SUSQUEHANNA RIVER BASIN COMMISSION 

1721 N. FRONT STREET 

HARRISBURG, PA 17102 

SUSQUEHANNA RIVER BASIN 

COMPACT 

Published by the 

Susquehanna River Basin Commission 

May 1972
SUSQUEHANNA RIVER BASIN COMMISSION 

MILTON J. SHAPP MARVIN MANDEL 

 Governor of Pennsylvania Governor of Maryland 

 MAURICE K. GODDARD JAMES B. COULTER 

 Alternate Alternate 

 * * * * * * 

 NELSON A. ROCKEFELLER ROGERS C.B. MORTON 

 Governor of New York Secretary of the Interior 

 RONALD W. PEDERSEN THOMAS C.H. WEBSTER 

 Alternate Alternate 

 * * * * * * 

ROBERT J. BILEO 

Executive Director 

RALPH J. PUTT 

Chief Administrative Officer 

and 

Treasurer 
i 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PART I

PREAMBLE ........................................................................................................................ 1 

ARTICLE I—Short Title, Definitions, Purpose and Limitations .......................................... 3 

 Section 1.1 —Short Title ...................................................................................... 3 

 Section 1.2 —Definitions ..................................................................................... 3 

 Section 1.3 —Purpose and Findings ..................................................................... 4 

 Section 1.4 —Powers of Congress; Withdrawal .................................................. 5 

 Section 1.5 —Duration of Compact ...................................................................... 5 

ARTICLE 2—Organization and Area ................................................................................... 5 

 Section 2.1 —Commission Created ...................................................................... 5 

 Section 2.2 —Commission Membership .............................................................. 5 

 Section 2.3 —Alternates ....................................................................................... 5 

 Section 2.4 —Compensation ................................................................................ 5 

 Section 2.5 —Voting Power ................................................................................. 5 

 Section 2.6 —Organization and Procedure ........................................................... 6 

 Section 2.7 —Jurisdiction of the Commission ..................................................... 6 

ARTICLE 3—Powers and Duties of the Commission ........................................................... 6 

 Section 3.1 —General ........................................................................................... 6 

 Section 3.2 —Policy ............................................................................................. 6 

 Section 3.3 —Comprehensive Plan, Program and Budgets .................................. 6 

 Section 3.4 —Powers of the Commission ............................................................ 7 

 Section 3.5 —Duties of the Commission .............................................................. 7 

 Section 3.6 —Cooperative Legislation and Further Jurisdiction .......................... 8 

 Section 3.7 —Coordination and Cooperation ....................................................... 8 

 Section 3.8 —Allocations, Diversions, and Releases ........................................... 9 

 Section 3.9 —Rates and Charges .......................................................................... 9 

 Section 3.10—Referral and Review ...................................................................... 9 

 Section 3.11—Advisory Committees .................................................................... 11 

ARTICLE 4—Water Supply .................................................................................................. 11 

 Section 4.1 —Generally ........................................................................................ 11 

 Section 4.2 —Storage and Release of Waters ...................................................... 12 

 Section 4.3 —Assessable Improvements .............................................................. 12 

 Section 4.4 —Coordination .................................................................................. 12 

 Section 4.5 —Additional Powers .......................................................................... 12 

ARTICLE 5—Water Quality Management and Control ....................................................... 12 

 Section 5.1 —General Powers .............................................................................. 12 

 Section 5.2 —Policy and Standards ....................................................................... 13 
ii 

 Section 5.3 —Cooperative Administration and Enforcement .............................. 13 

 Section 5.4 —Further Jurisdiction ........................................................................ 13 

ARTICLE 6—Flood Protection ............................................................................................ 14 

 Section 6.1 —Flood Control Authority ................................................................ 14 

 Section 6.2 —Regulation ...................................................................................... 14 

 Section 6.3 —Flood Lands Acquisition ................................................................ 14 

 Section 6.4 —Existing Structures ......................................................................... 15 

 Section 6.5 —Police Powers ................................................................................. 15 

 Section 6.6 —Cooperation .................................................................................... 15 

 Section 6.7 —Other Authority .............................................................................. 15 

 Section 6.8 —Debris ............................................................................................. 15 

ARTICLE 7—Watershed Management ................................................................................. 15 

 Section 7.1 —Watersheds Generally .................................................................... 15 

 Section 7.2 —Soil Conservation and Land and Forest Management ................... 15 

 Section 7.3 —Fish and Wildlife ........................................................................... 16 

 Section 7.4 —Cooperative Planning and Operation ............................................. 16 

ARTICLE 8—Recreation ...................................................................................................... 16 

 Section 8.1 —Development .................................................................................. 16 

 Section 8.2 —Cooperative Planning and Operation ............................................. 16 

 Section 8.3 —Operation and Maintenance ........................................................... 16 

 Section 8.4 —Concessions ................................................................................... 17 

ARTICLE 9—Other Public Values ....................................................................................... 17 

 Section 9.1 —Inherent Values .............................................................................. 17 

 Section 9.2 —Project Compatibility ...................................................................... 17 

 Section 9.3 —Regulation Standards ..................................................................... 17 

 Section 9.4 —Local Area Protection .................................................................... 17 

ARTICLE 10—Hydroelectric Power .................................................................................... 17 

 Section 10.1 —Development .................................................................................. 17 

 Section 10.2 —Power Generation .......................................................................... 18 

 Section 10.3 —Transmission .................................................................................. 18 

 Section 10.4 —Development Contracts .................................................................. 18 

 Section 10.5 —Rates and Charges .......................................................................... 18 

ARTICLE 11—Regulation of Withdrawal and Diversions: Protected Areas, and 

Emergencies ................................................................................................. 18 

 Section 11.1 —Power of Regulation ...................................................................... 18 

 Section 11.2 —Determination of Protected Area ................................................... 18 

 Section 11.3 —Diversion and Withdrawal Permits ................................................ 18 

 Section 11.4 —Emergency ..................................................................................... 19 

 Section 11.5 —Standards ........................................................................................ 19 

 Section 11.6 —Judicial Review .............................................................................. 19 
iii 

 Section 11.7 —Maintenance of Records ................................................................ 19 

 Section 11.8 —Existing State Systems ................................................................... 19 

ARTICLE 12—Intergovernmental Relations ........................................................................ 19 

 Section 12.1 —Federal Agencies and Projects ....................................................... 19 

 Section 12.2 —State and Local Agencies and Projects .......................................... 20 

 Section 12.3 —Reserved Taxing Powers of States ................................................. 20 

 Section 12.4 —Project Costs and Evaluation Standards ........................................ 20 

 Section 12.5 —Cooperative Services ..................................................................... 21 

ARTICLE 13—Capital Financing ........................................................................................ 21 

 Section 13.1 —Borrowing Power ........................................................................... 21 

 Section 13.2 —Funds and Expenses ....................................................................... 21 

 Section 13.3 —Credit Excluded; Officers, State and Municipal ............................ 21 

 Section 13.4 —Funding and Refunding ................................................................. 22 

 Section 13.5 —Bonds: Authorization Generally ................................................... 22 

 Section 13.6 —Bonds, Resolutions and Indentures Generally ............................... 22 

 Section 13.7 —Maximum Maturity ........................................................................ 23 

 Section 13.8 —Tax Exemption ............................................................................... 23 

 Section 13.9 —Interest ........................................................................................... 23 

 Section 13.10—Place of Payment ............................................................................ 23 

 Section 13.11—Execution ....................................................................................... 23 

 Section 13.12—Holding Own Bonds ...................................................................... 23 

 Section 13.13—Sale ................................................................................................. 23 

 Section 13.14—Negotiability .................................................................................. 24 

 Section 13.15—Legal Investments .......................................................................... 24 

 Section 13.16—Validation Proceedings .................................................................. 24 

 Section 13.17—Recording ....................................................................................... 24 

 Section 13.18—Pledged Revenues .......................................................................... 24 

 Section 13.19—Remedies ........................................................................................ 24 

 Section 13.20—Capital Financing by Signatory Parties; Guarantees ..................... 25 

ARTICLE 14—Plan, Program and Budgets ......................................................................... 25 

 Section 14.1 —Comprehensive Plan ...................................................................... 25 

 Section 14.2 —Water Resources Program .............................................................. 25 

 Section 14.3 —Annual Current Expense and Capital Budgets .............................. 26 

ARTICLE 15—General Provisions ....................................................................................... 27 

 Section 15.1 —Auxiliary Powers of Commission; Functions of Commissioners .. 27 

 Section 15.2 —Regulations; Enforcement .............................................................. 28 

 Section 15.3 —Tax Exemptions ............................................................................. 28 

 Section 15.4 —Meetings; Public Hearing; Records, Minutes ................................ 28 

 Section 15.5 —Officers Generally .......................................................................... 29 

 Section 15.6 —Oath of Office ................................................................................ 29 

 Section 15.7 —Bond ............................................................................................... 29 

 Section 15.8 —Prohibited Activities ...................................................................... 29 
iv 

 Section 15.9 —Purchasing ...................................................................................... 30 

 Section 15.10—Insurance ........................................................................................ 30 

 Section 15.11—Annual Independent Audit ............................................................. 30 

 Section 15.12—Reports ........................................................................................... 31 

 Section 15.13—Grants, Loans, or Payments by States or Political Subdivisions ... 31 

 Section 15.14—Condemnation Proceedings ........................................................... 32 

 Section 15.15—Conveyance of Lands and Relocation of Public Facilities ............ 32 

 Section 15.16—Rights of Way ................................................................................ 33 

 Section 15.17—Penalty ........................................................................................... 33 

 Section 15.18—Tort Liability .................................................................................. 33 

 Section 15.19—Effect on Riparian Rights .............................................................. 33 

 Section 15.20—Amendments and Supplements ...................................................... 33 

 Section 15.21—Construction and Severability ........................................................ 33 

 Section 15.22—Effective Date; Execution .............................................................. 33 
v 

PART II 

RESERVATIONS AND EFFECTUATION

UNITED STATES: (From Public Law 91-575, 84 Stat. 1509 et seq.) .................................... 35 

 Section 2 —Reservations ................................................................................. 35 

 Section 3 —Effectuation .................................................................................. 39 

MARYLAND: (Maryland Act of 1967, Chapter No. 391) ..................................................... 40 

 Section 2 —Reservations ................................................................................. 40 

 Section 2.3 —Effectuation .................................................................................. 40 

NEW YORK: (From New York Act o f 1967, Chapter No. 785) ........................................... 40 

 § 835-a. —Member and Alternate ................................................................. 40 

 § 835-b. —Advisory Committee .................................................................... 40 

 § 835-c. —Consent to Alteration of Diversions ............................................ 41 

 § 835-d. —Jurisdiction of Courts ................................................................... 41 

 § 835-e. —Prior Project Approval ................................................................. 41 

 § 835-f. —Delegations of Power ................................................................... 41 

 § 835-g. —Cooperative Services ................................................................... 41 

 § 835-h. —Budget .......................................................................................... 41 

 § 835-i. —Audit ............................................................................................ 42 

 § 835-j. —Inconsistent Laws ........................................................................ 42 

 § 4 & 5. —Effectuation .................................................................................. 42 

PENNSYLVANIA: (From Pennsylvania Act of 1968, Act No. 181) ....................................... 42 

 Section 2 —Repealer ....................................................................................... 42 

 Section 3 —Effectuation by Governor ............................................................ 42 

 Section 4 —Entire Agreement ......................................................................... 42 

 Section 5 —Technical and Administrative Services ....................................... 42 

 Section 6 —Minutes of Meetings .................................................................... 42 

 Section 7 —Budget .......................................................................................... 43 

 Section 8 —Fish and Game Laws .................................................................... 43 

 Section 9 —Effectuation .................................................................................. 43 
vi 
1 

PART I

PREAMBLE 

WHEREAS the signatory parties hereto recognize the water resources of the Susquehanna River 

Basin as regional assets vested with local, state, and national interest for which they have a joint 

responsibility; and declare as follows: 

1. The conservation, utilization, development, management, and control of the water 

resources of the Susquehanna River Basin under comprehensive multiple purpose planning, will 

bring the greatest benefits and produce the most efficient service in the public interest; and 

2. This comprehensive planning administered by a basin wide agency will provide flood 

damage reduction, conservation and development of surface and ground water supply for 

municipal, industrial, and agricultural uses, development of recreational facilities in relation to 

reservoirs, lakes and streams, propagation of fish and game, promotion of forest land 

management, soil conservation, and watershed projects, protection and aid to fisheries, 

development of hydroelectric power potentialities, improved navigation, control of the 

movement of salt water, abatement and control of water pollution, and regulation of stream flows 

toward the attainment of these goals; and 

3. The water resources of the basin are presently subject to the duplicating, overlapping, and 

uncoordinated administration of a large number of governmental agencies which exercise a 

multiplicity of powers resulting in a splintering of authority and responsibility; and 

4. The Interstate Advisory Committee on the Susquehanna River Basin, created by action of 

the states of New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, on the basis of its studies and deliberation 

has concluded that regional development of the Susquehanna River Basin is feasible, advisable, 

and urgently needed, and has recommended that an intergovernmental compact with Federal 

participation be consummated to this end; and 

5. The Congress of the United States and the executive branch of the Federal government 

have recognized a national interest in the Susquehanna River Basin by authorizing and directing 

the Corps of Engineers of the Department of the Army, the Department of Agriculture, the 

