W. Va. Code R. § 150-36-1

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 38, September 20, 2024

Section 150-36-1 - General

1.1. Scope. - These rules govern the operation and service of public service district stormwater utilities subject to the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission pursuant to W.Va. Code § 24-2-1.

1.2. Authority. - W.Va. Code §§ 16-13A-1c, 16-13A-2, 16-13A-8, 16-13A-9, 24-2-1.

1.3. Filing Date. - May 6, 2014

1.4. Effective Date. - July 5, 2014

1.5. General. - These rules apply to public service districts providing a stormwater utility service.

1.5.a. These rules are intended to insure adequate service to the public, to provide standards for uniform and fair charges and requirements on the utilities and their customers, and to establish the rights and responsibilities of both utilities and customers.

1.5.b. The adoption of these rules in no way precludes the Commission from altering or amending them in whole or in part, or from requiring any other or additional service, equipment, facility or standard, either upon complaint or upon its own motion, or upon the application of any utility.

1.5.c. These rules will not relieve in any way a utility from any of its duties under the laws of this State.

1.6. Application of Rules.

1.6.a. These rules apply to stormwater public service districts as defined in W.Va. Code § 16-13A-1c.

1.6.b. If hardship results from the application of any Stormwater Rule or if unusual difficulty is involved in immediately complying with any rule, application may be made to the Commission for the modification of the rule or for temporary or permanent exemption from its provisions. Provided, that no application for modification or exemption will be considered by the Commission unless there is submitted therewith a full and complete justification for such action.

1.7. Definitions.

1.7.a. Billing Related Dates.

1.7.a.1. "Bill Due Date" - The date when the utility mails the bill.

1.7.a.2. "Latest Pay Date" - The last date, which shall be no sooner than the twentieth (20th) day following the date the utility mails the bill, that the bill may be paid without incurring a late payment penalty. Such date must be stated on the face of the bill.

1.7.a.3. "Delinquent Bill" - Any bill issued by a public service district that has not been paid within twenty (20) days of the bill due date. Such date must be stated on the face of the bill.

1.7.b. "Best Management Practices" ("BMPs") - are techniques used to control stormwater runoff, control sediment, and provide soil stabilization, as well as management decisions to prevent or reduce nonpoint source pollution. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection ("WVDEP") defines a BMP as a "technique, measure or structural control that is used for a given set of conditions to manage the quantity and improve the quality of stormwater runoff in the most cost effective manner."

1.7.c. "Commission" - Whenever in these rules the words "Commission" or "Public Service Commission" appear, such word, or words, shall, unless a different intent clearly appears from the context, be taken to mean the Public Service Commission of West Virginia.

1.7.d. "Contributing Area" - Any area, impervious or pervious, contributing stormwater runoff to the public stormwater facilities.

1.7.e. "Conveyance" - Any structure, swale, pipe, ditch, pond or watercourse, existing natural topography or, in the case of new development or redevelopment, grading to existing topography utilized to move stormwater to the waters or aquifers of the State.

1.7.f. "Customer" - Shall mean the owner, tenant or occupant of any real property served by a stormwater system, and determined to be responsible for payment of public service district utility stormwater service fees.

1.7.g. "Customer Conveyance Facilities" - Shall be that portion of any conveyance to the stormwater system for which a user or customer has installation or upkeep responsibility and which is located on the property owned by the user or customer.

1.7.h. "Impervious Area" - Land area covered by buildings, pavement or other materials that significantly inhibit stormwater from penetrating the soil.

1.7.i. "Maximum Extent Practicable" (MEP) - A constantly evolving method that establishes the level of pollutant reductions that municipal separate storm sewer system operators must achieve through implementation of a stormwater management program.

1.7.j. "Measurable Goals" - objectives or goals that quantify the progress of program implementation and the performance of BMPs. They are objective markers or milestones that the utility and the permitting authority will use to track the progress and effectiveness of BMPs in reducing pollutants to the maximum extent practicable.

1.7.k. "Moratorium" - A condition imposed on a public service district by the Commission prohibiting new stormwater connections or reactivation of discontinued stormwater connections for an entire system, or a portion thereof. The moratorium will be effective only within the boundaries of the public service district to which the moratorium applies.

1.7.l. "Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System" (MS4) - The Commission adopts the definition of MS4 as presently defined or to be defined in the future by federal regulations, currently codified at 40 CFR §122.26 (b)(8). The term MS4 does not solely refer to municipally-owned storm sewer systems, but rather is a term applied to non-private, publicly owned systems. References herein to an MS4 are used solely with regard to references to federal regulations because these rules apply only to public service district stormwater systems.

1.7.m. "Outfall" - The point at which stormwater Utility Conveyance Facilities discharge into the waters of the State.

1.7.n. "Payment" - Payment for utility service, made by cash, check, credit card, debit card, or voucher accepted by the utility.

1.7.o. "Pervious Area" - All land area that allows stormwater to infiltrate the soil.

1.7.p. "Point of Service" - For a hard-piped customer stormwater facility, the point on the customer's property where the stormwater runoff from a given parcel of land meets the Utility Conveyance Facility at or near the property line. Point of service may also be an area either near or distant from the property line where natural runoff that is not necessarily carried by hard-piped facilities drains into the Utility Conveyance Facility.

1.7.q. "Public Utility" - Except where a different meaning clearly appears from the context, the word, or words, "Utility" or "Public Utility" or "Stormwater Utility" when used in these Rules shall mean and include any public service district engaged in the business of managing, collecting, transporting, or treating stormwater.

1.7.r. "Stormwater Service ("Works") - Any method, conveyance, treatment system or storage structure determined to be necessary to meet the requirements of the Commission or the environmental authority mandating the control and quality of stormwater entering waterways and aquifers of the State.

1.7.s. "Urbanized Area" - A land area comprising one or more places, central place(s) and the adjacent densely settled surrounding area, urban fringe, that together have a residential population of at least 50,000 and an overall population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile. It is a calculation used by the Bureau of the Census to determine the geographic boundaries of the most heavily developed and dense urban areas.

1.7.t. "User" - Owner of real property from which stormwater affects or drains into the stormwater system.

1.7.u. "Utility Conveyance Facility/Facilities " ("UCF") - Any part or parts of a stormwater system, including but not limited to, ditches, pipes, swales, pump stations, retention ponds, or any other utility structure necessary for collection or conveyance of stormwater.

W. Va. Code R. § 150-36-1