MD
Maryland House Bill HB1168

Maryland 2025 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HB1168 Compare Versions

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33 EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTING LAW .
44 [Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5- Underlining indicates amendments to bill.
6- Strike out indicates matter stricken from the bill by amendment or deleted from the law by
7-amendment.
85 *hb1168*
96
107 HOUSE BILL 1168
118 L5 5lr1067
129 HB 409/18 – ENV
1310 By: Montgomery County Delegation and Prince George’s County Delegation
1411 Introduced and read first time: February 6, 2025
1512 Assigned to: Environment and Transportation
16-Committee Report: Favorable with amendments
17-House action: Adopted
18-Read second time: March 2, 2025
1913
20-CHAPTER ______
14+A BILL ENTITLED
2115
2216 AN ACT concerning 1
2317
2418 Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission – Service Charges 2
2519
2620 MC/PG 112–25 3
2721
2822 FOR the purpose of authorizing the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission to 4
2923 establish certain customer classes for certain service rates or charges; requiring that 5
3024 service rates for each customer class shall be chargeable against certain properties 6
3125 and shall be uniform for a given class throughout the Washington Suburban 7
32-Sanitary District; authorizing the minimum or ready to serve charge assessed by the 8
33-Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission to include a certain component; 9
34-altering the criteria on which the minimum or ready to serve charge may be based 10
35-authorizing the Commission to create certain customer classes for minimum or ready 11
36-to serve charges; and generally relating to the service rates of the Washington 12
37-Suburban Sanitary Commission. 13
26+Sanitary District; authorizing the minimum or ready to serve charge to include a 8
27+certain component; altering the criteria on which the minimum or ready to serve 9
28+charge may be based; and generally relating to the service rates of the Washington 10
29+Suburban Sanitary Commission. 11
3830
39-BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 14
40- Article – Public Utilities 15
41-Section 25–501 and 25–502(a) 16
42- Annotated Code of Maryland 17
43- (2020 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 18
31+BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 12
32+ Article – Public Utilities 13
33+Section 25–501 and 25–502(a) 14
34+ Annotated Code of Maryland 15
35+ (2020 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 16
4436
45-Preamble 19
37+Preamble 17
38+
39+ WHEREAS, Under current law, the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission 18
40+must establish rates and charges that are uniform throughout the sanitary district; and 19
41+
42+ WHEREAS, Other Maryland water and sewer providers, such as the providers in 20
43+Baltimore City, Howard County, and the City of Rockville, have the authority to establish 21
44+rates and charges by customer classes; and 22
45+
46+ WHEREAS, The Commission has been reviewing and considering alternative rate 23
47+structures over the last several years; and 24
4648 2 HOUSE BILL 1168
4749
4850
49- WHEREAS, The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission service rate for water 1
50-is required to have a minimum or a ready to serve charge under § 25–502(a) of the Public 2
51-Utilities Article; and 3
51+ WHEREAS, During the review of other alternative rate structures, the Commission 1
52+has noted that the vast majority of public water and sewer providers across the country 2
53+similar in size and structure to the Commission have the authority to establish rates and 3
54+charges by customer classes; and 4
5255
53- WHEREAS, The ready to serve charge consists of two components: an account 4
54-maintenance fee and an infrastructure investment fee; and 5
56+ WHEREAS, Establishing rates and charges by class allows for a more equitable 5
57+recovery of costs from customers, based on the demands that they place on the water and 6
58+sewer systems; and 7
5559