Department of Health, Education and Welfare, the Department of Interior, and other Federal 

agencies to cooperate in making comprehensive surveys and reports concerning the water 

resources of the Susquehanna River Basin in which individually or severally the technical aid 

and assistance of many Federal and state agencies have been enlisted, and which are being, or 

have been coordinated through a Susquehanna River Basin Study Coordinating Committee on 

which the Corps of Engineers of the Department of the Army, the Department of Agriculture, the 

Department of Commerce, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, the Department of 

Interior, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and its predecessor Housing and 

Home Finance Agency, the Federal Power Commission, and the States of New York, 

Pennsylvania, and Maryland are or were represented; and 

6. Some three million people live and work in the Susquehanna River Basin and its 

environs, and the government, employment, industry, and economic development of the entire 
2 

region and the health, safety, and general well being of its population are and will continue to be 

affected vitally by the conservation, utilization, development, management, and control of the 

water resources of the basin; and 

7. Demands upon the water resources of the basin are expected to mount because of 

anticipated increases in population and by reason of industrial and economic growth of the basin 

and its service area; and 

8. Water resources planning and development are technical, complex, and expensive, often 

requiring fifteen to twenty years from the conception to the completion of large or extensive 

projects; and 

9. The public interest requires that facilities must be ready and operative when and where 

needed, to avoid the damages of unexpected floods or prolonged drought, and for other purposes; 

and 

10. The Interstate Advisory Committee on the Susquehanna River Basin has prepared a draft 

of an intergovernmental compact for the creation of a basin agency, and the signatory parties 

desire to effectuate the purposes thereof, 

NOW THEREFORE 

The States of New York and Maryland and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the 

United States of America hereby solemnly covenant and agree with each other, upon the 

enactment of concurrent legislation by the Congress of the United States and by the respective 

state legislatures, to the Susquehanna River Basin Compact which consists of this Preamble and 

the Articles that follow. 
3 

ARTICLE 1

SHORT TITLE, DEFINITIONS, PURPOSES, and LIMITATIONS

Section 1.1—Short Title. This compact shall be known and may be cited as the 

Susquehanna River Basin Compact. 

1.2—Definitions. For the purposes of this compact, and of any supplemental or concurring 

legislation enacted pursuant to it: 

1. "Basin" shall mean the area of drainage of the Susquehanna River and its tributaries into 

Chesapeake Bay to the southern edge of the Pennsylvania Railroad bridge between Havre de 

Grace and Perryville, Maryland. 

 2. "Commission" shall mean the Susquehanna River Basin Commission hereby created, and 

the term "Commissioner" shall mean a member of the commission. 

3. "Cost" shall mean direct and indirect expenditures, commitment, and net induced adverse 

effects, whether or not compensated for, used or incurred in connection with the establishment, 

acquisition, construction, maintenance, and operation of a project. 

4. "Diversion" shall mean the transfer of water into or from the basin. 

5. "Facility" shall mean any real or personal property, within or without the basin, and 

improvements thereof or thereon, and any and all rights of way, water, water rights, plants, 

structures, machinery, and equipment acquired, constructed, operated, or maintained for the 

beneficial use of water resources or related land uses or otherwise including, without limiting the 

generality of the foregoing, any and all things and appurtenances necessary, useful, or 

convenient for the control, collection, storage, withdrawal, diversion, release, treatment, 

transmission, sale, or exchange of water; or for navigation thereon, or the development and use 

of hydroelectric energy and power, and public recreational facilities; or the propagation of fish 

and wildlife; or to conserve and protect the water resources of the basin or any existing or future 

water supply source, or to facilitate any other uses of any of them. 

6. "Federal government" shall mean the government of the United States of America, and 

any appropriate branch, department, bureau, or division thereof, as the case may be. 

7. "Project" shall mean any work, service, or activity which is separately planned, financed, 

or identified by the commission, or any separate facility undertaken or to be undertaken by the 

commission or otherwise within a specified area, for the conservation, utilization, control, 

development, or management of water resources which can be established and utilized 

independently or as an addition to an existing facility and can be considered as a separate entity 

for purposes of evaluation. 

8. "Signatory party" shall mean a state or commonwealth party to this compact, or the 

Federal government. 
4 

9. "Waters" shall mean both surface and underground waters which are contained within 

the drainage area of the Susquehanna River in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, and 

Maryland. 

10. "Water resources" shall include all waters and related natural sources within the basin. 

11. "Withdrawal" shall mean a taking, or removal of water from any source within the basin 

for use within the basin. 

12. "Person" shall mean an individual, corporation, partnership, unincorporated association, 

and the like and shall have no gender, and the singular shall include the plural. 

1.3—Purpose and Findings. The legislative bodies of the respective signatory parties 

hereby find and declare: 

1. The water resources of the Susquehanna River Basin are affected with a local, state, 

regional, and national interest, and the planning, conservation, utilization, development, 

management, and control of these resources, under appropriate arrangements for 

intergovernmental cooperation, are public purposes of the respective signatory parties. 

2. The water resources of the basin are subject to the sovereign rights and responsibilities of 

the signatory parties, and it is the purpose of this compact to provide for a joint exercise of these 

powers of sovereignty in the common interest of the people of the region. 

3. The water resources of the basin are functionally interrelated, and the uses of these 

resources are interdependent. A single administrative agency is therefore essential for effective 

and economical direction, supervision, and coordination of water resources efforts and programs 

of federal, state, and local governments and of private enterprise. 

4. Present and future demands require increasing economies and efficiencies in the use and 

reuse of water resources, and these can be brought about only by comprehensive planning, 

programming and management under the direction of a single administrative agency. 

5. In general, the purposes of this compact are to promote interstate comity; to remove 

causes of possible controversy; to make secure and protect developments within the states; to 

encourage and provide for the planning; conservation, utilization, development, management, 

and control of the water resources of the basin; to provide for cooperative and coordinated 

planning and action by the signatory parties with respect to water resources; and to apply the 

principle of equal and uniform treatment to all users of water and of water related facilities 

without regard to political boundaries 

6. It is the express intent of the signatory parties that the commission shall engage in the 

construction, operation and maintenance of a project only when the project is necessary to the 

execution of the comprehensive plan and no other competent agency is in a position to act, or 

such agency fails to act. 
5 

1.4—Powers of Congress; Withdrawal. Nothing in this compact shall be construed to 

relinquish the functions, powers, or duties of the Congress of the United States with respect to 

the control of any navigable waters within the basin, nor shall any provisions hereof be construed 

in derogation of any of the constitutional powers of the Congress to regulate commerce among 

the states and with foreign nations. The power and right of the Congress to withdraw the Federal 

government as a party to this compact or to revise or modify the terms, conditions, and 

provisions under which it may remain a party by amendment, repeal, or modification of any 

Federal statute applicable hereto is recognized by the signatory parties. 

1.5—Duration of Compact

(a) The duration of this compact shall be for an initial period of 100 years from its effective 

date, and it shall be continued for additional periods of 100 years if not less than 20 years nor 

more than 25 years prior to the termination of the initial period or any succeeding period none of 

the signatory states, by authority of an act of its legislature, notifies the commission of intention 

to terminate the compact at the end of the then current 100-year period. 

(b) In the event this compact should be terminated by operation of paragraph (a) above, the 

commission shall be dissolved, its assets and liabilities transferred in accordance with the 

equities of the signatory parties therein and its corporate affairs wound up in accordance with 

agreement of the signatory parties or, failing agreement, by act of the Congress. 

ARTICLE 2

ORGANIZATION and AREA

Section 2.1—Commission Created. The Susquehanna River Basin Commission is hereby 

created as a body politic and corporate, with succession for the duration of this compact, as an 

agency and instrumentalitv of the governments of the respective signatory parties. 

2.2—Commission Membership. The members of the commission shall be the governor or 

the designee of the governor of each signatory state, to act for him, and one member to be 

appointed by the President of the United States to serve at the pleasure of the President. 

2.3—Alternates. An alternate from each signatory party shall be appointed by its member of 

the commission unless otherwise provided by the laws of the signatory party. The alternate, in 

the absence of the member, shall represent the member and act for him. In the event of a 

vacancy in the office of alternate, it shall be filled in the same manner as the original 

appointment. 

2.4—Compensation. Members of the commission and alternates shall serve without 

compensation from the commission but may be reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred in 

and incident to the performance of their duties. 

2.5—Voting Power. Each member is entitled to one vote. No action of the commission may 

be taken unless three of the four members vote in favor thereof. 
6 

2.6—Organization and Procedure. The commission shall provide for its own organization 

and procedure, and shall adopt the rules and regulations governing its meetings and transactions. 

It shall organize annually by the election of a chairman and vice-chairman from among its 

members. It shall provide by its rules for the appointment by each member in his discretion of 

an advisor to serve without compensation from the commission, who may attend all meetings of 

the commission and its committees. 

2.7—Jurisdiction of the Commission. The commission shall have, exercise, and discharge 

its functions, powers, and duties within the limits of the basin. Outside the basin, the 

commission shall act at its discretion, but only to the extent necessary to implement its 

responsibilities within the basin, and where necessary subject to the consent of the state wherein 

it proposes to act. 

ARTICLE 3

POWERS and DUTIES of the COMMISSION

Section 3.1—General. The commission shall develop and effectuate plans, policies, and 

projects relating to the water resources of the basin. It shall adopt and promote uniform and 

coordinated policies for water resources conservation and management in the basin. It shall 

encourage and direct the planning, development, operation, and subject to applicable laws the 

financing of water resources projects according to such plans and policies. 

3.2—Policy. It is the policy of the signatory parties to preserve and utilize the functions, 

powers, and duties of the existing offices and agencies of government to the extent consistent 

with this compact, and the commission is directed to utilize those offices and agencies for the 

purposes of this compact. 

3.3—Comprehensive Plan, Program and Budgets. The commission in accordance with 

Article 14 of this compact, shall formulate and adopt:

1. A comprehensive plan, after consultation with appropriate water users and interested 

public bodies for the immediate and long-range development and use of the water resources of 

the basin; 

2. A water resources program, based upon the comprehensive plan, which shall include a 

systematic presentation of the quantity and quality of water resources needs of the area to be 

served for such reasonably foreseeable period as the commission may determine, balanced by 

existing and proposed projects required to satisfy such needs, including all public and private 

projects affecting the basin, together with a separate statement of the projects proposed to be 

undertaken by the commission during such period; and 

3. An annual current expense budget and an annual capital budget consistent with the 

commission's program, projects, and facilities for the budget period. 
7 

3.4—Powers of Commission. The commission may: 

1. Plan, design, acquire, construct, reconstruct, complete, own, improve, extend, develop, 

operate, and maintain any and all projects, facilities, properties, activities, and services which are 

determined by the commission to be necessary, convenient, or useful for the purpose of this 

compact. 

2. Establish standards of planning, decision, and operation of all projects and facilities in 

the basin to the extent they affect water resources, including without limitation thereto water, 

sewage and other waste treatment plants and facilities, pipelines, transmission lines, stream and 

lake recreational facilities, trunk mains for water distribution, local flood protection works, 

watershed management programs, and ground water recharging operations. 

3. Conduct and sponsor research on water resources and their planning, use, conservation, 

management, development, control, and protection, and the capacity, adaptability, and best 

utility of each facility thereof, and collect, compile, correlate, analyze, report, and interpret data 

on water resources and uses in the basin, including without limitation thereto the relation of 

water to other resources, industrial water technology, ground water movement, relation between 

water price and water demand and other economic factors, and general hydrological conditions. 

4. Collect, compile, coordinate, and interpret systematic surface and ground water data, and 

publicize such information when and as needed for water uses, flood warning, quality 

maintenance, or other purposes. 

5. Conduct ground and surface water investigations, tests and operations, and compile data 

relating thereto as may be required to formulate and administer the comprehensive plan. 

6. Prepare, publish, and disseminate information and reports concerning the water problems 

of the basin and for the presentation of the needs and resources of the basin and policies of the 

commission to executive and legislative branches of the signatory parties. 

7. Negotiate loans, grants, gifts, services, or other aids as may be lawfully available from 

public or private sources to finance or assist in effectuating any of the purposes of this compact, 

and receive and accept them upon terms and conditions, and subject to provisions, as may be 

required by Federal or state law or as the commission may deem necessary or desirable. 

8. Exercise such other and different powers as may be delegated to it by his compact or 

otherwise pursuant to law, and have and exercise all powers necessary or convenient to carry out 

its express powers and other powers which reasonably may be implied there from. 

9. Adopt, amend, and repeal rules and regulations to implement this compact. 

3.5—Duties of the Commission. The commission shall: 

1. Develop and effectuate plans, policies, and projects relating to water resources; adopt, 

promote, and coordinate policies and standards for water resources conservation, control, 
8 

utilization, and management; and promote and implement the planning, development, and 

financing of water resources projects. 

2. Undertake investigations, studies, and surveys, and acquire, construct, operate, and 

maintain projects and facilities in regard to the water resources of the basin, whenever it is 

deemed necessary to do so to activate or effectuate any of the provisions of this compact. 

3. Administer, manage, and control water resources in all matters determined by the 

commission to be interstate in nature or to have a ma or effect on the water resources and water 

resources management. 

4. Assume jurisdiction in any matter affecting water resources whenever it determines after 

investigation and public hearing upon due notice given, that the effectuation of the 

comprehensive plan or the implementation of this compact so requires. If the commission finds 

upon subsequent hearing requested by an affected signatory party that the party will take the 

necessary action, the commission may relinquish jurisdiction. 

