SB 256, HCA 1 -- POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS

SPONSOR:  Caskey (O'Toole)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on
Miscellaneous Bills and Resolutions by a vote of 8 to 1.

Under this bill nothing in the Clean Water Law may be deemed to
prohibit any political subdivision with an available sewer
system from requiring that owners within the subdivision connect
to the system.

The bill also authorizes the Board of Fund Commissioners to
issue bonds for grants and loans pursuant to several sections of
Article III of the Missouri Constitution.  The authorizations
are in addition to sums authorized prior to August 28, 2002, and
are for:

(1)  $10 million of bonds for water pollution control, drinking
water system improvements, and stormwater control pursuant to
Section 37(e);

(2)  a decrease from $20 million to $10 million of bonds for
rural water and sewer projects pursuant to Section 37(g); and

(3)  a decrease from $40 million to $20 million of bonds for
stormwater control plans, studies, and projects in first
classification counties and the City of St. Louis pursuant to
Section 37(h).

The bill has an emergency clause.

HCA 1 -- Removes Section 644.037, RSMo, from the bill.  Section
644.037 requires the Department of Natural Resources to certify
without conditions any nationwide permits granted by U. S. Army
Corps of Engineers under Section 404 of the federal Clean Water
Act as they apply to impacts on the waters of the state.
Currently, the permits must be certified by the department with
regard to impacts on state wetlands.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Net Effect on General Revenue Fund of $0
in FY 2002, $1,022,815 in FY 2003, and $3,168,402 in FY 2004.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that the bill is necessary to
resolve a problem brought about by an opinion of a Missouri
Court of Appeals regarding municipal sewer districts.  Also, the
bill authorizes bonds for several purposes and brings the bond
amounts down to what they were in previous years.

Testifying for the bill were Senator Caskey; Metropolitan St.
Louis Sewer District; and Missouri Municipal League.

OPPONENTS:  Those who oppose the bill say that they oppose
language in the bill that changes permit-issuing authority from
the Department of Natural Resources to the federal Environmental
Protection Agency.

Testifying against the bill were Department of Natural
Resources; and Division of Environmental Quality.

Donna Schlosser, Legislative Analyst

Missouri House of Representatives
Last Updated November 26, 2001 at 11:47 am