56- WHEREAS, The Attorney General stated in 2008 that the Washington Suburban 6
57-Sanitary Commission has the authority to adopt an infrastructure investment fee in 7
58-addition to an account maintenance fee; and 8
60+ WHEREAS, The authority of the Commission to establish rates or charges by 8
61+customer classes includes establishing classes by meter size and also the ability to establish 9
62+a surcharge on residential customers in the summer to encourage water conservation; and 10
5963
60- WHEREAS, The Washington Suburban Sanitary Com mission adopted an 9
61-infrastructure investment fee effective July 1, 2015; and 10
64+ WHEREAS, The American W ater Works Association’s Manual of Practice M–1 11
65+“Principles of Water Rates, Fees and Charges, Seventh Edition” and the Water 12
66+Environment Federation’s Manual of Practice No. 27 “Financing and Charges for 13
67+Wastewater Systems”, the industry’s best practices manuals, include multiple examples of 14
68+class–based rates, fees, and charges; now, therefore, 15
6269
63- WHEREAS, Due to fire code requirements enacted by Montgomery County and 11
64-Prince George’s County for sprinkler systems in certain homes, a small number of 12
65-residential homes in the sanitary district are required to receive 1.5–inch meters to 13
66-accommodate the water flow of the required sprinkler systems; and 14
70+ SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 16
71+That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 17
6772
68- WHEREAS, Current law requires the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission 15
69-to set the ready to serve charge based on meter size and not by customer class such as 16
70-residential, commercial, or industrial; and 17
73+Article – Public Utilities 18
7174
72- WHEREAS, As a result, residential customers with 1.5–inch meters pay almost 18
73-seven times the amount of the ready to serve charge paid by other residential customers 19
74-because of the statutory requirement that this charge be based on meter size; and 20
75+25–501. 19
7576
76- WHEREAS, The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission desires to correct this 21
77-inequity by seeking the authority to create customer classes within any given meter size 22
78-for the ready to serve charge; now, therefore, 23
77+ (a) IN THIS SECTION, “CLASS” INCLUDES A CLASS BAS ED ON THE SIZE OF 20
78+THE METER ON THE WAT ER CONNECTION LEADIN G TO A PROPERTY. 21
7979
80- WHEREAS, Under current law, the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission 24
81-must establish rates and charges that are uniform throughout the sanitary district; and 25
80+ (B) The Commission shall set [a service rate] ONE OR MORE SERVICE RATES 22
81+that the Commission considers necessary to provide funds for: 23
8282
83- WHEREAS, Other Maryland water and sewer providers, such as the providers in 26
84-Baltimore City, Howard County, and the City of Rockville, have the authority to establish 27
85-rates and charges by customer classes; and 28
83+ (1) maintaining, repairing, and operating its water supply and sewer 24
84+systems, including the overhead expense and depreciation allowance; and 25
8685
87- WHEREAS, The Commission has been reviewing and considering alternative rate 29
88-structures over the last several years; and 30
86+ (2) making any payments to the District of Columbia, as specified in this 26
87+title. 27
8988
90- WHEREAS, During the review of other alternative rate structures, the Commission 31
91-has noted that the vast majority of public water and sewer providers across the country 32
92-similar in size and structure to the Commission have the authority to establish rates and 33
93-charges by customer classes; and 34
94- HOUSE BILL 1168 3
89+ [(b)] (C) [The] EACH service rate: 28
9590
91+ (1) shall be chargeable against all properties IN A CLASS for a connection 29
92+with any line owned by the Commission; 30
9693
97- WHEREAS, Establishing rates and charges by class allows for a more equitable 1
98-recovery of costs from customers, based on the demands that they place on the water and 2
99-sewer systems; and 3
94+ (2) shall be uniform FOR THE CLASS throughout the sanitary district; and 31
