§ 46-15.6-2 - Legislative findings, intent, and objectives.
SECTION 46-15.6-2
§ 46-15.6-2 Legislative findings, intent,and objectives. – (a) The general assembly hereby recognizes and declares that:
(1) Water is vital to life and comprises an invaluablenatural resource which is not to be abused by any segment of the state'spopulation or its economy. It is the policy of this state to restore, enhance,and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of its waters toprotect health.
(2) The waters of this state are a critical renewableresource which must be protected to insure the availability of safe and potabledrinking water for present and future needs.
(3) It is a paramount policy of the state to protect thepurity of present and future drinking water supplies by protecting theinfrastructure of potable water, including treatment plants, pipes, valves,pumping stations, storage facilities, interconnections, and water mains.
(4) It is imperative to provide a uniform and valid mechanismto base assistance for the construction, repair, protection, and/or improvementof potable water infrastructure replacement.
(5) The decay of infrastructure and related construction dueto deterioration or functional obsolescence can threaten the quality ofsupplies and, therefore, can endanger public health; thus it is necessary totake immediate and continuing steps to repair and replace the infrastructureused to deliver water supplies in order to restore water system facilities.
(6) Failure to replace the infrastructure used to deliverwater supplies may cause and probably will continue to degrade the quality ofpublic drinking water.
(7) Protection of water quality is necessary from thecollection source through the point of delivery to the ultimate consumer.
(8) The potable threat to public health caused by unsafedrinking water far outweighs the economic costs for the construction of thepotable water infrastructure replacement.
(b) That the objectives of this chapter are:
(1) To establish a funding mechanism to insure thatinfrastructure replacement programs are carried out by each municipality and byeach municipal department, agency, district, authority, or other entity engagedin or authorized to engage in the supply, treatment, transmission, ordistribution of drinking water, and
(2) That the plans and their execution achieve and insurethat the investment of the public in such facilities is not eroded.