REPORT TITLE:
Wastewater Reclamation


DESCRIPTION:
Excludes from definition of public utility any facility that
reclaims wastewater provided that at least 10 per cent of the
wastewater processed is used by a state or county agency.
(HB1277 CD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        1277
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII                                            C.D. 1
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITIES.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Section 269-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended by amending the definition of "public utility" to read as
 
 3 follows:
 
 4      ""Public utility" includes every person who may own,
 
 5 control, operate, or manage as owner, lessee, trustee, receiver,
 
 6 or otherwise, whether under a franchise, charter, license,
 
 7 articles of association, or otherwise, any plant or equipment, or
 
 8 any part thereof, directly or indirectly for public use, for the
 
 9 transportation of passengers or freight, or the conveyance or
 
10 transmission of telecommunications messages, or the furnishing of
 
11 facilities for the transmission of intelligence by electricity by
 
12 land or water or air within the State, or between points within
 
13 the State, or for the production, conveyance, transmission,
 
14 delivery, or furnishing of light, power, heat, cold, water, gas,
 
15 or oil, or for the storage or warehousing of goods, or the
 
16 disposal of sewage; provided that the term:
 
17      (1)  Shall include any person insofar as that person owns or
 
18           operates a private sewer company or sewer facility;
 
19      (2)  Shall include telecommunications carrier or
 
20           telecommunications common carrier;
 

 
Page 2                                                     1277
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        S.D. 1
                                                        C.D. 1

 
 1      (3)  Shall not include any person insofar as that person
 
 2           owns or operates an aerial transportation enterprise;
 
 3      (4)  Shall not include persons owning or operating taxicabs,
 
 4           as defined in this section;
 
 5      (5)  Shall not include common carriers transporting only
 
 6           freight on the public highways, unless operating within
 
 7           localities or along routes or between points that the
 
 8           public utilities commission finds to be inadequately
 
 9           serviced without regulation under this chapter;
 
10      (6)  Shall not include persons engaged in the business of
 
11           warehousing or storage unless the commission finds that
 
12           regulation thereof is necessary in the public interest;
 
13      (7)  Shall not include:
 
14           (A)  The business of any carrier by water to the extent
 
15                that the carrier enters into private contracts for
 
16                towage, salvage, hauling, or carriage between
 
17                points within the State and the carriage is not
 
18                pursuant to either an established schedule or an
 
19                undertaking to perform carriage services on behalf
 
20                of the public generally; and
 
21           (B)  The business of any carrier by water,
 
22                substantially engaged in interstate or foreign
 
23                commerce, transporting passengers on luxury
 

 
Page 3                                                     1277
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        S.D. 1
                                                        C.D. 1

 
 1                cruises between points within the State or on
 
 2                luxury round-trip cruises returning to the point
 
 3                of departure;
 
 4      (8)  Shall not include any person who:
 
 5           (A)  Controls, operates, or manages plants or
 
 6                facilities for the production, transmission, or
 
 7                furnishing of power primarily or entirely from
 
 8                nonfossil fuel sources; and
 
 9           (B)  Provides, sells, or transmits all of that power,
 
10                except such power as is used in its own internal
 
11                operations, directly to a public utility for
 
12                transmission to the public;
 
13      (9)  Shall not include a telecommunications provider only to
 
14           the extent determined by the commission pursuant to
 
15           section 269-16.9; [and]
 
16     (10)  Shall not include any person who controls, operates, or
 
17           manages plants or facilities developed pursuant to
 
18           chapter 167 for conveying, distributing, and
 
19           transmitting water for irrigation and such other
 
20           purposes that shall be held for public use and
 
21           purpose[.]; and
 
22     (11)  Shall not include any person who owns, controls,
 
23           operates, or manages plants or facilities for the
 
24           reclamation of wastewater; provided that:
 

 
Page 4                                                     1277
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        S.D. 1
                                                        C.D. 1

 
 1           (A)  The services of the facility shall be provided
 
 2                pursuant to a service contract between the person
 
 3                and a state or county agency and at least ten per
 
 4                cent of the wastewater processed is used directly
 
 5                by the State or county which has entered into the
 
 6                service contract;
 
 7           (B)  The primary function of the facility shall be the
 
 8                processing of secondary treated wastewater that
 
 9                has been produced by a municipal wastewater
 
10                treatment facility that is owned by a state or
 
11                county agency;
 
12           (C)  The facility shall not make sales of water to
 
13                residential customers;
 
14           (D)  The facility may distribute and sell recycled or
 
15                reclaimed water to entities not covered by a state
 
16                or county service contract; provided that, in the
 
17                absence of regulatory oversight and direct
 
18                competition, the distribution and sale of recycled
 
19                or reclaimed water shall be voluntary and its
 
20                pricing fair and reasonable.  For purposes of this
 
21                subsection, "recycled water" and "reclaimed water"
 
22                mean treated wastewater that by design is intended
 
23                or used for a beneficial purpose; and
 

 
Page 5                                                     1277
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        S.D. 1
                                                        C.D. 1

 
 1           (E)  The facility shall not be engaged, either directly
 
 2                or indirectly, in the processing of food wastes.
 
 3      In the event the application of this chapter is ordered by
 
 4 the commission in any case provided in paragraphs (5), (6), (9),
 
 5 and (10), the business of any public utility that presents
 
 6 evidence of bona fide operation on the date of the commencement
 
 7 of the proceedings resulting in the order shall be presumed to be
 
 8 necessary to public convenience and necessity, but any
 
 9 certificate issued under this proviso shall nevertheless be
 
10 subject to such terms and conditions as the commission may
 
11 prescribe, as provided in sections 269-16.9 and 269-20."
 
12      SECTION 2.  Within twenty days prior to the convening of the
 
13 regular session of 2004, the city and county of Honolulu
 
14 department of environmental services shall submit a report to the
 
15 legislature on:
 
16      (1)  The volume of recycled or reclaimed water distributed;
 
17           and
 
18      (2)  The sale prices of recycled or reclaimed water charged;
 
19 by U.S. Filter Operating Services, Inc. at its Ewa wastewater
 
20 reclamation facility to entities not covered by a state or county
 
21 service contract.
 
22      SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
23 New statutory material is underscored.
 
24      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.