Relating to Baldwin County; to authorize and provide for a technical advisory committee to advise the Baldwin County Commission regarding the establishment of minimum standards for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of certain wastewater systems operating within the unincorporated areas of Baldwin County.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:

Section 1. For the purposes of this act, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(1) WASTEWATER SYSTEM. A system of pipes, lines, meters, pumps, equipment and facilities, all or part of which are located in the unincorporated areas of Baldwin County and which are owned or operated by a wastewater utility, as defined herein, for the collection, treatment, and disposal of wastewater from homes, schools, businesses, and other entities in which solids, sewerage, nonhydrocarbon greases, and oils are collected for treatment or where wastewater is collected for disposal. Individual septic tank systems, decentralized or cluster facilities as defined by the general law and all portable toilets are expressly excluded from the definition of the term "wastewater system."

(2) WASTEWATER UTILITY. The owner or operating entity of a wastewater system, whether privately owned or publicly owned, including privately owned wastewater systems, municipally owned wastewater systems, and wastewater systems owned by or through boards or other entities established by municipal corporations or as otherwise provided by state law.

(3) WASTEWATER. Solids, sewerage, nonhydrocarbon greases, and oils.

Section 2. (a) There is hereby created the Baldwin County Wastewater Utility Technical Advisory Committee, hereinafter referred to as the "technical advisory committee," which shall advise the county commission on the development of minimum engineering and construction standards for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of wastewater systems within the unincorporated areas of Baldwin County, including standards for the construction of gravity, low-pressure, or other types of collection systems. In performing its responsibility, the technical advisory committees shall encourage compatibility in the construction of wastewater systems taking into account engineering feasibility and economy of operations to consumers and the wastewater utility. The technical advisory committee shall consist of seven voting members as follows: the County Engineer, the County Planning Department Director, the Administrator of the County Health Department, or their respective designees; a representative from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management; a registered professional engineer with sanitary engineering experience appointed by the county commission, who is not directly or indirectly associated with the county commission or a wastewater utility regulated by this act; one member who is an employee from a municipal utility system within Baldwin County and one member who is a member of the Baldwin County Mayors' Association, or their designees, with both members being appointed by the Baldwin County Mayors' Association. The members shall serve for a term of 3 years and shall be eligible for reappointment at the discretion of the county commission. The county commission may remove a member from the technical advisory committee for a violation of the committee's bylaws or for cause in accordance with the procedures adopted by the county commission. All meetings of the technical advisory committee shall be open to the public and notice of any meeting shall be given not less than 10 days before the meeting, except in cases of emergencies when reasonable notice shall be given to the public. The technical advisory committee may be compensated in a manner and to the extent provided by the county commission.

(b) The uniform minimum standards and specifications proposed by the technical advisory committee shall include at least the following: (1) the requirement for submission of plans and specifications, sealed by a professional engineer registered in the State of Alabama, of a proposed expansion or construction of a wastewater system within the unincorporated areas of Baldwin County prior to the issuance of any permits; (2) the requirement for as-built drawings of the construction, sealed by a professional engineer registered in the State of Alabama; (3) the requirement that wastewater utilities provide information regarding treatment capacity; and (4) an operations and maintenance plan for the wastewater system, including a plan for handling emergencies.

Section 3. This act shall become effective on the first day of the third month following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.