IA

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. J. RES. 38

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

DECEMBER 19, 1995

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:

8 ‘‘Vermont-New Hampshire Interstate Public

9 Water Supply Compact

10 ‘‘ARTICLE I

11 ‘‘GENERAL PROVISIONS

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

13 in certain cases municipalities in Vermont and New
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1 Hampshire may, in order to avoid duplication of cost and

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

3 scale, find it necessary or advisable to enter into agree4 ments whereby joint public water supply facilities are

5 erected and maintained. The States of Vermont and New

6 Hampshire recognize the value of and need for such agree7 ments, and adopt this compact in order to authorize their

8 establishment.

9 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT OF CONGRESSIONAL AP10 PROVAL.—This compact shall not become effective until

11 approved by the United States Congress.

12 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—

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

14 shall mean publicly owned water supply sources,

15 storage, treatment, transmission and distribution fa16 cilities, and ancillary facilities regardless of whether

17 or not the same qualify for Federal or State con18 struction grants-in-aid.

19 ‘‘(2) The term ‘municipalities’ shall mean cities,

20 towns, village districts, or other incorporated units

21 of local government possessing authority to con22 struct, maintain, and operate public water supply fa23 cilities and to raise revenue therefore by bonding

24 and taxation, which may legally impose and collect
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1 user charges and impose and enforce regulatory con2 trol upon users of public water supply facilities.

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

4 the agencies within Vermont and New Hampshire

5 possessing regulating authority over the construc6 tion, maintenance, and operation of public water

7 supply facilities and the administration of grants-in8 aid from their respective State for the construction

9 of such facilities.

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

11 legislative body of the municipality, including, in the

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

13 in the case of a city, the city counsel, or the board

14 of mayor and aldermen or any similar body in any

15 community not inconsistent with the intent of this

16 definition.

17 ‘‘ARTICLE II

18 ‘‘PROCEDURES AND CONDITIONS GOVERNING

19 INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENTS

20 ‘‘(a) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS AUTHORIZED.—

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

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

23 enter into cooperative agreements for the construction,

24 maintenance, and operation of public water supply facili25 ties serving all the municipalities who are parties thereto.
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1 ‘‘(b) APPROVAL OF AGREEMENTS.—Any agreement

2 entered into under this compact shall, prior to becoming

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

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

5 agencies of both States.

6 ‘‘(c) METHOD OF ADOPTING AGREEMENTS.—Agree7 ments shall be adopted by the governing body of each mu8 nicipality in accordance with statutory procedures for the

9 adoption of interlocal agreements between municipalities

10 within each State; provided, that before a Vermont mu11 nicipality may enter into such agreement, the proposed

12 agreement shall be approved by the voters.

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

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

15 water supply facility which is proposed under an agree16 ment pursuant to this compact is proposed to be or is lo17 cated, is hereby authorized and required, to the extent

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

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

20 other engineering documents required to apply for Federal

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

22 and to supervise and regulate the planning, design, con23 struction, maintenance, and operation of said part of the

24 facility.
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1 ‘‘(e) FEDERAL GRANTS AND FINANCING.—(1) Appli2 cation for Federal grants-in-aid for the planning, design,

3 and construction of public water supply facilities other

4 than distribution facilities shall be made jointly by the

5 agreeing municipalities, with the amount of the grant at6 tributable to each State’s allotment to be based upon the

7 relative total capacity reserves allocated to the municipali8 ties in the respective States determined jointly by the re9 spective State water supply agencies. Each municipality

10 shall be responsible for applying for Federal and State

11 grants for distribution facilities to be located within the

12 municipal boundaries.

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

14 appropriate revenue for the purpose of contributing pro

15 rata to the planning, design, and construction cost of pub16 lic water supply facilities constructed and operated as joint

17 facilities pursuant to this compact.

18 ‘‘(f) CONTENTS OF AGREEMENTS.—Agreements en19 tered into pursuant to this compact shall contain at least

20 the following:

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

22 public water supply facilities.

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

24 joint public water supply facilities.
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1 ‘‘(3) A provision for the pro rata sharing of op2 erating and maintenance costs based upon the ratio

3 of actual usage as measured by devices installed to

4 gauge such usage with reasonable accuracy.

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

6 the arbitration and resolution of disputes.

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

8 the carriage of liability insurance, if such insurance

9 is necessary under the laws of either State.

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

11 the modification of the agreement.

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

13 the adoption of regulations for the use, operation,

14 and maintenance of the public water supply facili15 ties.

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

17 which the municipality that does not own the joint

18 public water supply facility will pay the other mu19 nicipality its share of the maintenance and operating

20 costs of said facility.

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

22 agreements entered into by municipalities under this com23 pact shall be consistent with, and shall not supersede, the

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

25 Notwithstanding any provision of this compact, actions
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1 taken by a municipality pursuant to this compact, or pur2 suant to an agreement entered into under this compact,

3 including the incurring of obligations or the raising and

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

5 accordance with the laws of the State in which such mu6 nicipality is located.

7 ‘‘CONSTRUCTION

8 ‘‘Nothing in this compact shall be construed to au9 thorize the establishment of interstate districts, authori10 ties, or any other new governmental or quasi-governmental

11 entity.

12 ‘‘ARTICLE III

13 ‘‘EFFECTIVE DATE

14 ‘‘This compact shall become effective when ratified

15 by the States of Vermont and New Hampshire and ap16 proved by the United States Congress.’’.

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

18 The right to alter, amend, or repeal this joint resolu19 tion is hereby expressly reserved. The consent granted by

20 this joint resolution shall not be construed as impairing

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

22 United States in and over the region which forms the sub23 ject of the compact.

24 SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION AND SEVERABILITY.

25 It is intended that the provisions of this compact shall

26 be reasonably and liberally construed to effectuate the
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1 purposes thereof. If any part or application of this com2 pact, or legislation enabling the compact, is held invalid,

3 the remainder of the compact or its application to other

4 situations or persons shall not be affected.

5 SEC. 4. INCONSISTENCY OF LANGUAGE.

6 The validity of this compact shall not be affected by

7 any insubstantial difference in its form or language as

8 adopted by the two States.

Passed the Senate December 18, 1995.

Attest: KELLY D. JOHNSTON,

Secretary.