5. Investigate and determine if the requirements of the compact or the rules and regulations 

of the commission are complied with, and if satisfactory progress has not been made, institute an 

action or actions in its own name in any state or Federal court of competent jurisdiction to 

compel compliance with any and all of the provisions of this compact or any of the rules and 

regulations of the commission adopted pursuant thereto. An action shall be instituted in the 

name of the commission and shall be conducted by its own counsel. 

3.6—Cooperative Legislation and Further Jurisdiction.

(a) Each of the signatory parties agrees that it will seek enactment of such additional 

legislation as will be required to enable its officers, departments, commissions, boards, and 

agents to accomplish effectively the obligations and duties assumed under the terms of this 

compact. 

(b) Nothing in the compact shall be construed to repeal, modify, or qualify the authority of 

any signatory party to enact any legislation or enforce any additional conditions and restrictions 

within its jurisdiction. 

3.7—Coordination and Cooperation. The commission shall promote and aid the 

coordination of the activities and programs of Federal, state, municipal, and private agencies 

concerned with water resources administration in the basin. To this end, but without limitation 

thereto, the commission may: 

1. Advise, consult, contract, financially assist, or otherwise cooperate with any and all such 

agencies; 

2. Employ any other agency or instrumentality of any of the signatory parties or of any 

political subdivision thereof, in the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of 
9 

structures, and the installation and management of river control systems, or for any other 

purpose; 

3. Develop and adopt plans and specifications for particular water resources projects and 

facilities which so far as consistent with the comprehensive plan incorporate any separate plans 

of other public and private organizations operating in the basin, and permit the decentralized 

administration thereof, 

4. Qualify as a sponsoring agency under any Federal legislation heretofore or hereafter 

enacted to provide financial or other assistance for the planning, conservation, utilization, 

development, management, or control of water resources. 

3.8—Allocations, Diversions, and Releases.

(a) The commission shall have power from time to time as the need appears, to allocate the 

waters of the basin to and among the states signatory to this compact and impose related 

conditions, obligations, and release requirements. 

(b) The commission shall have power from time to time as the need appears to enter into 

agreements with other river basin commissions or other states with respect to in-basin and outof-basin allocations, withdrawals, and diversions. 

(c) No allocation of waters made pursuant to this section shall constitute prior appropriation 

of the waters of the basin or confer any superiority of right in respect to the use of those waters, 

nor shall any such action be deemed to constitute an apportionment of the waters of the basin 

among the parties hereto. This subsection shall not be deemed to limit or restrict the power of 

the commission to enter into covenants with respect to water supply, with a duration not 

exceeding the life of this compact, as it may deem necessary for the benefit or development of 

the water resources of the basin. 

3.9—Rates and Charges. The commission, from time to time after public hearing upon due 

notice given, may fix, alter, and revise rates, rentals, charges, and tolls, and classifications 

thereof, without regulation or control by any department. Office, or agency of any signatory 

party, for the use of facilities owned or operated by it, and any services or products which it 

provides. 

3.10—Referral and Review. No projects affecting the water resources of the basin, except 

those not requiring review and approval by the commission under paragraph 3 following, shall 

be undertaken by any person, governmental authority or other entity prior to submission to and 

approval by the commission or appropriate agencies of the signatory parties for review. 

1. All water resources projects for which a permit or other form of permission to proceed 

with construction or implementation is required by legislative action of a signatory party or by 

rule or regulation of an office or agency of a signatory party having functions, powers, and duties 

in the planning,, conservation, development, management, or control of water resources shall be 

submitted as heretofore to the appropriate office or agency of the signatory party for review and 
10

approval. To assure that the commission is apprised of all projects within the basin, monthly 

reports and listings of all permits granted, or similar actions taken, by offices or agencies of the 

signatory parties shall be submitted to the commission in a manner prescribed by it. 

Those projects which also require commission approval pursuant to the provisions of 

paragraphs 2 (ii) and 2 (iii) following shall be submitted to the commission through appropriate 

offices or agencies of a signatory party, except that, if no agency of a signatory party has 

jurisdiction, such projects shall be submitted directly to the commission in such manner as the 

commission shall prescribe. 

2. Approval of the commission shall be required for, but not limited to, the following: 

(i) All projects on or crossing the boundary between any two signatory states; 

(ii) Any project involving the diversion of water; 

(iii) Any project within the boundaries of any signatory state found and determined by 

the commission or by any agency of a signatory party having functions, powers, 

and duties in the planning, conservation, development, management. or control of 

water resources to have a significant effect on water resources within another 

signatory state, and 

(iv) Any project which has been included by the commission, after hearing, as provided 

in Article 14, Section 14.1, as a part of the commission's comprehensive plan for 

the development of the water resources of the basin, or which would have a 

significant effect upon the plan. 

3. Review and approval by the commission shall not be required for: 

(i) Projects which fall into an exempt classification or designation established by 

legislative action of a signatory party or by rule or regulation of an office or agency 

of a signatory party having, functions, powers, and duties in the planning, 

conservation, development, management, or control of water resources. The 

sponsors of those projects are not required to obtain a permit or other form of 

permission to proceed with construction or implementation, unless it is determined 

by the commission or by the agency of a signatory party that such project or 

projects may cause an adverse, adverse cumulative, or an interstate effect on water 

resources of the basin, and the project sponsor has been notified in writing by the 

commission or by the agency of a signatory party that commission approval is 

required. 

(ii) Projects which are classified by the commission as not requiring its review and 

approval, for so long as they are so classified. 

4. The commission shall approve a project if it determines that the project is not detrimental 

to the proper conservation, development, management, or control of the water resources of the 

basin and may modify and approve as modified, or may disapprove the project, if it determines 

that the project is not in the best interest of the conservation, development, management, or 

control of the basin's water resources, or is in conflict with the comprehensive plan. 
11

5. The commission, after consultation with the appropriate offices or agencies of the 

signatory parties, shall establish the procedure of submission, review, and consideration of 

projects. Any procedure for review and approval of diversions of water shall include public 

hearing on due notice given, with opportunities for interested persons, agencies, governmental 

units, and signatory parties to be heard and to present evidence. A complete transcript of the 

proceedings at the hearing shall be made and preserved, and it shall be made available under 

rules for that purpose adopted by the commission. 

6. Any determination of the commission pursuant to this article or any article of the 

compact providing for judicial review shall be subject to such judicial review in any court of 

competent jurisdiction, provided that an action or proceeding for such review is commenced 

within 90 days from the effective date of the determination sought to be reviewed; but a 

determination of the commission concerning a diversion, under Section 3.10-2 (ii) with the 

claimed effect of reducing below a proper minimum the flow of water in that portion of the basin 

within the area of a signatory party, shall be subject to judicial review under the particular 

provisions of paragraph 7 below. 

7. Any signatory party deeming, itself aggrieved by an action of the commission concerning 

a diversion under Section 10-2 (ii) with the claimed effect of reducing below a proper minimum 

the flow of water in that portion of the basin which lies within the area of that signatory party, 

and notwithstanding the powers provided to the commission by this compact, may have review 

of commission action approving the diversion in the Supreme Court of the United States; 

provided that a proceeding for such review is commenced within one year from the date of 

action sought to be reviewed. Any such review shall be on the record made before the 

commission. The action of the commission shall be affirmed, unless the court finds that it is not 

supported by substantial evidence. 

3.11—Advisory Committees. The commission may constitute and empower advisory 

committees. 

ARTICLE 4

WATER SUPPLY

Section 4.1—Generally. The commission shall have power to develop, implement, and 

effectuate plans and projects for the use of the water of the basin for domestic, municipal, 

agricultural, and industrial water supply. To this end, without limitation thereto, it may provide 

for. construct, acquire, operate, and maintain dams, reservoirs, and other facilities for utilization 

of surface and ground water resources, and all related structures, appurtenances, and equipment 

on the river and its tributaries and at such off river sites as it may find appropriate, and may 

regulate and control the use thereof 
12

4.2—Storage and Release of Waters.

(a) The commission shall have power to acquire, construct, operate, and control projects and 

facilities for the storage and release of waters, for the regulation of flows and supplies of surface 

and ground waters of the basin, for the protection of public health, stream quality control, 

economic development, improvement of fisheries, recreation, dilution and abatement of 

pollution, the prevention of undue salinity, and other purposes. 

(b) No signatory party shall permit any augmentation of flow to be diminished by the 

diversion of any water of the basin during any period in which waters are being released from 

storage under the direction of the commission for the purpose of augmenting such flow, except 

in cases where the diversion is authorized by this compact, or by the commission pursuant 

thereto, or by the judgment, order, or decree of a court of competent jurisdiction. 

4.3—Assessable Improvements. The commission may provide water management and 

regulation in the main stream or any tributary in the basin and, in accordance with the procedures 

of applicable state laws, may assess on an annual basis or otherwise the cost thereof upon water 

users or any classification of them specially benefited thereby to a measurable extent, provided 

that no such assessment shall exceed the actual benefit to any water user. Any such assessment 

shall follow the procedure prescribed by law for local improvement assessments and shall be 

subject to review in any court of competent jurisdiction. 

4.4—Coordination. Prior to entering upon the execution of any project authorized by this 

article, the commission shall review and consider all existing rights, plans and programs of the 

signatory parties, their political subdivisions, private parties, and water users which are pertinent 

to such project, and shall hold a public hearing on each proposed project. 

4.5—Additional Powers. In connection with any project authorized by this article, the 

commission shall have power to provide storage, treatment, pumping, and transmission facilities, 

but nothing herein shall be construed to authorize the commission to engage in the business of 

distributing water. 

ARTICLE 5

WATER QUALITY MAINAGEMENT and CONTROL

Section 5.1—General Powers.

(a) The commission may undertake or contract for investigations, studies, and surveys 

pertaining to existing water quality, effects of varied actual or projected operations on water 

quality, new compounds and materials and probable future water quality in the basin. The 

commission may receive, expend, and administer funds, Federal, state, local or private as may be 

available to carry out these functions relating to water quality investigations. 
13

(b) The commission may acquire, construct, operate, and maintain projects, and facilities for 

the management and control of water quality in the basin whenever the commission deems 

necessary to activate or effectuate any of the provisions of this compact. 

5.2—Policy and Standards.

(a) In order to conserve, protect, and utilize the water quality of the basin in accordance with 

the best interests of the people of the basin and the states, it shall be the policy of the commission 

to encourage and coordinate the efforts of the signatory parties to prevent, reduce, control, and 

eliminate water pollution and to maintain water quality as required by the comprehensive plan. 

(b) The legislative intent in enacting this article is to give specific emphasis to the primary 

role of the states in water quality management and control. 

(c) The commission shall recommend to the signatory parties the establishment, 

modification, or amendment of standards of quality for any waters of the basin in relation to their 

reasonable and necessary use as the commission shall deem to be in the public interest. 

(d) The commission shall encourage cooperation and uniform enforcement programs and 

policies by the water quality control agencies of the signatory parties in meeting, the water 

quality standards established in the comprehensive plan. 

(e) The commission may assume jurisdiction whenever it determines after investigation and 

public hearing upon due notice given that the effectuation of the comprehensive plan so requires. 

After such investigation, notice, and hearing, the commission may adopt such rules, regulations, 

and water quality standards as may be required to preserve, protect, improve, and develop the 

quality of the waters of the basin in accordance with the comprehensive plan. 

5.3—Cooperative Administration and Enforcement.

(a) Each of the signatory parties agrees to prohibit and control pollution of the waters of the 

basin according to the requirements of this compact and to cooperate faithfully in the control of 

future pollution in and abatement of existing pollution from the waters of the basin. 

(b) The commission shall have the authority to investigate and determine if the requirements 

of the compact or the rules, regulations, and water quality standards of the commission are 

complied with and if satisfactory progress has not been made, may institute an action or actions 

in its own name in the proper court or courts of competent jurisdiction to compel compliance 

with any and all of the provisions of this compact or any of the rules, regulations, and water 

quality standards of the commission adopted pursuant thereto. 

5.4—Further Jurisdiction. Nothing in this compact shall be construed to repeal, modify, or 

qualify the authority of any signatory party to enact any legislation or enforce any additional 

conditions and restrictions to lessen or prevent the pollution of waters within its jurisdiction. 
14

ARTICLE 6

FLOOD PROTECTION

Section 6.1—Flood Control Authority. The commission may plan, design, construct, and 

operate and maintain projects and facilities it deems necessary or desirable for flood plain 

development and flood damage reduction. It shall have power to operate such facilities and to 

store and release waters of the Susquehanna River and its tributaries and elsewhere within the 

basin, in such manner, at such times, and under such regulations as the commission may deem 

appropriate to meet flood conditions as they may arise. 

6.2—Regulation.

(a) The commission may study and determine the nature and extent of the flood plains of the 

Susquehanna River and its tributaries. Upon the basis of the studies, it may delineate areas 

subject to flooding, including but not limited to a classification of lands with reference to relative 

risk of flooding and the establishment of standards for flood plain use which will promote 

economic development and safeguard the public health, welfare, safety, and property. Prior to 

the adoption of any standards delineating, the area or defining the use, the commission shall hold 

public hearings with respect to the substance of standards in the manner provided by Article 15. 

The proposed standards shall be available from the commission at the time notice is given, and 

interested parsons shall be given an opportunity to be heard thereon at the hearings. 

