Senate committee advances bill requiring service continuation and allowing taps to existing gravity sewer lines

The Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee on April 9 adopted a committee amendment and recommended Senate Bill 11-38 for passage after a floor of questions about municipal authority and technical details.

Sponsor Senator London Taylor introduced the measure and its amendment, saying, "This bill does 2 things. 1, it says that, in a municipality, that has operated a sewage system outside of its corporate limits for more than 25 years, that it can't stop, again, it can't stop the sewage service, without, a study that shows that they lacked the capacity to do so. And the second thing, and probably more importantly, is, this provides for a land owner who has existing gravity line, gravity sewer line on their property, can request connection to that service and, they'd be required to allow connection." The committee adopted Finance Amendment 1 before advancing the bill.

The bill, as explained in committee, would: prevent a municipality from arbitrarily discontinuing sewer service it currently provides outside its corporate limits if the utility has sufficient capacity; allow a landowner who already has a gravity sewer line on their property to request and be allowed to connect to the municipal system; and require that determinations about capacity be supported by a study.

Members asked how many municipalities operate utility districts and raised Shelby County and Memphis Light, Gas and Water as the issue prompting the bill. Taylor said Memphis continues to serve customers connected outside its corporate limits but is not expanding service, and that the bill does not require expansion. Committee members clarified that the provision applies statewide and that the tap would be allowed only when capacity exists.

Committee members also pressed technical and safety questions about tapping into gravity versus force mains and asked who would bear tap costs. Taylor said the landowner or applicant would pay sewer tap fees. Members discussed which agency should assess capacity; one senator suggested Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) would be better placed than the agency name that had been in earlier drafts. Taylor said the amendment removed that specific agency name and instead required a study to support capacity determinations to be presented to the Tennessee board of utility regulation.

Taylor and other members clarified ownership and rights: the utility retains ownership of the sewer infrastructure and associated right-of-way, and the bill would not change that. The sponsor said the measure is intended only to prevent municipalities from cutting off existing customers outside city limits, not to compel expansion of sewer lines into unincorporated territory.

Following discussion the committee adopted the finance amendment and recommended the bill, as amended, for passage to the committee on the calendar.