Legislative Council staff and the sponsor discussed a bill intended to streamline permitting for connections to public water and sewer systems, with the goal of speeding construction and lowering costs for housing and development projects. The staff said the proposal flows from an Act 147 study that examined delegation and efficiency.

"The state has a total water supply and wastewater system permit," Michael Grady of the Office of Legislative Council said in his walkthrough, explaining that connections are a component of that statewide permitting structure and that municipal permitting and state permitting currently overlap in many cases.

Under the proposal, the secretary could delegate to a municipality the authority to conduct the technical review for new or modified connections provided the municipality demonstrates adequate staff or contracted technical capacity, that the service mains are owned or controlled by the municipality, and that the municipality meets written delegation requirements from the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR). The delegation would not cover large indirect discharges over 6,500 gallons per day, staff said.

The bill also contemplates a streamlined fee for connections under the municipal delegation path: Legislative Council read language indicating that a municipal-permitted connection, under this streamlined route, would still be a permit under ANR and would be assessed a $500 ANR fee. Committee members pressed whether municipalities would be compensated for review work and raised concerns about duplicative permitting and municipal workload.

Committee members logged the bill for further testimony from ANR, municipal staff, and representatives of rural water associations; staff noted support from some rural water groups but acknowledged remaining technical questions on capacity and fee allocation.

Next steps: Committee staff will solicit testimony from ANR and municipal representatives and revisit the bill with additional detail on fees, municipal compensation, and delegation criteria.