(b) The commission shall have power to promulgate, adopt, amend, and repeal from time to 

time as necessary, standards relating to the nature and extent of the uses of land in areas subject 

to flooding. 

(c) In taking action pursuant to subsection (b) of this section and as a prerequisite thereto, 

the commission shall consider the effect of uses of the flood plain in question on the health and 

safety of persons and property in the basin, the economical and technical feasibility of measures 

available for the development and protection of the flood plain, and the responsibilities, if any, of 

local, state, and federal governments connected with the use or proposed use of the flood plain in 

question. The commission shall regulate the use of particular flood plains in the manner and 

degree it finds necessary for the factors enumerated in this subsection, but only with the consent 

of the affected signatory state, and shall suspend such regulation when and so long as the 

signatory party or parties or political subdivision possessing jurisdiction have in force applicable 

laws which the commission finds give adequate protection for the purpose of this section. 

(d) In order to conserve, protect, and utilize the Susquehanna River and its tributaries in 

accordance with the best interests of the people of the basin and the signatory parties, it shall be 

the policy of the commission to encourage and coordinate the efforts of the signatory parties to 

control modification of the river and its tributaries by encroachment. 

6.3—Flood Lands Acquisition. The commission shall have power to acquire the fee or any 

lesser interest in lands and improvements thereon within the area of a flood plain for the purpose 

of regulating the use or types of construction of such property to minimize the flood hazard, 

convert the property to uses or types of construction appropriate to flood plain conditions, or 
15

prevent constrictions or obstructions that reduce the ability of the river channel and flood plain to 

carry flood water. 

6.4—Existing Structures. No rule or regulation issued by the commission pursuant to this 

compact shall be construed to require the demolition, removal, or alteration of any structure in 

place or under construction prior to the issuance thereof, without the payment of just 

compensation therefor. However, new construction or any addition to or alteration in any 

existing structure made or commenced subsequent to the issuance of such rule or regulation, or 

amendment, shall conform thereto. 

6.5—Police Powers. The regulation of use of flood plain lands is within the policy powers of 

the signatory states for the protection of public health and the safety of the people and their 

property and shall not be deemed a taking of land or lands for which compensation shall be paid 

to the owners thereof. 

6.6—Cooperation. Each of the signatory parties agrees to control flood lain use along and 

encroachment upon the Susquehanna River and its tributaries and to cooperate faithfully in these 

respects. 

6.7—Other Authority. Nothing, in this article shall be construed to prevent or in any way to 

limit the power of any signatory party, or any agency or subdivision thereof, to issue or adopt 

and enforce any requirement or requirements with respect to flood plain use or construction 

thereon more stringent than the rules, regulations, or encroachment lines in force pursuant to this 

article. The commission may appear in any court of competent jurisdiction to bring actions or 

proceedings in law or equity to enforce the provisions of this article. 

6.8—Debris. The signatory states agree that dumping or littering upon or in the waters of the 

Susquehanna River or its tributaries or upon the frozen surfaces thereof any rubbish, trash, litter, 

debris, abandoned properties, waste material, or offensive matter, is prohibited and that the law 

enforcement officials of each state shall enforce this prohibition. 

ARTICLE 7

WATERSHED MANAGEMENT

Section 7.1—Watersheds Generality. The commission shall promote sound practices of 

watershed management in the basin, including projects and facilities to retard runoff and 

waterflow and prevent soil erosion. 

7.2—Soil Conservation and Land and Forest Management. The commission, subject to 

the limitations in Section 7.4(b), may acquire, sponsor, or operate facilities and projects to 

encourage soil conservation, prevent and control erosion, and promote land reclamation and 

sound land and forest management. 
16

7.3—Fish and Wildlife. The commission, subject to the limitation in Section 7.4 (b), may 

acquire, sponsor, or operate projects and facilities for the maintenance and improvement of fish 

and wildlife habitat related to the water resources of the basin. 

7.4—Cooperative Planning and Operation.

(a) The commission shall cooperate with the appropriate agencies of the signatory parties 

and with other public and private agencies in the planning and effectuation of a coordinated 

program of facilities and projects authorized by this article. 

(b) The commission shall not acquire or operate any such project or facility unless it has first 

found and determined that no other suitable unit or agency of government is in a position to 

acquire or operate the same upon reasonable conditions, or such unit or agency fails to do so. 

ARTICLE 8

RECREATION

Section 8.1—Development. The commission may provide for the development of water 

related public sports and recreational facilities. The commission on its own account or in 

cooperation with a signatory party, political subdivision or any agency thereof, may provide for 

the construction, maintenance, and administration of such facilities, subject to the provisions of 

Section 8.2 hereof. 

8.2—Cooperative Planning and Operation.

(a) The commission shall cooperate with the appropriate agencies of the signatory parties 

and with other public and private agencies in the planning and effectuation of a coordinated 

program of facilities and projects authorized by this article. 

(b) The commission shall not operate any such project or facility unless it has first found and 

determined that no other suitable unit or agency of government is available to operate the same 

upon reasonable conditions. 

8.3—Operation and Maintenance. The commission, within limits prescribed by this article, 

shall: 

1. Encourage activities of other public agencies having water related recreational interests 

and assist in the coordination thereof; 

2. Recommend standards for the development and administration of water related 

recreational facilities; 

3. Provide for the administration, operation, and maintenance of recreation facilities owned 

or controlled by the commission and for the letting and supervision of private concessions in 

accordance with this article. 
17

8.4—Concessions. The Commission, after public hearing upon due notice given, shall 

provide by regulation a procedure for the award of contracts for private concessions in 

connection with its recreational facilities, including any renewal or extension thereof, under 

terms and conditions determined by the commission. 

ARTICLE 9

OTHER PUBLIC VALUES

Section 9.1—Inherent Values. The signatory parties agree that it is a purpose of this 

compact in effectuating the conservation and management of water resources to preserve and 

promote the economic and other values inherent in this historic and the scenic and other natural 

amenities of the Susquehanna River Basin for the enjoyment and enrichment of future 

generations, for the promotion and protection of tourist attractions in the basin, and for the 

maintenance of the economic health of allied enterprises and occupations so as to effect orderly, 

balanced, and considered development in the basin. 

9.2—Project Compatibility. To this end, the signatory parties agree that in the 

consideration, authorization, construction, maintenance, and operation of all water resources 

projects in the Susquehanna basin, their agencies and subdivisions, and the Susquehanna River 

Basin Commission will consider the compatibility of such projects with these other public 

values. 

9.3—Regulation Standards. The commission may recommend to governmental units with 

jurisdiction within areas considered for scenic or historic designation minimum standards of 

regulation of land and water use and such other protective measures as the commission may 

deem desirable. 

9.4—Local Area Protection. The commission may draft and recommend for adoption 

ordinances and regulations which would assist, promote, develop, and protect those areas and the 

character of their communities. Local governments may consider parts of their area which have 

been designated scenic or historic areas under the provisions of this article separately from the 

municipality as a whole, and pursuant to the laws of the state governing the adoption of those 

regulations Generally may enact regulations limited to the designated area. In making 

recommendations to a local government which is partly in and partly out of such a scenic or 

historic area the commission may make recommendations for the entire municipality. 

ARTICLE 10

HYDROELECTRIC POWER

Section 10.1—Development. The waters of the Susquehanna River and its tributaries may be 

impounded and used by or under authority of the Commission for the generation of hydroelectric 

power and hydroelectric energy in accordance with the comprehensive plan. 
18

10.2—Power Generation. The commission may develop and operate, or authorize to be 

developed and operated. dams and related facilities and appurtenances for the purpose of 

generating hydroelectric power and hydroelectric energy. 

10.3—Transmission. The commission may provide facilities for the transmission of 

hydroelectric power and hydroelectric energy produced by it where such facilities are not 

otherwise available upon reasonable terms, for the purpose of wholesale marketing of power and 

nothing herein shall be construed to authorize the commission to engage in the business of direct 

sale to consumers. 

10.4—Development Contracts. The commission, after public hearings upon due notice 

given, may enter into contracts on reasonable terms, consideration, and duration under which 

public utilities or public agencies may develop hydroelectric power and hydroelectric energy 

through the use of dams, related facilities, and appurtenances. 

10.5—Rates and Charges. Rates and charges fixed by the commission for power which is 

produced by its facilities shall be reasonable, nondiscriminatory, and just. 

ARTICLE 11

REGULATION of WITHDRAWAL and DIVERSIONS; PROTECTED 

AREAS and EMERGENCIES

Section 11.1—Power of Regulation. The commission may regulate and control withdrawals 

and diversions from surface waters and ground waters of the basin, as provided by this article. 

The commission may enter into agreements with the signatory parties relating to the exercise of 

such power or regulation or control and may delegate to any of them such powers of the 

commission as it may deem necessary or desirable. 

11.2—Determination of Protected Area. The commission from time to time after public 

hearing upon due notice given, may determine and delineate such areas within the basin wherein 

the demands upon supply made by water users have developed or threaten to develop to such a 

degree as to create a water shortage or impair or conflict with the requirements or effectuation of 

the comprehensive plan, and any such area may be designated as a protected area, with the 

consent of the member or members from the affected state or states. The commission, whenever 

it determines that such shortage no longer exists, shall terminate the protected status of such area 

and shall give public notice of such termination. 

11.3—Diversion and Withdrawal Permits. In any protected areas so determined and 

delineated, no person shall divert or withdraw water for domestic, municipal, agricultural, or 

industrial uses in excess of such quantities as the commission may prescribe by general 

regulations, except (1) pursuant to a permit granted under this article, or (2) pursuant to a permit 

or approval heretofore granted under the laws of any of the signatory states. 
19

11.4—Emergency. 

(a) In the event of a drought which may cause an actual and immediate shortage of available 

water supply within the basin, or within any part hereof, the commission after public hearing, 

upon due notice given, may determine and delineate the area of the shortage and by unanimous 

vote declare a drought emergency therein. 

 For the duration of the drought emergency as determined by the commission, it thereupon 

may direct increases or decreases in any allocations, diversions, or releases previously granted or 

required, for a limited time to meet the emergency condition. 

(b) In the event of a disaster or catastrophe other than drought, natural or manmade, which 

causes or may cause an actual and immediate shortage of available and usable water, the 

commission by unanimous consent may impose direct controls on the use of water and shall take 

such action as is necessary to coordinate the effort of federal, state, and local agencies and other 

persons and entities affected. 

11.5—Standards. Permits shall be granted, modified, or denied, as the case may be, to avoid 

such depletion of the natural stream flows and ground waters in the protected area or in an 

emergency area as will adversely affect the comprehensive plan or the just and equitable 

interests and rights of their lawful users of the same source, giving due regard to the need to 

balance and reconcile alternatives and conflicting uses in the event of an actual or threatened 

shortage of water of the quality required. 

11.6—Judicial Review. The determinations and delineations of the commission pursuant to 

Section 1 1.2 and the granting, modification or denial of permits pursuant to Section 11.3, 1 1.4, 

and 1 1.5 shall be subject to judicial review in any court of competent jurisdiction. 

11.7—Maintenance of Records. Each signatory party shall provide for the maintenance and 

preservation of such records of authorized diversions and withdrawals and the annual volume 

thereof as the commission shall prescribe. Such records and supplementary reports shall be 

furnished to he commission at its request. 

11.8—Existing State Systems. Whenever the commission finds it necessary or desirable to 

exercise the powers conferred with respect to emergencies by this article, any diversion or 

withdrawal permits authorized or issued under the laws of any of the signatory states shall be 

superseded to the extent of any conflict with the control and regulation exercised by the 

commission. 

ARTICLE 12

INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS

Section 12.1—Federal Agencies and Projects. For the purposes of avoiding conflicts of 

jurisdiction and of giving full effect to the commission as a regional agency of the signatory 
20

parties, the following rules shall govern Federal projects affecting the water resources of the 

basin, subject in each case to the provision of Section 1.4 of this compact: 

1. The planning of all projects related to powers delegated to the commission by this 

compact shall be undertaken in consultation with the commission. 

2. No expenditure or commitment shall be made for or on account of the construction, 

acquisition, or operation of any project or facility nor shall it be deemed authorized, unless it 

shall have first been included by the commission in the comprehensive plan. 

3. Each Federal agency otherwise authorized by law to plan, design, construct, operate or 

maintain any project or facility in or for the basin shall continue to have, exercise, and discharge 

such authority except as specifically provided by this section. 

12.2—State and Local Agencies and Projects. For the purposes of avoiding conflicts of 

jurisdiction and of giving full effect to the commission as a regional agency of the signatory 

parties, the following rules shall govern projects of the signatory states, their political 

subdivisions and public corporations affecting water resources of the basin: 

1. The planning of all projects related to powers delegated to the commission by this 

compact shall be undertaken in consultation with the commission; 

2. No expenditure or commitment shall be made for or on account of the construction, 

acquisition, or operation of any project or facility unless it first has been included by the 

commission in the comprehensive plan; 

3. Each state and local agency otherwise authorized by law to plan, design, construct, 

operate, or maintain any project or facility in or for the basin shall continue to have, exercise and 

discharge such authority, except as specifically provided by this section. 

12.3—Reserved Taxing Powers of States. Each of the signatory parties reserves the right to 

levy, assess, and collect fees, charges, and taxes on or measured by the withdrawal or diversion 

of waters of the basin for use within the jurisdiction of the respective signatory parties. 

