It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Sections 46-25-3, 46-25-5, 46-25-18, 46-25-24 and 46-25-38.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 46-25 entitled "Narragansett Bay Water Quality Management District Commission" are hereby amended to read as follows:

46-25-3. Definitions. -- As used in this chapter, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings unless the context shall indicate another or different meaning:

(a) "Administrative penalty" shall mean a monetary penalty not to exceed the civil penalty specified in section 46-25-25.2 of this chapter.

(b) "Commission" shall be construed to mean the Narragansett Bay water quality management district commission.

(c) "Compliance schedule" means a schedule of remedial measures including an enforceable sequence of actions, or operations leading to compliance with an effluent limitation or any other limitation, prohibition, or standard.

(d) "Fund" shall be construed to mean the Narragansett Bay water quality management district commission fund . {ADD to be held by the commission. ADD}

(e) "Narragansett Bay water quality management district commission" shall mean and include:

(1) The city of Providence and those portions of the city of Cranston and portions of the towns of Johnston, North Providence, and Lincoln formerly served by the city of Providence sewage treatment system as well as the cities of East Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Falls, the towns of Lincoln and Cumberland, and that portion of the town of Smithfield lying northeast of the Douglas Pike, also called state route No. 7;

(2) Any other portions of those municipalities as may by resolution request to be served by the district and which are accepted by the commission as part of the district; and

(3) Any other cities or towns or districts in Rhode Island or portions thereof as may, from time to time, join the district pursuant to agreement with the Commission, providing for the acquisition of the sewage treatment facilities of such city, town, or district, or the merger and consolidation of such district into the Commission, or the management and operation of the sewage treatment facilities of such city, town or district by the commission.

(f) "Notes" as used in sections 46-25-51 through 46-25-67 shall be construed to mean the notes, securities, or other obligations or evidences of indebtedness issued by the commission pursuant to this chapter in anticipation of receiving user fees or state or federal funds, all of which shall be issued under the name of and known as obligations of the Narragansett Bay water quality management district.

(g) "Pollutant" shall be construed to mean the same as defined in section 46-12-1.

(h) "Pollution" shall be construed to mean the same as defined in section 46-12-1.

(i) "Person" shall include an individual, firm, partnership, association, and private or municipal corporation and federal or state agencies.

(j) "Project" shall be construed to mean the Narragansett Bay water quality management district project and shall include the acquisition, ownership, design, operation, construction, repair, rehabilitation, improvement, development, sale, lease or disposition of, or the provision of financing for, any sewage treatment facility.

(k) "Revenue bonds and notes" as used in sections 46-25-58 through 46-25-67 shall mean and include the bonds, notes, securities or other obligations or evidences of indebtedness issued by the commission pursuant to sections 46-25-58 through 46-25-67 all of which shall be issued under the name of or known as obligations of the Narragansett Bay water quality management district commission and shall be secured solely by the revenues provided therein.

(l) "Sewage" shall be construed to mean the same as "pollutant" as defined in section 46-12-1.

(m) "Sewage treatment facilities" means any sewage treatment plant, structure, combined sewer overflows, equipment, interceptors, mains, and pumping stations or other property, real, personal, or mixed, for the treatment, storage, collection, transporting, or disposal of sewage, or any property or system to be used in whole or in part for any of the aforesaid purposes, or any other property or system incidental to, or which has to do with, or the end purpose of which is any of the foregoing; provided, however, that the term shall not include any system of lateral sewers within a municipality.

(n) "Source" shall mean any building, structure, facility or installation from which there is or may be the discharge of pollutants.

(o) "Water supplier" shall mean any person, including a municipal water department or agency, public water system, special water district, or private water company engaged in the distribution of water for potable purposes.

46-25-5. General powers. -- The commission shall have the following powers, together with all powers incidental thereto or necessary for the performance of those stated in this chapter:

(a) To sue and be sued, complain and defend, in its corporate name.

(b) To have a seal which may be altered at pleasure and to use the seal by causing it, or a facsimile thereof, to be impressed or affixed or in any other manner reproduced.

(c) To purchase, take, receive, lease, or otherwise acquire, own, hold, improve, use, and otherwise deal in and with, real or personal property, or any interest therein, wherever situated.

(d) To make and execute agreements of lease, construction contracts, operation contracts, and all other contracts and instruments necessary or convenient in the exercise of the powers and functions of the commission granted by this chapter.