10095
101- WHEREAS, The au thority of the Commission to establish rates or charges by 4
102-customer classes includes establishing classes by meter size and also the ability to establish 5
103-a surcharge on residential customers in the summer to encourage water conservation; and 6
104-
105- WHEREAS, The American Water Works Association’s Manual of Practice M–1 7
106-“Principles of Water Rates, Fees and Charges, Seventh Edition” and the Water 8
107-Environment Federation’s Manual of Practice No. 27 “Financing and Charges for 9
108-Wastewater Systems”, the industry’s best practices manuals, include multiple examples of 10
109-class–based rates, fees, and charges; now, therefore, 11
110-
111- SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 12
112-That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 13
113-
114-Article – Public Utilities 14
115-
116-25–501. 15
117-
118- (a) IN THIS SECTION, “CLASS” INCLUDES A CLASS BAS ED ON THE SIZE OF 16
119-THE METER ON THE WAT ER CONNECTION LEADIN G TO A PROPERTY . 17
120-
121- (B) The Commission shall set [a service rate] ONE OR MORE SERVICE RATES 18
122-that the Commission considers necessary to provide funds for: 19
123-
124- (1) maintaining, repairing, and operating its water supply and sewer 20
125-systems, including the overhead expense and depreciation allowance; and 21
126-
127- (2) making any payments to the District of Columbia, as specified in this 22
128-title. 23
129-
130- [(b)] (C) [The] EACH service rate: 24
131-
132- (1) shall be chargeable against all properties IN A CLASS for a connection 25
133-with any line owned by the Commission; 26
134-
135- (2) shall be uniform FOR THE CLASS throughout the sanitary district; and 27
136-
137- (3) may be changed as necessary. 28
138-
139- (D) THE COMMISSION MAY ESTABLI SH ONE OR MORE CUSTO MER CLASSES 29
140-FOR ANY SERVICE RATE OR CHARGE ESTABLISHE D UNDER THIS TITLE . 30
141-
142-25–502. 31 4 HOUSE BILL 1168
96+ (3) may be changed as necessary. 32 HOUSE BILL 1168 3
14397
14498
14599
146- (a) (1) Except as provided in this subtitle, [the] EACH service rate for water 1
147-shall consist of: 2
100+ (D) THE COMMISSION MAY ESTABLISH ONE OR MORE CUSTOMER CLA SSES 1
101+FOR ANY SERVICE RATE OR CHARGE ESTABLISHE D UNDER THIS TITLE . 2
148102
149- (i) a minimum or a ready to serve charge, WHICH MAY INCLUDE 3
150-AN INFRASTRUCTURE IN VESTMENT COMPONENT ; and 4
103+25–502. 3
151104
152- (ii) a charge for water used. 5
105+ (a) (1) Except as provided in this subtitle, [the] EACH service rate for water 4
106+shall consist of: 5
153107
154- (2) (I) The minimum or ready to serve charge [shall] MAY be based on 6
155-the size of the meter on the water connection leading to [the] A property OR ON OTHER 7
156-CRITERIA DETERMINED IN ACCORD ANCE WITH REGULATION S THE COMMISSION 8
157-ADOPTS. 9
108+ (i) a minimum or a ready to serve charge, WHICH MAY INCLUDE 6
109+AN INFRASTRUCTURE IN VESTMENT COMPONENT ; and 7
158110
159- (II) THE COMMISSION MAY CREATE CUSTOMER CLASSES 10
160-WITHIN ANY METER SIZ E FOR THE MINIMUM OR READY TO SERVE CHARG E. 11
111+ (ii) a charge for water used. 8
112+
113+ (2) The minimum or ready to serve charge [shall] MAY be based on the size 9
114+of the meter on the water connection leading to [the] A property OR ON OTHE R CRITERIA 10
115+DETERMINED IN ACCORD ANCE WITH REGULATION S THE COMMISSION ADOPTS . 11
161116
162117 (3) The charge for water used shall be based on the amount of water 12
163118 passing the meter during the period between the last two readings. 13
164119
165120 (4) The meter shall be placed on each water connection by and at the 14
166121 expense of the Commission. 15
167122
168123 SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 16
169124 1, 2025. 17
170125
171-
172-
173-
174-Approved:
175-________________________________________________________________________________
176- Governor.
177-________________________________________________________________________________
178- Speaker of the House of Delegates.
179-________________________________________________________________________________
180- President of the Senate.