12.4—Project Costs and Evaluation Standards. The commission shall establish uniform 

standards and procedures for the evaluation, determination of benefits, and cost allocations of 

projects affecting the basin, and for the determination of project priorities, pursuant to the 

requirements of the comprehensive plan and its water resources program. The commission shall 

develop equitable cost sharing and reimbursement formulas for the signatory parties including: 

1. Uniform and consistent procedures for the allocation of project costs among purposes 

included in multiple-purpose programs; 

2. Contracts and arrangements for sharing financial responsibility among and with signatory 

parties, public bodies, groups, and private enterprise, and for the supervision of their 

performance; 
21

3. Establishment and supervision of a system of accounts for reimbursement purposes and 

directing the payments and charges to be made from such accounts; 

4. Determining the basis and apportioning amounts (i) of reimbursable revenues to be paid 

signatory parties or their political subdivisions, and (ii) of payments in lieu of taxes to any of 

them. 

12.5—Cooperative Services. The commission shall furnish technical services, advice, and 

consultation to authorized agencies of the signatory parties with respect to the water resources of 

the basin, and each of the signatory parties pledges itself to provide technical and administrative 

service to the commission upon request, within the limits of available appropriations, and to 

cooperate generally with the commission for the purposes of this compact, and the cost of such 

service may be reimbursable whenever the parties deem appropriate. 

ARTICLE 13

CAPITAL FINANCING

Section 13.1—Borrowing Power. The commission may borrow money for any of the 

purposes of this compact and may issue its negotiable bonds and other evidences of indebtedness 

in respect thereto. 

All such bonds and evidences of indebtedness shall be payable solely out of the properties and 

revenues of the commission without recourse to taxation. The bonds and other obligations of the 

commission, except as may be otherwise provided in the indenture under which they were 

issued, shall be direct and general obligations of the commission, and the full faith and credit of 

the commission are hereby pledged for the prompt payment of the debt service thereon and for 

the fulfillment of all other undertakings of the commission assumed by it to or for the benefit of 

the holders thereof. 

13.2—Funds and Expenses. The purposes of this compact shall include without limitation 

thereto all costs of any project or facility or any part thereof, including interest during a period of 

construction and a reasonable time thereafter and any incidental expenses (legal, engineering, 

fiscal, financial consultant, and other expenses) connected with issuing and disposing of the 

bonds; all amounts required for the creation of an operating fund, construction fund, reserve 

fund, sinking fund, or other special fund; all other expenses connected with the planning,, 

design, acquisition, construction, completion, improvement, or reconstruction of any facility or 

any part thereof, and reimbursement of advances by the commission or by others for such 

purposes and for working capital. 

13.3—Credit Excluded; Officers, State and Municipal. The commission shall have no 

power to pledge the credit of any signatory party or of any county or municipality, or to impose 

any obligation for payment of the bonds upon any signatory party or any county or municipality. 

Neither the commissioners nor any person executing the bonds shall be liable personally on the 

bonds of the commission or be subject to any personal liability or accountability by reason of the 

issuance thereof. 
22

13.4—Funding and Refunding. Whenever the commission deems it expedient, it may fund 

and refund its bonds and other obligation, whether or not such bonds and obligations have 

matured. It may provide for the issuance, sale, or exchange of refunding bonds for the purpose 

of redeeming or retiring any bonds (including payment of any premium, duplicate interest, or 

cash adjustment required in connection therewith) issued by the commission or issued by any 

other issuing body, the proceeds of the sale of which have been applied to any facility acquired 

by the commission or which are payable out of the revenues of any facility acquired by the 

commission. Bonds may be issued partly to refund bonds and other obligations when 

outstanding, and partly for any other purpose of the commission. All provisions of this compact 

applicable to the issuance of bonds are applicable to refunding bonds and to the issuance, sale, or 

exchange thereof. 

13.5—Bonds: Authorization Generally. Bonds and other indebtedness of the commission 

shall be authorized by resolution of the commission. The validity of the authorization and 

issuance of any bonds by the commission shall not be dependent upon or affected in any way by: 

(1) the disposition of bond proceeds by the commission or by contract, commitment or action 

taken with respect to such proceeds; or (2) the failure to complete any part of the project for 

which bonds are authorized to be issued. The commission may issue bonds in one or more series 

and may provide for one or more consolidated bond issues, in such principal amounts and with 

such terms and provisions as the commission may deem necessary. The bonds may be secured 

by a pledge of all or any part of the property, revenues, and franchises under its control. Bonds 

may be issued by the commission in such amount, with such maturities and in such 

denomination and form or forms, whether coupon or registered, as to both principal and interest, 

as may be determined by the commission. The commission may provide for redemption of 

bonds prior to maturity on such notice and at such time or times and with such redemption 

provisions, including premiums, as the commission may determine. 

13.6—Bonds, Resolutions and Indentures Generallv. The commission may determine and 

enter into indentures providing for the principal amount, date or dates, maturities, interest rate, 

denominations, form, registration, transfer, interchange, and other provisions of the bonds and 

coupons and the terms and conditions upon which the same shall be executed, issued, secured, 

sold, paid, redeemed, funded, and refunded. The resolution of the commission authorizing any 

bond or any indenture so authorized under which the bonds are issued may include all such 

covenants and other provisions other than any restriction on the regulatory powers vested in the 

commission by this compact as the commission may deem necessary or desirable for the issue, 

payment, security, protection, or marketing of the bonds, including without limitation covenants 

and other provisions as to the rates or amounts of fees, rents, and other charges to be charged or 

made for use of the facilities; the use, pledge, custody, securing, application, and disposition of 

such revenues, of the proceeds of the bonds, and of any other monies of the commission; the 

operation, maintenance, repair, and reconstruction of the facilities and the amounts which may 

be expended therefor; the sale, lease, or other disposition of the facilities; the insurina of the 

facilities and of the revenues derived therefrom; the construction or other acquisition of other 

facilities; the issuance of additional bonds or other indebtedness; the rights of the bondholders 

and of any trustee for the bondholders upon default by the commission or otherwise; and the 

modification of the provisions of the indenture and of the bonds. Reference on the face of the 

bonds to such resolution or indenture by its date of adoption or the apparent date of the face 
23

thereof is sufficient to incorporate all of the provisions thereof and of this compact into the body 

of the bonds and their appurtenant coupons. Each taker and subsequent holder of the bonds or 

coupons, where the coupons are attached to or detached from the bonds, has recourse to all of the 

provisions of the indenture and of this compact and is bound thereby. 

13.7—Maximum Maturity. No bond or its terms shall mature in more than fifty, years from 

its own date, or on any date subsequent to the duration of this compact, and in the event any 

authorized issue is divided into two or more series or divisions, the maximum maturity date 

herein authorized shall be calculated from the date on the face of each bond separately, 

irrespective of the fact that different dates may be prescribed for the bonds of each separate 

series or division of any authorized issue. 

13.8—Tax Exemption. All bonds issued by the commission under the provisions of this 

compact and the interest thereon shall at all times be free and exempt from all taxation by or 

under authority of any of the signatory parties, except for transfer, inheritance, and estate taxes. 

13.9—Interest. Bonds shall bear interest at such rate as the commission shall determine, 

payable annually and semi-annually. 

13.10—Place of Payment. The commission may provide for the payment of the principal 

and interest of bonds at any place or places within or without the signatory states, and in any 

specified lawful coin or currency of the United States of America. 

13.11—Execution. The commission may provide for the execution and authentication of 

bonds by the manual, lithographed, or printed facsimile signature of officers of the commission, 

any by additional authentication by a trustee or fiscal agent appointed by the commission. If any 

of the officers whose signatures or countersignatures appear upon the bonds or coupons ceases to 

be an officer before the delivery of the bonds or coupons, his signature or countersignature is 

nevertheless valid and of the same force and effect as if the officer had remained in office until 

the delivery of the bonds and coupons. 

13.12—Holding Own Bonds. The commission shall have power out of any funds available 

therefor to purchase its bonds and may hold, cancel, or sell such bonds. 

13.13—Sale. The commission may fix terms and conditions for the sale or other disposition 

of any authorized issue of bonds and may sell its bonds at less than their par or face value. All 

bonds issued or sold for cash pursuant to this Compact shall be sold on sealed proposals to the 

highest bidder. Prior to such sale, the Commission shall advertise for bids by publication of a 

notice of sale not less than ten days prior to the date of sale, at least once in a newspaper of 

general circulation printed and published in New York City carrying municipal bonds notices 

and devoted primarily to financial news. The commission may reject any and all bids submitted 

and may thereafter sell the bonds so advertised for sale at private sale to any financially 

responsible bidder under such terms and conditions as it deems most advantageous to the public 

interest, but the bonds shall not be sold at a net interest cost calculated upon the entire issue so 

advertised, greater than the lowest bid which was rejected. In the event the Commission desires 

to issue its bonds in exchange for an existing facility or portion thereof, or in exchange for bonds 
24

secured by the revenues of an existing facility, it may exchange such bonds for the existing 

facility or portion thereof or for the bonds so secured, plus an additional amount of cash, without 

advertising such bonds for sale. 

13.14—Negotiability. All bonds issued under the provisions of this compact are negotiable 

instruments, except when registered in the name of a registered owner. 

13.15—Legal Investments. Bonds of the commission shall be legal instruments for savings 

banks, fiduciaries and public funds in each of the signatory states. 

13.16—Validation Proceedings. Prior to the issuance of any bonds, the commission may 

institute a special proceeding to determine the legality of proceedings to issue the bonds and 

their validity under the laws of any of the signatory parties. Such proceedings shall be instituted 

and prosecuted in rem, and the judgment rendered therein shall be conclusive against all persons 

whomsoever and against each of the signatory parties. 

13.17—Recording. No indenture need be recorded or filed in any public office, other than 

the office of the commission. The pledge of revenues provided in any indenture shall take effect 

forthwith as provided therein and irrespective of the date of receipts of such revenues by the 

commission or the indenture trustee. Such pledge shall be effective as provided in the indenture 

without physical delivery of the revenues to the commission or the indenture trustee. 

13.18—Pledged Revenues. Bond redemption and interest payments, to the extent provided 

in the resolution or indenture, shall constitute a first, direct and exclusive charge and lien on all 

such rates, rents, tolls, fees and charges and other revenues and interest thereon received from 

the use and operation of the facility, and on any sinking, or other funds created therefrom. All 

such rates, rents, tolls, fees, charges and other revenues, together with interest thereon, shall 

constitute a trust fund for the security and payment of such bonds, and except as and to the 

extent provided in the indenture with respect to the payment therefrom of expenses for other 

purposes including administration, operation, maintenance, improvements, or extensions of the 

facilities or other purposes shall not be used or pledged for any other purpose so long as such 

bonds, or any of them are outstanding, and unpaid. 

13.19—Remedies. The holder of any bond may for the equal benefit and protection of all 

holders of bonds similarly situated; (1) by mandamus or other appropriate proceedings require 

and compel the performance of any of the duties imposed upon the commission or assumed by it, 

its officers, agents, or employees under the provisions of any indenture, in connection with the 

acquisition, construction, operation, maintenance, repair, reconstruction, or insurance of the 

facilities, or in connection with the collection, deposit, investment, application, and disbursement 

of the rates, rents, tolls, fees, charges, and other revenues derived from the operation and use of 

the facilities, or in connection with the deposit, investment and disbursement of the proceeds 

received from the sale of bonds; or (2) by action or suit in a court of competent jurisdiction of 

any signatory party require the commission to account as if it were the trustee of an express trust, 

or enjoin any acts or things which may be unlawful or in violation of the rights of the holders of 

the bonds. The enumeration of such rights and remedies, however, does not exclude the exercise 

or prosecution of any other rights or remedies available to the holder of bonds. 
25

13.20—Capital Financing by Signatory Parties; Guarantees.

(a) The signatory parties shall provide such capital funds required for projects of the 

commission as may be authorized by their respective statutes in accordance with a cost sharing 

plan prepared pursuant to Article 12 of this compact; but nothing in this section shall be deemed 

to impose any mandatory obligation on any of the signatory parties other than such obligation as 

may be assumed by a signatory party in connection with a specific project or facility. 

(b) Bonds of the commission, notwithstanding any other provision of this compact, may be 

executed and delivered to any duly authorized agency of any of the signatory parties without 

public offering and may be sold and resold with or without the guaranty of such signatory party, 

subject to and in accordance with the constitutions of the respective signatory parties. 

(c) The commission may receive and accept, and the signatory parties may make loans, 

grants, appropriations, advances, and payments of reimbursable or nonreimbursable funds or 

property in any form for the capital or operating purposes of the commission. 

ARTICLE 14

PLAN, PROGRAM and BUDGETS

Section 14.1—Comprehensive Plan. The commission shall develop and adopt, and may 

from time to time review and revise, a comprehensive plan for the immediate and long range 

development and use of the water resources of the basin. The plan shall include all public and 

private projects and facilities which are required, in the judgment of the commission, for 

optimum planning, development, conservation, utilization, management, and control of the water 

resources of the basin to meet present and future needs. The commission may adopt a 

comprehensive plan or any revision thereof in such part or parts as it may deem appropriate, 

provided that before the adoption of the plan or any part or revision thereof the commission shall 

consult with water users and interested public bodies and public utilities and shall consider and 

give due regard to the findings and recommendations of the various agencies of the signatory 

parties, their political subdivisions, and interested groups. The commission shall conduct public 

hearings upon due notice given, with respect to the comprehensive plan prior to the adoption of 

the plan or any part of the revision thereof, except that public and private projects and facilities 

which, in the judgment of the commission, are not required for the optimum planning, 

development, conservation, utilization, management, and control of the water resources of the 

basin and which, in the judgment of the commission, will not significantly affect the water 

resources of the basin, may be added directly to the comprehensive plan at any time at the 

discretion of the commission without public hearing thereon. The comprehensive plan shall take 

into consideration the effect of the plan or any part thereof upon the receiving waters of the 

Chesapeake Bay. 