(e) To make guarantees and incur or assume liabilities as the commission may deem appropriate.

(f) To invest and reinvest its funds.

(g) To secure the cooperation and assistance of the United States, and any of its agencies, and of agencies of this state and its municipalities in the work of the commission.

(h) To accept grants, donations, drafts, loans of funds, and contributions in money, services, materials, or otherwise, from the United States or any of its agencies, from this state and its agencies, or from any other source, and to use or expend those moneys, services, materials, or other contributions in carrying out the purposes of this chapter.

(i) To make assessments and impose reasonable and just user charges, and to pay for such expenses as may be required by law or as may be determined by the commission to be necessary for the maintenance and operation of the project. In addition to the foregoing, the assessments and user charges imposed pursuant to this chapter by the commission shall be set at a rate sufficient to enable the commission to pay the debt service cost on not in excess of fourteen million and fifty-nine thousand dollars ($14,059,000) of general obligation bonds and on notes issued pursuant to this chapter. Any user charge, fee, or rate shall be subject to the approval of the public utilities commission.

(j) To establish a sewage pretreatment program, and to require as a condition, to the grant or reissuance of any approval, license, or permit required under the program, that the person applying for the approval, license, or permit, pay to the commission a reasonable fee based on the cost of reviewing and acting upon the application and based on the costs of implementing the program. In addition, where violations of the provisions of sections 46-25-25 through 46-25-25.3, or of any permit, rule, regulation, or order issued pursuant thereto have occurred, the violator shall reimburse the commission for the actual costs of implementing and enforcing the terms of the permit, rule, regulation, or order as a condition to the grant or reissuance of any approval, license, or permit.

(k) To acquire or contract to acquire, from any person, the federal government or the state, or any agency of either the federal government or state, by grant, purchase, lease, gift, condemnation, or otherwise, or to obtain options for the acquisition of any property, real or personal, improved or unimproved, and interests in land less than the fee thereof; and to own, hold, clear, improve, develop, and rehabilitate, and to sell, assign, exchange, transfer, convey, lease, mortgage, or otherwise dispose of or encumber the property for the purposes of carrying out the provisions and intent of this chapter for such consideration as the commission shall determine.

(l) To elect or appoint officers and agents of the commission, and to define their duties and fix their compensation, including authority to employ attorneys, accountants, architectural, and engineering consultants, and the other employees or agents as the commission shall deem necessary in its judgment.

(m) To make and alter by-laws, not inconsistent with this chapter, for the administration and regulation of the affairs of the commission, and the by-laws may contain provisions indemnifying any person who is or was a director or a member of the commission, in the manner and to the extent provided in section 7-1.1-4.1 of the Rhode Island Business Corporation Act.

(n) To construct, acquire, repair, develop, own, operate, maintain, extend, improve, rehabilitate, renovate, equip, and furnish a project and make provision for its management.

(o) To prepare or cause to be prepared plans, specifications, designs, and estimates of costs of construction, reconstruction, rehabilitations, improvement, alteration, or repair of a project, and to modify the same.

(p) To issue orders of general or specific applicability to carry out the purposes of the project.

(q) To have and exercise all powers necessary or convenient to effect its purposes.

(r) To impose administrative penalties in accordance with the provisions of section 46-25-25.4.

(s) To secure certain payments on its revenue bonds and notes, in whole or in part, by insurance or by letters or lines of credit or other credit facilities.

{ADD (t) To enter into agreements, contracts, and other arrangements with the state and any of its departments, agencies, boards or commissions relating to the execution or performance of any function or purpose of the commission, including, but not limited to, investments, employee compensation and employee benefits, and the state and its departments, agencies, boards and commissions are hereby authorized to enter into such agreements, contracts and other arrangements with the commission, and upon the request of the commission shall enter into such agreements, contracts and other arrangements with the commission. ADD}

46-25-18. Receipt and deposit of federal funds. -- (a) All moneys paid to the commission by the federal government for the purpose of executing the project shall be received by the general treasurer and deposited by him or her in the fund, and the commission shall forthwith use the moneys {ADD executive director of the commission and applied in the following order of priority (1) ADD} for the payment of debt service on, or the recall, or the redemption of bonds and notes issued by the state in anticipation of the federal project payments . {ADD or (2) if no bonds or notes of the state issued in anticipation of federal project payments are outstanding, then the moneys shall be deposited in the fund to be used for the purposes for which the federal government granted the moneys. ADD}

