of Congress to the Vermont-New Hampshire Interstate

Public Water Supply Compact.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 30, 1995

Mr. SANDERS (for himself and Mr. BASS) introduced the following joint

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

JOINT RESOLUTION

Granting the consent of Congress to the Vermont-New

Hampshire Interstate Public Water Supply Compact.

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. CONGRESSIONAL CONSENT.

4 The Congress consents to the Vermont-New Hamp5 shire Interstate Public Water Supply Compact entered

6 into between the States of Vermont and New Hampshire.

7 The compact reads substantially as follows:
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1 ‘‘Vermont-New Hampshire Interstate Public

2 Water Supply Compact

3 ‘‘ARTICLE I

4 ‘‘GENERAL PROVISIONS

5 ‘‘(a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is recognized that

6 in certain cases municipalities in Vermont and New

7 Hampshire may, in order to avoid duplication of cost and

8 effort, and in order to take advantage of economies of

9 scale, find it necessary or advisable to enter into agree10 ments whereby joint public water supply facilities are

11 erected and maintained. The States of Vermont and New

12 Hampshire recognize the value of and need for such agree13 ments, and adopt this compact in order to authorize their

14 establishment.

15 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT OF CONGRESSIONAL AP16 PROVAL.—This compact shall not become effective until

17 approved by the United States Congress.

18 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—

19 ‘‘(1) The term ‘public water supply facilities’

20 shall mean publicly owned water supply sources,

21 storage, treatment, transmission and distribution fa22 cilities, and ancillary facilities regardless of whether

23 or not the same qualify for Federal or State con24 struction grants-in-aid.
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1 ‘‘(2) The term ‘municipalities’ shall mean cities,

2 towns, village districts, or other incorporated units

3 of local government possessing authority to con4 struct, maintain, and operate public water supply fa5 cilities and to raise revenue therefore by bonding

6 and taxation, which may legally impose and collect

7 user charges and impose and enforce regulatory con8 trol upon users of public water supply facilities.

9 ‘‘(3) The term ‘water supply agency’ shall mean

10 the agencies within Vermont and New Hampshire

11 possessing regulating authority over the construc12 tion, maintenance, and operation of public water

13 supply facilities and the administration of grants-in14 aid from their respective State for the construction

15 of such facilities.

16 ‘‘(4) the term ‘governing body’ shall mean the

17 legislative body of the municipality, including, in the

18 case of a town, the selectmen or town meeting, and,

19 in the case of a city, the city council, or the board

20 of mayor and aldermen or any similar body in any

21 community not inconsistent with the intent of this

22 definition.
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1 ‘‘ARTICLE II

2 ‘‘PROCEDURES AND CONDITIONS GOVERNING

3 INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENTS

4 ‘‘(a) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS AUTHORIZED.—

5 Any two or more municipalities, one or more located in

6 New Hampshire and one or more located in Vermont, may

7 enter into cooperative agreements for the construction,

8 maintenance, and operation of public water supply facili9 ties serving all the municipalities who are parties thereto.

10 ‘‘(b) APPROVAL OF AGREEMENTS.—Any agreement

11 entered into under this compact shall, prior to becoming

12 effective, be approved by the water supply agency of each

13 State, and shall be in a form established jointly by said

14 agencies of both States.

15 ‘‘(c) METHOD OF ADOPTING AGREEMENTS.—Agree16 ments shall be adopted by the governing body of each mu17 nicipality in accordance with statutory procedures for the

18 adoption of interlocal agreements between municipalities

19 within each State; provided, that before a Vermont mu20 nicipality may enter into such agreement, the proposed

21 agreement shall be approved by the voters.

22 ‘‘(d) REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF PLANS.—The water

23 supply agency of the State in which any part of a public

24 water supply facility which is proposed under an agree25 ment pursuant to this compact is proposed to be or is lo-
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1 cated, is hereby authorized and required, to the extent

2 such authority exists under its State law, to review and

3 approve or disapprove all reports, designs, plans, and

4 other engineering documents required to apply for Federal

5 grants-in-aid or grants-in-aid from said agency’s State,

6 and to supervise and regulate the planning, design, con7 struction, maintenance, and operation of said part of the

8 facility.