14.2—Water Resources Program. The commission shall annually adopt a water resources 

program, based upon the comprehensive plan, consisting of the projects and facilities which the 

commission proposes to be undertaken by the commission and by other authorized governmental 

and private agencies, organizations, and persons during the ensuing six years or such other 
26

reasonably foreseeable period as the commission may determine. The water resources program 

shall include a systematic presentation of: 

1. The quantity and quality of water resources needs for such period. 

2. The existing and proposed projects and facilities required to satisfy such needs, including 

all public and private projects to be anticipated; and 

3. A separate statement of the projects proposed to be undertaken by the commission during 

such period. 

14.3—Annual Current Expense and Capital Budgets.

(a) The commission shall annually adopt a capital budget including all capital projects it 

proposes to undertake or continue during the budget period containing a statement of the 

estimated cost of each project and the method of financing thereof. 

(b) The commission shall annually adopt a current expense budget for each fiscal year. Such 

budget shall include the commission's estimated expenses for administration, operation, 

maintenance, and repairs, including a separate statement thereof for each project, together with 

its cost allocation. The total of such expenses shall be balanced by the commission's estimated 

revenues from all sources, including the cost allocations undertaken by any of the signatory 

parties in connection with any project. Following the adoption of the annual current expense 

budget by the commission, the executive director of the commission shall: 

1. Certify to the respective signatory parties the amounts due in accordance with existing 

cost sharing established for each project; and 

2. Transmit certified copies of such budget to the principal budget officer of the respective 

signatory parties at such time and in such manner as may be required under their 

respective budgetary procedures. The amount required to balance the current expense 

budget in addition to the aggregate amount of item I above and all other revenues 

available to the commission shall be apportioned equitably among the signatory parties 

by unanimous vote of the commission, and the amount of such apportionment to each 

signatory party shall be certified together with the bud et. 

(c) The respective signatory parties covenant and agree to include the amounts so 

apportioned for the support of the current expense budget in their respective budgets next to be 

adopted, subject to such review and approval as may be required by their respective budgetary 

processes. Such amounts shall be due and payable to the commission in quarterly installments 

during its fiscal year, provided that the commission may draw upon its working capital to finance 

its current expense budget pending remittance by the signatory parties. 
27

ARTICLE 15

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Section 15.1—Auxiliary Powers of Commission; Functions of Commissioners.

(a) The commission, for the purposes of this compact, may: 

1. Adopt and use a corporate seal, enter into contracts, and sue and be sued in any court of 

competent jurisdiction; 

2. Receive and accept such payments, appropriations, grant, gifts, loans, advances, and 

other funds, properties, and services as may be transferred or made available to it by any 

signatory party or by any other public or private corporation or individual, and enter into 

agreements to make reimbursement for all or part thereof, 

3. Provide for, acquire, and adopt detailed engineering, administrative, financial, and 

operating plans and specifications to effectuate, maintain, or develop any facility or 

project; 

4. Control and regulate the use of facilities owned or operated by the commission; 

5. Acquire, own, operate, maintain, control, sell and convey real and personal property and 

any interest therein by contract, purchase, lease, license, mortgage, or otherwise as it may 

deem necessary for any project or facility, including any and all appurtenances thereto 

necessary, useful, or convenient for such ownership. operation, control, maintenance, or 

conveyance; 

6. Have and exercise all corporate powers essential to the declared objects and purposes of 

the commission. 

(b) The commissioners, subject to the provisions of this compact, shall: 

1. Serve as the governing body of the commission, and exercise and discharge its powers 

and duties, except as otherwise provided by or pursuant to this compact; 

2. Determine the character of and the necessity for its obligations and expenditures and the 

manner in which they shall be incurred, allowed, and paid subject to any provisions of 

law specifically applicable to agencies or instrumentalities created by this compact; 

3. Provide for the internal organization and administration of the commission; 

4. Appoint the principal officers of the commission and delegate to and allocate among 

them administrative functions, powers and duties; 
28

5. Create and abolish offices, employments and positions as it deems necessary for the 

purpose of the commission, and subject to the provisions of this article, fix and provide 

for the qualification, appointments, removal, term, tenure, compensation, pension, and 

retirement rights of its officers and employee; 

6. Let and execute contracts to carry out the powers of the commission. 

15.2—Regulations; Enforcement. The commission may: 

1. Make and enforce rules and regulations for the effectuation, application, and enforcement 

of this compact, and it may adopt and enforce practices and schedules for or in connection with 

the use, maintenance, and administration of projects and facilities it may own or operate and any 

product or service rendered thereby; provided that any rule or regulation, other than one which 

deals solely with the internal management of the commission, shall not be effective unless and 

until filed in accordance with the law of the respective signatory parties applicable to 

administrative rules and regulations generally; and 

2. Designate any officer, agent, or employee of the commission to be an investigator or 

watchman and such person shall be vested with the powers of a peace officer of the state in 

which he is duly assigned to perform his duties. 

15.3—Tax Exemptions. The commission, its property, functions, and activities shall be 

exempt from taxation by or under the authority of any of the signatory parties or any political 

subdivision thereof, provided that in lieu of property taxes the commission, as to its specific 

projects, shall make payments to local taxing, districts in annual amounts which shall equal the 

taxes lawfully assessed upon property for the tax year next prior to its acquisition by the 

commission for a period of ten years. The nature and amount of such payments shall be 

reviewed by the commission at the end of ten years, and from time to time thereafter, upon 

reasonable notice and opportunity to be heard to the affected taxing district, and the payments 

may be thereupon terminated or continued in such reasonable amount as may be necessary or 

desirable to take into account hardships incurred and benefits received by the taxing, jurisdiction 

which are attributed to the project. 

15.4—Meetings; Public Hearings; Records, Minutes. 

(a) All meetings of the commission shall be open to the public. 

(b) The commission shall conduct at least one public hearing in each state prior to the 

adoption of the initial comprehensive plan. In all other cases wherein this compact requires a 

public hearing, such hearing shall be held upon not less than twenty days' public notice given by 

posting at the offices of the commission, and published at least once in a newspaper or 

newspapers of general circulation in the area or areas affected. The commission shall also 

provide forthwith for distribution of such notice to the press and by mailing of a copy thereof to 

any person who shall request such notices. 
29

(c) The minutes of the commission shall be a public record open to inspection at its offices 

during regular business hours. 

15.5—Officers Generally.

(a) The officers of the commission shall consist of an executive director and such additional 

officers, deputies, and assistants as the commission may determine. The executive director shall 

be appointed and may be removed by the affirmative vote of a majority of the full membership 

of the commission. All other officers and employees shall be appointed or dismissed by the 

executive director under such rules of procedure as the commission may establish. 

(b) In the appointment and promotion of officers and employees for the commission, no 

political, racial, religious, or residence test or qualification shall be permitted or given 

consideration, but all such appointments and promotions shall be solely on the basis of merit and 

fitness. Any officer or employee of the commission who is found by the commission to be guilty 

of a violation of this section shall be immediately dismissed. 

15.6—Oath of Office. An oath of office in such form as the commission shall prescribe shall 

be taken, subscribed, and filed with the commission by the executive director and by each officer 

appointed by him not later than fifteen days after the appointment. 

15.7—Bond. Each officer shall give such bond and in such form and amount as the 

commission may require, for which the commission shall pay the premium. 

15.8—Prohibited Activities.

(a) No commissioner, officer or employee shall: 

1. Be financially interested, either directly or indirectly, in any contract, sale, purchase, 

lease, or transfer of real or personal property to which the commission is a party; 

2. Solicit or accept money or any other thing of value in addition to the compensation or 

expense paid him by the commission for services performed within the scope of his 

official duties; 

3. Offer money or any thing of value for or in consideration of obtaining an appointment, 

promotion, or privilege in his employment with the commission. 

(b) Any officer or employee who willfully violates any of the provisions of this section shall 

forfeit his office or employment. 

(c) Any contract or agreement knowingly made in contravention of this section is void. 

(d) Officers and employee of the commission shall be subject, in addition to the provisions of 

this section, to such criminal and civil sanctions for misconduct in office as may be imposed by 

Federal law and the law of the signatory state in which such misconduct occurs. 
30

15.9—Purchasing. Contracts for the construction, reconstruction or improvement of any 

facility when the expenditure required exceeds ten thousand dollars, and contracts for the 

purchase of services, supplies, equipment, and materials when the expenditure required exceeds 

five thousand dollars shall be advertised and let upon sealed bids to the lowest reasonable bidder. 

Notice requesting such bids shall be published in a manner reasonably likely to attract 

prospective bidders, which publication shall be made at least thirty days before bids are received 

and in at least two newspapers of general circulation in the basin. The commission may reject 

any and all bids and readvertise in its discretion. If after rejecting bids the commission 

determines and resolves that in its opinion the supplies, equipment, and materials may be 

purchased at a lower price in the open market, the commission may give each responsible bidder 

an opportunity to negotiate a price and may proceed to purchase the supplies, equipment, and 

materials in the open market at a negotiated price which is lower than the lowest rejected bid of a 

responsible bidder, without further observance of the provisions requiring bids or notice. The 

commission shall adopt rules and regulations to provide for purchasing from the lowest 

responsible bidder when sealed bids, notice, and publication are not required by this section. 

The commission may suspend and waive the provisions of this section requiring competitive bids 

whenever: 

1. The purchase is to be made from or the contract to be made with the Federal or any state 

government or any agency or political subdivision thereof or pursuant to any open and bulk 

purchase contract of any of them; 

2. The public exigency requires the immediate delivery of the articles or performance of the 

service, 

3. Only one source of supply is available; 

4. The equipment to be purchased is of a technical nature and the procurement thereof 

without advertising is necessary in order to assure standardization of equipment and 

interchangeability of parts in the public interest; or 

5. Services are to be provided of a specialized or professional nature. 

15.10—Insurance. The commission may self-insure or purchase insurance and pay the 

premiums therefor against loss or damage to any of its properties; against liability for injury to 

persons or property; and against loss of revenue from any cause whatsoever. Such insurance 

coverage shall be in such form and amount as the commission may determine, subject to the 

requirements of any agreement arising out of the issuance of bonds by the commission. 

15.11—Annual Independent Audit.

(a) As soon as practical after the closing of the fiscal year an audit shall be made of the 

financial accounts of the commission. The audit shall be made by qualified certified public 

accountants selected by the commission, who have no personal interest direct or indirect in the 

financial affairs of the commission or any of its officers or employees. The report of audit shall 

be prepared in accordance with accepted accounting practices and shall be filed with the 
31

chairman and such other officers as the commission shall direct. Copies of the report shall be 

distributed to each commissioner and shall be made available for public distribution. 

(b) Each signatory party by its duly authorized officers shall be entitled to examine and audit 

at any time all of the books, documents, records, files and accounts, and all other papers, things, 

or property of the commission. The representatives of the signatory parties shall have access to 

all books, documents, records, accounts, reports, files, and all other papers, things, or property 

belonging to or in use by the commission and necessary to facilitate audit and they shall be 

afforded full facilities for verifying transactions with the balances or securities held by 

depositories, fiscal agents, and custodians. 

(c) The financial transactions of the commission shall be subject to audit by the General 

Accounting Office in accordance with the principles and procedures applicable to commercial 

corporate transactions and under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the 

Comptroller General of the United States. The audit shall be conducted at the place or places 

wherein the accounts of the commission are kept. 

(d) Any officer or employee who shall refuse to give all required assistance and information 

to the accounts selected by the commission or to the authorized officers of any signatory party or 

who shall refuse to submit to them for examination such books, documents, records, files, 

accounts, papers, things, or property as may be requested shall forfeit his office. 

15.12—Reports. The commission shall make and publish an annual report to the legislative 

bodies of the signatory parties and to the public reporting on its programs, operations, and 

finances. It may also prepare, publish, and distribute such other public reports and informational 

materials as it may deem necessary or desirable. 

15.13—Grants, Loans, or Payments by States or Political Subdivisions.

(a) Any or all of the signatory parties or any political subdivision thereof may: 

1. Appropriate to the commission such funds as may be necessary to pay preliminary 

expenses such as the expenses incurred in the making of borings, and other studies of 

subsurface conditions, in the preparation of contracts for the sale of water and in the 

preparation of detailed plans and estimates required for the financing of a project; 

2. Advance to the commission, either as grants or loans, such funds as may be necessary or 

convenient to finance the operation and management of or construction by the 

commission of any facility or project; 

3. Make payments to the commission for benefits received or to be received from the 

operation of any of the projects or facilities of the commission. 

(b) Any funds which may be loaned to the commission either by a signatory party or a 

political subdivision thereof shall be repaid by the commission through the issuance of bonds or 

out of other income of the commission, such repayment to be made within such period and upon 
32

such terms as may be agreed upon between the commission and the signatory party or political 

subdivision making the loan. 

15.14—Condemnation Proceedings.