(b) To the extent permitted by federal law, any federal funds or assistance to the state of Rhode Island in any one federal fiscal year for sewer projects funded under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, (33 U.S.C. section 1251 et seq.), as amended, for fiscal years commencing October 1, 1982, and thereafter, shall be allocated so that fifty percent (50%) of the federal funds or assistance so received shall be assigned to this project. Provided, however, that more than fifty percent (50%) of the federal funds may be assigned to this project if the remaining fifty percent (50%) is not fully obligated for other projects in the state of Rhode Island outside the district.

46-25-24. Appropriation of revenues. -- Except as provided in section 46-25-18 hereof, all moneys received by the commission for the use of the facilities of the project, shall be paid over to the general treasurer {ADD executive director of the commission ADD} and deposited by him or her in the fund. All moneys in the fund are hereby appropriated, in addition to all other sums appropriated by the provisions of this chapter, to be expended by the commission for administration and all other expenses relating to the planning, constructing, equipping, operation, and maintenance of the project ; and the state controller is hereby authorized and directed to draw his or her orders upon the general treasurer for the payment of such sum or sums as may be necessary, from time to time upon receipt by the controller of duly authenticated vouchers signed by the chairperson of the commission or by a duly designated agent of the commission . Any unexpended balance remaining in the fund at the end of any fiscal year, shall be carried forward and made available for expenditure in the succeeding fiscal years.

46-25-38.1. Narragansett Bay environmental enforcement fund. -- There is hereby established a separate fund within the "Narragansett Bay Water Quality Management District Commission Fund" to be called the "Narragansett Bay Environmental Enforcement Fund." This fund shall be administered by the general treasurer in accordance with the same laws and fiscal procedures as the general funds of the state. {ADD executive director of the commission. ADD} The fund shall consist of such sums as the commission may, from time to time, deposit, or the sums recovered by any administrative or civil enforcement action brought under the authority of this chapter. All interest earned on the sums shall become part of the fund. All sums in the fund shall be expended in accordance with section 46-25-24 for the purposes set forth below:

(1) Emergency response activities. These activities shall include, but not be limited to, site inspections, investigatory reports, collection, monitoring, and analysis of samples of wastewater, air and/or soil waste disposal or spill response, analysis, and containment.

(2) Enforcement activities. These funds may also be used to support activities related to enforcement of the provisions of this chapter, and the rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto, regarding illegal discharges and spills to the facilities, including, but not limited to, legal activities to enforce the provisions of this chapter and secure contributions from violators as well as ancillary services, personnel, or equipment to support the activities enumerated in this section.

(3) Additional activities. These activities shall include, but not be limited to, professional and emergency response training for employees, environmental research and development projects, public information and education, and technical assistance provided by the commission to any state, federal, or municipal agency.

(4) Bay bond debt retirement. Those funds which have not been committed for projects within a three (3) year period following their deposit into the fund may be used to pay the long term debt service on bonds issued pursuant to this chapter.

SECTION 2. Section 35-4-20 of the General Laws in Chapter 35-4 entitled "State Funds" is hereby amended to read as follows:

35-4-20. Funds subject to contribution. -- A contribution of moneys based upon the annual statewide cost allocation plan, representing the estimated pro rata share of statewide indirect costs paid from the general fund, shall be made from the moneys and trust funds enumerated below:

(2) water development fund as set forth in section 46-15-24 ; {ADD . ADD}

(3) Blackstone Valley district commission fund as set forth in sections 46-21-23 and 46-21-24.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage, provided, however, that the general treasurer shall transfer the Narragansett Bay Water Quality Management District Commission Fund to the Narragansett Bay Water Quality Management District Commission on the date on which the Narragansett Bay Water Quality Management District Commission enters into a trust agreement or resolution under the provisions of this chapter which grants to the state of Rhode Island a first lien on the revenues of the commission and on the Narragansett Bay Water Quality Management District Commission Fund for the payment of general obligation bonds and notes of the state issued on behalf of the commission. The anticipated date for the transfer shall be specified by the executive director of the Narragansett Bay Water Quality Management District Commission in a notice to the general treasurer to be delivered to the general treasurer not less than forty-five (45) days before the date set forth in the notice for the transfer of the fund.