104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. J. RES. 38

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

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

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

16 scale, find it necessary or advisable to enter into agree17 ments whereby joint public water supply facilities are
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SJ 38 ES

1 erected and maintained. The States of Vermont and New

2 Hampshire recognize the value of and need for such agree3 ments, and adopt this compact in order to authorize their

4 establishment.

5 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT OF CONGRESSIONAL AP6 PROVAL.—This compact shall not become effective until

7 approved by the United States Congress.

8 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—

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

10 shall mean publicly owned water supply sources,

11 storage, treatment, transmission and distribution fa12 cilities, and ancillary facilities regardless of whether

13 or not the same qualify for Federal or State con14 struction grants-in-aid.

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

16 towns, village districts, or other incorporated units

17 of local government possessing authority to con18 struct, maintain, and operate public water supply fa19 cilities and to raise revenue therefore by bonding

20 and taxation, which may legally impose and collect

21 user charges and impose and enforce regulatory con22 trol upon users of public water supply facilities.

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

24 the agencies within Vermont and New Hampshire

25 possessing regulating authority over the construc-
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1 tion, maintenance, and operation of public water

2 supply facilities and the administration of grants-in3 aid from their respective State for the construction

4 of such facilities.

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

6 legislative body of the municipality, including, in the

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

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

9 of mayor and aldermen or any similar body in any

10 community not inconsistent with the intent of this

11 definition.

12 ‘‘ARTICLE II

13 ‘‘PROCEDURES AND CONDITIONS GOVERNING

14 INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENTS

15 ‘‘(a) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS AUTHORIZED.—

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

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

18 enter into cooperative agreements for the construction,

19 maintenance, and operation of public water supply facili20 ties serving all the municipalities who are parties thereto.

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

22 entered into under this compact shall, prior to becoming

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

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

25 agencies of both States.
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1 ‘‘(c) METHOD OF ADOPTING AGREEMENTS.—Agree2 ments shall be adopted by the governing body of each mu3 nicipality in accordance with statutory procedures for the

4 adoption of interlocal agreements between municipalities

5 within each State; provided, that before a Vermont mu6 nicipality may enter into such agreement, the proposed

7 agreement shall be approved by the voters.

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

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

10 water supply facility which is proposed under an agree11 ment pursuant to this compact is proposed to be or is lo12 cated, is hereby authorized and required, to the extent

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

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

15 other engineering documents required to apply for Federal

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

17 and to supervise and regulate the planning, design, con18 struction, maintenance, and operation of said part of the

19 facility.

20 ‘‘(e) FEDERAL GRANTS AND FINANCING.—(1) Appli21 cation for Federal grants-in-aid for the planning, design,

22 and construction of public water supply facilities other

23 than distribution facilities shall be made jointly by the

24 agreeing municipalities, with the amount of the grant at25 tributable to each State’s allotment to be based upon the
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1 relative total capacity reserves allocated to the municipali2 ties in the respective States determined jointly by the re3 spective State water supply agencies. Each municipality

4 shall be responsible for applying for Federal and State

5 grants for distribution facilities to be located within the

6 municipal boundaries.

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

8 appropriate revenue for the purpose of contributing pro

9 rata to the planning, design, and construction cost of pub10 lic water supply facilities constructed and operated as joint

11 facilities pursuant to this compact.

12 ‘‘(f) CONTENTS OF AGREEMENTS.—Agreements en13 tered into pursuant to this compact shall contain at least

14 the following:

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

16 public water supply facilities.

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

18 joint public water supply facilities.

19 ‘‘(3) A provision for the pro rata sharing of op20 erating and maintenance costs based upon the ratio

21 of actual usage as measured by devices installed to

22 gauge such usage with reasonable accuracy.

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

24 the arbitration and resolution of disputes.
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1 ‘‘(5) A provision establishing a procedure for

2 the carriage of liability insurance, if such insurance

3 is necessary under the laws of either State.

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

5 the modification of the agreement.

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

7 the adoption of regulations for the use, operation,

8 and maintenance of the public water supply facili9 ties.

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

11 which the municipality that does not own the joint

12 public water supply facility will pay the other mu13 nicipality its share of the maintenance and operating

14 costs of said facility.

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

16 agreements entered into by municipalities under this com17 pact shall be consistent with, and shall not supersede, the

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

19 Notwithstanding any provision of this compact, actions

20 taken by a municipality pursuant to this compact, or pur21 suant to an agreement entered into under this compact,

22 including the incurring of obligations or the raising and

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

24 accordance with the laws of the State in which such mu25 nicipality is located.
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1 ‘‘CONSTRUCTION

2 ‘‘Nothing in this compact shall be construed to au3 thorize the establishment of interstate districts, authori4 ties, or any other new governmental or quasi-governmental

5 entity.

6 ‘‘ARTICLE III

7 ‘‘EFFECTIVE DATE

8 ‘‘This compact shall become effective when ratified

9 by the States of Vermont and New Hampshire and ap10 proved by the United States Congress.’’.

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

12 The right to alter, amend, or repeal this joint resolu13 tion is hereby expressly reserved. The consent granted by

14 this joint resolution shall not be construed as impairing

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

16 United States in and over the region which forms the sub17 ject of the compact.

18 SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION AND SEVERABILITY.

19 It is intended that the provisions of this compact shall

20 be reasonably and liberally construed to effectuate the

21 purposes thereof. If any part or application of this com22 pact, or legislation enabling the compact, is held invalid,

23 the remainder of the compact or its application to other

24 situations or persons shall not be affected.
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1 SEC. 4. INCONSISTENCY OF LANGUAGE.

2 The validity of this compact shall not be affected by

3 any insubstantial difference in its form or language as

4 adopted by the two States.

Passed the Senate December 18, 1995.

Attest:

Secretary.
104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. J. RES. 38

JOINT RESOLUTION

Granting the consent of Congress to the VermontCompact. New Hampshire Interstate Public Water Supply