9 ‘‘(e) FEDERAL GRANTS AND FINANCING.—(1) Appli10 cation for Federal grants-in-aid for the planning, design,

11 and construction of public water supply facilities other

12 than distribution facilities shall be made jointly by the

13 agreeing municipalities, with the amount of the grant at14 tributable to each State’s allotment to be based upon the

15 relative total capacity reserves allocated to the municipali16 ties in the respective States determined jointly by the re17 spective State water supply agencies. Each municipality

18 shall be responsible for applying for Federal and State

19 grants for distribution facilities to be located within the

20 municipal boundaries.

21 ‘‘(2) Municipalities are hereby authorized to raise and

22 appropriate revenue for the purpose of contributing pro

23 rata to the planning, design, and construction cost of pub24 lic water supply facilities constructed and operated as joint

25 facilities pursuant to this compact.
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1 ‘‘(f) CONTENTS OF AGREEMENTS.—Agreements en2 tered into pursuant to this compact shall contain at least

3 the following:

4 ‘‘(1) A system of charges for users of the joint

5 public water supply facilities.

6 ‘‘(2) A uniform set of standards for users of the

7 joint public water supply facilities.

8 ‘‘(3) A provision for the pro rata sharing of op9 erating and maintenance costs based upon the ratio

10 of actual usage as measured by devices installed to

11 gauge such usage with reasonable accuracy.

12 ‘‘(4) A provision establishing a procedure for

13 the arbitration and resolution of disputes.

14 ‘‘(5) A provision establishing a procedure for

15 the carriage of liability insurance, if such insurance

16 is necessary under the laws of either State.

17 ‘‘(6) A provision establishing a procedure for

18 the modification of the agreement.

19 ‘‘(7) A provision establishing a procedure for

20 the adoption of regulations for the use, operation,

21 and maintenance of the public water supply facili22 ties.

23 ‘‘(8) A provision setting forth the means by

24 which the municipality that does not own the joint

25 public water supply facility will pay the other mu-
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1 nicipality its share of the maintenance and operating

2 costs of said facility.

3 ‘‘(g) APPLICABILITY OF STATE LAWS.—Cooperative

4 agreements entered into by municipalities under this com5 pact shall be consistent with, and shall not supersede, the

6 laws of the State in which each municipality is located.

7 Notwithstanding any provision of this compact, actions

8 taken by a municipality pursuant to this compact, or pur9 suant to an agreement entered into under this compact,

10 including the incurring of obligations or the raising and

11 appropriating of revenue, shall be valid only if taken in

12 accordance with the laws of the State in which such mu13 nicipality is located.

14 ‘‘CONSTRUCTION

15 ‘‘Nothing in this compact shall be construed to au16 thorize the establishment of interstate districts, authori17 ties, or any other new governmental or quasi-governmental

18 entity.

19 ‘‘ARTICLE III

20 ‘‘EFFECTIVE DATE

21 ‘‘This compact shall become effective when ratified

22 by the States of Vermont and New Hampshire and ap23 proved by the United States Congress.’’.

24 SEC. 2. RIGHT TO ALTER, AMEND, OR REPEAL.

25 The right to alter, amend, or repeal this joint resolu26 tion is hereby expressly reserved. The consent granted by
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1 this joint resolution shall not be construed as impairing

2 or in any manner affecting any right or jurisdiction of the

3 United States in and over the region which forms the sub4 ject of the compact.

5 SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION AND SEVERABILITY.

6 It is intended that the provisions of this compact shall

7 be reasonably and liberally construed to effectuate the

8 purposes thereof. If any part or application of this com9 pact, or legislation enabling the compact, is held invalid,

10 the remainder of the compact or its application to other

11 situations or persons shall not be affected.

12 SEC. 4. INCONSISTENCY OF LANGUAGE.

13 The validity of this compact shall not be affected by

14 any insubstantial difference in its form or language as

15 adopted by the two States.

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