(a) The commission shall have the power to acquire by condemnation the fee or any lesser 

interest in lands, lands lying under water, development rights in land, riparian rights, water 

rights, water and other real or personal property within the basin for any project or facility 

authorized pursuant to this compact. This grant of power of eminent domain includes but is not 

limited to the power to condemn for the purposes of this compact any property already devoted 

to a public use, by whomsoever owned or held other than property of a signatory party. Any 

condemnation of any property or franchises owned or used by a municipal or privately owned 

public utility, unless the affected public utility facility is to be relocated or replaced, shall be 

subject to the authority of such state board, commission, or other body as may have regulatory 

jurisdiction over such public utility. 

(b) The power of condemnation referred to in subsection (a) shall be exercised in accordance 

with the provisions of the state condemnation law in force in the signatory state in which the 

property is located. If there is no applicable state condemnation law, the power of condemnation 

shall be exercised in accordance with the provisions of Federal condemnation law. 

(c) Any award or compensation for the taking of property pursuant to this article shall be 

paid by the commission and none of the signatory parties nor any other agency, instrumentality 

or political subdivision thereof shall be liable for such award or compensation. 

15.15—Conveyance of Lands and Relocation of Public Facilities.

(a) The respective officers, agencies, departments, commissions, or bodies having 

jurisdiction and control over real and personal property owned by the signatory parties are 

authorized and empowered to transfer and convey iii accordance with the laws of the respective 

parties, to the commission any such property as may be necessary or convenient to the 

effectuation of the authorized purposes of the commission. 

(b) Each political subdivision of each of the signatory parties, notwithstanding any contrary 

provisions of law, is authorized and empowered to grant and convey to the commission, upon the 

commission's request, any real property or any interest therein owned by such political 

subdivision including lands laying under water and lands already devoted to public use which 

may be necessary or convenient to the effectuation of the authorized purposes of the 

commission. 

(c) Any highway, public utility, or other public facility which will be dislocated by reason of 

a project deemed necessary by the commission to effectuate the authorized purposes of this 

compact shall be relocated and the cost thereof shall be paid in accordance with the law of the 

state in which the facility is located; provided that the cost of such relocation payable by the 

commission shall not in any event exceed the expenditure required to serve the public 

convenience and necessity. 
33

15.16—Rights of Way. Permission is hereby granted to the commission to locate, construct, 

and maintain any aqueducts, lines, pipes, conduits, and auxiliary facilities authorized to be 

acquired, constructed, owned, operated, or maintained by the commission in, over, under, or 

across any streets and highways now or hereafter owned, opened, or dedicated to or for public 

use, subject to such reasonable conditions as the highway department of the signatory party may 

require. 

15.17—Penalty. Any person, association, or corporation who violates or attempts or 

conspires to violate any provisions of this compact or any rule, regulation, or order of the 

commission duly made, promulgated, or issued pursuant to the compact in addition to any other 

remedy, penalty, or consequence provided by law shall be punishable as may be provided by 

statute of any of the signatory parties within which the violation is committed; provided that in 

the absence of such provision any such person, association or corporation shall be liable to a 

penalty of not less than $50 nor more than $1,000 for each such violation to be fixed by the court 

which the commission may recover in its own name in any court of competent Jurisdiction and 

in a summary proceeding where available under the practice and procedure of such court. For 

the purposes of this section in the event of a continuing offense each day of such violation, 

attempt, or conspiracy shall constitute a separate offense. 

15.18—Tort Liability. The commission shall be responsible for claims arising out of the 

negligent acts or omissions of its officers, agents, and employees only to the extent and subject 

to the procedures prescribed by law generally with respect to officers, agents, and employees of 

the government of the United States. 

15.19—Effect on Riparian Rights. Nothing contained in this compact shall be construed as 

affecting or intending to affect or in any way to interfere with the law of the respective signatory 

parties relating to riparian rights. 

15.20—Amendments and Supplements. Amendments and supplements to this compact to 

implement the purposes thereof may be adopted by legislative action of any of the signatory 

parties concurred in by all of the others. 

15.21—Construction and Severability. The provisions of this compact and of agreements 

thereunder shall be severable and if any phrase, clause, sentence, or provision of the 

Susquehanna River Basin Compact or such agreement is declared to be unconstitutional or the 

applicability thereof to any signatory party, agency, or person is held invalid, the 

constitutionality of the remainder of such compact or such agreement and the applicability 

thereof to any other signatory party, agency, person, or circumstance shall not be affected 

thereby. It is the legislative intent that the provisions of such compact be reasonably and 

liberally construed. 

15.22—Effective Date; Execution. This compact shall become binding and effective thirty 

days after the enactment of concurring legislation by the Federal government, the states of 

Maryland and New York, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The compact shall be signed 

and sealed in five identical original copies by the respective chief executives of the signatory 
34

parties. One such copy shall be filed with the Secretary of State of each of the signatory parties 

or in accordance with the laws of the state in which the filing is made, and one copy shall be 

filed and retained in the archives of the commission upon its organization. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, and in evidence of the adoption and enactment into law of this 

compact by the Congress and legislatures, respectively, of the signatory parties, the President of 

the United States and the respective Governors do hereby, in accordance with authority 

conferred by law, sign this compact in five duplicate original copies, as attested by the respective 

secretaries of state, and have caused the seals of the United States and of the respective states to 

be hereunto affixed this 24th day of December, 1970. 

 

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED 

STATES 

 ATTEST 

 

SECRETARY OF STATE 

 

 GOVERNOR OF GOVERNOR OF 

 THE STATE OF MARYLAND THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

ATTEST ATTEST 

 

 SECRETARY OF STATE SECRETARY OF STATE 

 GOVERNOR OF 

 THE COMMONWEALTH OF 

 PENNSYLVANIA 

ATTEST 

 SECRETARY OF THE 

 COMMONWEALTH 
35

PART 11 

RESERVATIONS AND EFFECTUATION

UNITED STATES: (From Public Law 91-575, 84 Stat. 1509 et seq.)

Section 2 Reservations. In the exercise of the powers reserved to the Congress, pursuant to 

section 1.4 of the compact, the consent to and participation in the compact by the United States 

is subject to the following conditions and reservations: 

(a) Notwithstanding any provision of the Susquehanna River Basin Compact the 

Susquehanna River Basin Commission shall not undertake any project (as defined in such 

compact), other than a project for which state supplied funds only will be used, beyond the 

planning stage until— 

(1) Such commission has submitted to the Congress such complete plans and estimates 

for such project as may be necessary to make an engineering evaluation of such project, 

including— 

(a) Where the project will serve more than one purpose, an allocation of costs 

among the purposes served and an estimate of the ratio of benefits to costs for each such 

purpose. 

(b) An appointment of costs among the beneficiaries of the project, including the 

portion of the costs to be borne by the Federal government and by State and local governments, 

and 

(c) A proposal for financing the project, including the terms of any proposed 

bonds or other evidences of indebtedness to be use for such purpose. and 

(2) Such project has been authorized by Act of Congress: PROVIDED, that when a 

project has been authorized by Congress, such additional or changed uses of storage therein as 

the commission may desire shall require project reauthorization, with reallocation of project 

costs to all project purposes served. 

(b) No provision of section 3.9 of the compact shall be deemed to authorize the commission 

to impose any charge for water withdrawals or diversions from the basin if such withdrawals or 

diversions could lawfully have been made without charge on the effective date of the compact or 

to impose any charges with respect to commercial navigation within the basin, jurisdiction over 

which is reserved to the Federal government: PROVIDED, that this paragraph shall be 

applicable to the extent not inconsistent with section 1.4 of this compact. 

(c) Nothing contained in the compact shall be deemed to restrict the Executive powers of the 

President in the event of a national emergency. 
36

(d) Nothing contained in the compact shall be construed as impairing or in any manner 

affecting the applicability to all Federal funds budgeted and appropriated for use by the 

commission of such authority over budgetary and appropriation matters as the President and 

Congress may have with respect to agencies in the executive branch of the Federal government. 

(e) Except to the same extent that state bonds are or may continue to be free or exempt from 

Federal taxation under the Internal Revenue laws of the United States, nothing contained in the 

compact shall be construed as freeing or exempting from Internal Revenue taxation in any 

manner whatsoever any bonds issued by the commission, their transfer, or the income therefrom 

(including any profits made on the sale thereof. 

(f) Nothing contained in the compact shall be construed to obligate the United States legally 

or morally to pay the principal or interest on any bonds issued by the Susquehanna River Basin 

Commission. 

(g) All laborers and mechanics employed by contractors or subcontractors in the 

construction, alteration or repair, including painting and decorating of projects, buildings and 

works which are undertaken by the commission or are financially assisted by it, shall be paid 

wages at rates not less than those prevailing on similar construction in the locality so determined 

by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with the Davis-Bacon Act, as amended 

(40 U.S.C. 276a-276a-5), and every such employee shall receive compensation at a rate not less 

than one and one half times his basic rate of pay for all hours worked in any workweek in excess 

of eight hours in any workday or forty hours in any workweek as the case may be. A provision 

stating the minimum wages thus determined and the requirement that overtime be paid as above 

provided shall be set out in each project advertisement for bids and in each bid proposal form 

and shall be made a part of the contract covering the project. The Secretary of Labor shall have, 

with respect to the administration and enforcement of labor standards specified in this provision, 

the supervisory, investigatory and other authority and functions set forth in Reorganization Plan 

Numbered 14 of 1950 (15 F. R. 3176, 64 Stat. 1267), and section 2 of the Act of June 13, 1934, 

as amended (48 Stat. 948, as amended. 50 U.S.C. 276(c)). 

(h) The commission shall insure that there is no discrimination on the ground of race, color, 

religion, sex, or national origin in (1) the programs and activities of the commission, (2) the 

employment practices of the commission, and (3) the employment practices of parties entering 

into contracts with the commission, including construction contracts and contracts for private 

concessions in connection with recreational facilities. 

(i) Contracts for the manufacture or furnishing of materials, supplies, articles and equipment 

with the commission which are in excess of $10,000 shall be subject to the provisions of the 

Walsh-Healy Public Contracts Act (41 U.S.C. 35 et seq.). 

(j) Nothing contained in this Act or in the compact shall be construed as superseding or 

limiting the functions, under any other law, of the Secretary of the Interior or of any other officer 

or agency of the United States, relating to water pollution: PROVIDED, that the exercise of 

such functions shall not limit the authority of the commission to control, prevent or abate water 

pollution. 
37

(k) The provisions of section 8.4 of article 8 of the compact shall not be construed to apply to 

facilities pursuant to any other Federal law. 

(1) For the purposes of the Federal Tort Claims Act, of June 25, 1948 (62 Stat. 982), as 

amended (28 U.S.C. ch. 171 and sections 1346 (b) and 2401 (b) and the Tucker Act of March 3, 

1887 (24 Stat. 505), as amended (28 U.S.C. 1346(a)(2), 1402, 1491, 1496, 1501, 1503, 2411, 

2412, 2501), and the Administrative Procedure Act of June 11, 1946 (60 Stat. 237), as amended 

(5 U.S.C. 551-558, 701-706), and the Federal Power Act of June 10, 1920 (41 Stat. 1063), as 

amended (16 U.S.C. 791-823), the commission shall not be considered a Federal agency. 

(m) The officers and employees of the commission (other than the United States member, 

alternate United States member, and advisors, and personnel employed by the United States 

member under direct Federal appropriation) shall not be deemed to be, for any purpose, officers 

or employees of the United States or to become entitled at any time by reason of employment by 

the commission to any compensation or benefit payable or made available by the United States 

solely and directly to its officers or employees. 

(n) Neither the compact nor this Act shall be deemed to enlarge the authority of any Federal 

agency other than the commission to participate in or to provide funds for projects or activities in 

the Susquehanna River Basin. 

(o) Notwithstanding paragraph 7 of section 3.10 of the compact, the United States district 

courts shall have original jurisdiction of all cases or controversies arising under the compact and 

this Act, and any case or controversy so arising initiated in a state court shall be removable to the 

appropriate United States district court in the manner provided by section 1446 of title 28, 

United States Code. Nothing contained in the compact or elsewhere in this Act shall be 

construed as a waiver by the United States of its immunity from suit. 

(p) The right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is hereby expressly reserved. The right is 

hereby reserved to the Congress or any of its standing committees to require the disclosure and 

furnishing of such information and data by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission as is 

deemed appropriate by the Congress or any such committee. 

(q) The provisions of sections 2.4 and 2.6 of article 2 of the compact notwithstanding, the 

member and alternate member appointed by the President and advisor there referred to may be 

paid compensation by the United States, such compensation to be fixed by the President at the 

rates which he shall deem to prevail in respect to comparable officers in the executive branch. 

(r) 1. Nothing contained in this compact or in this Act shall impair, affect, or extend the 

constitutional authority of the United States. 

2. Nothing contained in this compact or in this Act and no action of the commission shall 

supersede, impair, affect, compel, or prevent the exercise of any of the powers, rights, functions, 

or jurisdiction of the United States under other existing or future legislation in or over the area or 
38

waters which are the subject of the compact, including projects of the commission: PROVIDED, 

That— 

(i) The commission shall serve as the principal agency for the coordination of Federal, State, 

interstate, local and nongovernmental plans for water and related land resources in the 

Susquehanna River Basin. 

(ii) Except as provided in reservation (j), whenever a comprehensive plan, or any part or 

revision thereof, has been adopted with the concurrence of the member appointed by the 

President, the exercise of any powers conferred by law on any officer, agency, or instrumentality 

of the United States with regard to water and related land resources in the Susquehanna River 

Basin shall not substantially conflict with any such portion of such comprehensive plan and the 

provisions of section 3.10 and article 12 of the compact shall be applicable to the extent 

necessary to avoid such substantial conflict: PROVIDED FURTHER, That whenever the 

President shall find and determine that the national interest so requires, he may suspend, modify, 

or delete any provision of the comprehensive plan to the extent necessary to permit action by the 

affected agency or officer in accord with the national interest. Such action shall be taken by 

executive order in which such finding, and determination shall be set forth. 

(iii) To insure consideration by Congress or any committee thereof of the commission's 

views, proposals for Federal projects which come within one or more of the classes requiring 

commission review under section 3.10 of the compact shall be submitted to the commission for 

review and recommendation for a period of ninety days or such longer time as may be required 

by the commission with the concurring vote of the member appointed by the President; and the 

recommendations and views of the commission thereon, if any, shall be included in any report 

submitted by the sponsoring Federal agency to the Congress or to any committee thereof in 

connection with any request for authorization or appropriations therefore. 

3. For the purposes of paragraph 2 (ii) hereof, concurrence by the member appointed by the 

President shall be presumed unless within sixty days after notice to him of adoption of the 

comprehensive plan, or any part or revision thereof, he shall file with the commission notice of 

(i) no objection, or (ii) nonconcurrence. Each concurrence of the member appointed by the 

President in the adoption of the comprehensive plan or any part or revision thereof may be 

withdrawn by notice filed with the commission at any time between the first and sixtieth day of 

the sixth year after the initial adoption of the comprehensive plan and of every sixth year 

thereafter. 

(s) In the event that any phrase, clause, sentence or provision of section 1.4 of article I of the 

compact, is declared to be unconstitutional under the constitution of any of the signatory parties, 

or the applicability thereof to any signatory party, agency or person is held invalid by a court of 

last resort of competent jurisdiction, the United States shall cease to be a party to the compact: 

PROVIDED, That the President may continue United States participation in the activities of the 

commission to the extent that he deems necessary and proper to protect the national interest. 
39

(t) 1. All Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby 

amended for the purpose of this Act to the extent necessary to carry out the provisions of this 

Act. 

2. No action of the commission shall have the effect of repealing, modifying, or amending 

any Federal law. 

(u) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 2.2 and 2.3 of the compact, the Federal 

member of the commission and his alternate shall be appointed by the President of the United 

States and shall serve at the pleasure of the President. 

(v) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 12.5 or any other provision of the compact, the 

furnishing of technical services to the commission by agencies of the executive branch of the 

Government of the United States is pledged only to the extent that the respective agencies shall 

from time to time agree thereto or to the extent that the President may from time to time direct 

such agencies to perform such services for the commission. Nothing, in the compact shall be 

deemed to require the United States to furnish administrative services or facilities for carrying 

out functions of the commission except to the extent that the President may direct. 

(w) Nothing contained in this Act or in the compact shall supersede, impair, affect, compel, 

or prevent the exercise of any of the powers, rights, functions, or jurisdiction of the Federal 

Power Commission, Federal Communications Commission, Atomic Energy Commission, 

Interstate Commerce Commission, or other such Federal independent regulatory agency under 

existing or future legislation. Accordingly, no action of the Susquehanna River Basin 

Commission shall conflict with any of the terms or conditions of any license or permit granted or 

issued by the aforementioned Federal agencies. This reservation shall not be construed as a basis 

for noncompliance with the requirements of the compact or this Act; nor shall it be construed to 

permit use of waters of the Susquehanna River Basin or to endanger their quality without 

approval pursuant to the compact. 

Section 3 Effectuation. (a) The President is authorized to take such action as may be necessary 

and proper, in his discretion, to effectuate the compact and the initial organization and operation 

of the commission thereunder. 

(b) Executive departments and other agencies of the executive branch of the Federal 

government shall cooperate with and furnish appropriate assistance to the United States member. 

Such assistance shall include the furnishing of services and facilities and may include the 

detailing of personnel to the United States member. Appropriations are hereby authorized as 

necessary for the support of the United States member and his office, including appropriations 

for the employment of personnel by the United Sates member. 

APPROVED DECEMBER 24, 1970. 
40

MARYLAND: (Maryland Act of 1967, Chapter No. 391)

Section 2—Reservations. Nothing in the Susquehanna River Basin Compact shall be 

construed to impair or to derogate from any power exercisable by the mayor and city council of 

Baltimore or in any way to diminish any right which the mayor and city council of Baltimore 

may have to the waters of the Susquehanna River Basin. It is hereby recognized that article 1.3-

6 of the compact (section 60) providing that "the commission shall engage in construction, 

operation, and maintenance of a project only when the project is necessary to the execution of 

the comprehensive plan and no other competent agency is in a position to act, or such agency 

fails to act"; and that article 3.2 of the compact (section 62) which provides that "it is the policy 

of the signatory parties to preserve and utilize the functions, powers, and duties of the existing 

offices and agencies of government to the extent consistent with this compact, and the 

commission is directed to utilize those offices and agencies for the purposes of this corn act" 

confirm the primary right of the mayor and city council of Baltimore to construct and operate 

any facilities for water supply from the Susquehanna River Basin which it determines to be in its 

own interest or in the interest of its service area to construct and operate and confirm that the 

power of condemnation possessed by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission pursuant to 

article 15.14 of the compact (section 74) may be exercised only with due regard for such primary 

right. 

Section 2.3—Effectuation. Subject to other provisions in this Act covering the application 

and effect of the Susquehanna River Basin Compact, particularly those in section 74 

(15.22 thereof), this Act shall take effect on June 1, 1967. 

NEW YORK: (From New York Act of 1967, Chapter No. 785)

§ 835-a. Member and Alternate. 

1. As provided in section 2.2 of the compact, the Governor or his designee shall be this 

state's member on the commission established thereby. A member of the Water Resources 

Commission shall be appointed as the designee if one is appointed. The Governor shall appoint 

an alternate pursuant to section 2.3 of the compact. If the Governor does not appoint a designee 

to act for him, he shall appoint a member of the Water Resources Commission as alternate. 

2. Any person serving on the Susquehanna River Basin Commission pursuant to this section 

shall be reimbursed for all necessary expenses incurred as an incident of such service and such 

reimbursement shall be from the funds of said person's department or office. 

§ 835-b. Advisory Committee. The members of the Water Resources Commission shall 

constitute an advisory committee with whom the member of the Susquehanna River Basin 

Commission from this state may consult with respect to the conduct of New York participation 

in the compact. 
41

§ 835-c. Consent to Alteration of Diversion.

1. Consent of the member from this state to the impairment, diminution, or other adverse 

effect on diversions, compensating releases, rights, conditions, obligations and provisions for the 

administration thereof as contemplated by section 3.8 of the compact shall not be Given, except 

with the prior approval of the Water Resources Commission. 

2. Except with respect to diversions governed by subdivision one of this section the 

provisions of section four hundred fifty-two of the conservation law shall not apply to any 

diversion or furnishing of water authorized or made pursuant to the compact. 

§ 835-d. Jurisdiction of Courts. Except as otherwise specifically provided herein, the 

phrase "court of competent jurisdiction" as used in the compact shall mean, with reference to 

courts of this state, the supreme court, and said court is hereby given all necessary and 

appropriate jurisdiction to hear and determine any action or proceeding brought before it 

pursuant to appropriate provisions of the compact. As used in section 11.6 of the compact, the 

phrase "court of competent jurisdiction" shall mean, with reference to courts of this state, a court 

in which an appropriate proceeding under article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules 

may be brought. As used in clause one of subdivision (a) of section 15.1 of the compact, the 

phrase "court of competent jurisdiction" shall mean with reference to courts of this state, any 

court in which an action or proceeding of the class brought by the Susquehanna River Basin 

Commission may be heard and determined. 

§ 835-e. Prior Project Approval. No project requiring license, permit or other approval by 

any agency or officer of this state, or any subdivision thereof, shall be given any final license, 

permit or approval, by such agency or officer of this state if such project requires approval of the 

Susquehanna River Basin Commission pursuant to this compact and such approval has not been 

given. 

§ 835-f Delegations of Power. No agency or officer of this state or any subdivision thereof 

shall accept or exercise any delegation or power pursuant to section 11.1 of the compact unless, 

in the absence of the compact, it would have the constitutional or statutory power to exercise 

such power on its own account. 

§ 835-g. Cooperative Services. Departments, agencies and officers shall provide technical 

and administrative services to the Susquehanna River Basin Commission upon request within the 

limits of available appropriations and shall cooperate generallv with said commission for the 

purposes of the compact. 

§ 835-h. Budget. The Susquehanna River Basin Commission shall submit annuallv to the 

director of the budget. in accordance with the rules and practices of the state for study and 

consideration by such director, an estimate of monies required to administer, manage and support 

the commission during, the ensuing, fiscal year. Such estimates shall include any request for 

appropriation of funds by New York and shall be accompanied by a tabulation of similar 

requests which the commission expects to make to each signatory and the formula or factors 

upon which such respective requests are based. The provisions of section 14.3 of the compact 
42

apply to the budgetary and other fiscal matters related to the participation of this state in the 

compact. 

§ 835-i. Audit. Pursuant to subdivision (b) of section 15.1 1 of the compact, the state 

comptroller is hereby authorized and empowered from time to time to examine the accounts and 

books of the commission including its receipts, disbursements and other items referring to its 

financial standing as the comptroller may deem proper and to report the results of such 

examination to the Governor. 

§ 835-j. Inconsistent Laws. No provisions of the conservation law or of any other law of 

this state which is inconsistent with the provisions of the compact shall be applicable to the 

Susquehanna River Basin Commission or to any matter governed by the compact. 

§ 4. The compact above set forth shall become binding and effective in accordance with the 

provisions of section 15.22 thereof. The Governor is hereby authorized and directed to sign and 

seal the compact as provided in said section 15.22 and to cause copies thereof to be filed in 

accordance therewith. 

§ 5. This act shall take effect immediately. 

PENNSYLVANIA: (From Pennsylvania Act of 1968, Act No. 181)

Section 2—Repealer. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with any provision of this act are 

to the extent of such inconsistency hereby repealed. 

Section 3—Effectuation by Governor. The Governor is authorized to take such action as 

may be necessary and proper in his discretion to effectuate the compact and the initial 

organization and operation of the commission thereunder. 

Section 4—Entire Agreement. It is declared to be the intention of the General Assembly of 

the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that the provisions of the compact shall constitute the entire 

agreement of the signatories and any matters within any enabling legislation not included in the 

compact shall have no effect on the signatories without their specific concurrence. 

Section 5—Technical and Administrative Services. The Commonwealth or any agency 

thereof shall furnish technical and administrative service to the commission pursuant to 

section 12.5 of the compact only under written agreement between the Commonwealth or any 

agency thereof and the commission. Any such agreement shall detail fully the terms and 

conditions under which the service is to be provided, including cost. Payments by the 

commission pursuant to any such agreement shall be not later than within the fiscal period 

immediately following the fiscal period when such services are rendered. 

Section 6—Minutes of Meetings. The commission shall file promptly copies of the minutes 

of each of its meetings, the comprehensive plan and any additions, modifications, deletions, or 

other amendments thereto with the Secretary of the Senate, the Clerk of the House, and the 
43

majority and minority chairmen of the committees on appropriations of the General Assembly of 

the Commonwealth. Neither the comprehensive plan nor any additions, modifications, deletions, 

or other amendments thereto shall take effect with respect to the Commonwealth or any agency, 

subdivision, or other entity therein until provisions of this section have been met. The 

requirements of this section are in addition to those providing for examination and inspection of 

commission records and reports to the General Assembly contained in section 15.11 and 15.12 of 

the compact, and shall be inclusive of the water resources program prepared annually in 

compliance with the provisions of section 14.2 of the compact. Upon its approval by the 

commission, the initial comprehensive plan shall be furnished to each member of the General 

Assembly, and thereafter the commission, at the time it furnishes its annual report, shall furnish 

also to each member of the General Assembly the minutes of all commission meetings in the 

fiscal year covered by such report, containing the additions, modifications, deletions, or other 

amendments to the comprehensive plan approved in said fiscal year. 

Section 7—Budget. The term "budgetary processes" in section 14.3 of the compact shall be 

construed to include the presentation by the commission of its proposed budget for each fiscal 

period to the Budget Secretary in the Office of Administration in accordance with the rules and 

practices of the Commonwealth governing administrative agencies, for study and consideration 

by such Budget Secretary, and each such budget shall include a statement of monies required to 

administer, manage, and support the commission during the ensuing fiscal period. Such 

statement shall include any request for appropriation of funds by the Commonwealth and shall 

be accompanied by a tabulation of similar requests which the commission makes or expects to 

make to each other signatory party, and the formula or factors upon which such respective 

requests are based. Further, the term "budgetary processes" as applied to the Commonwealth 

shall not be considered complied with until it includes appropriation by the General Assembly 

and the signing of the appropriation into law by the Governor. 

Section 8—Fish and Game Laws. Anything in Section 270 of the act of December 15, 1959 

(P.L. 1779), known as the "The Fish Law of 1959", to the contrary notwithstanding. no person 

acting within the Commonwealth pursuant to section 15.2-2 of the compact shall enforce fish or 

game laws or regulations. 

Section 9—Effectuation. This act shall take effect immediately. 

APPROVED—The 17th day of July, A.D. 1968.