Effective 28 Aug 2007

247.172. Written territorial agreements for sale and distribution of water — commission may designate boundaries — approval of commission, hearings — rights of suppliers not a party to agreement — complaints, hearings, authority of commission — fees. — 1. Competition to sell and distribute water, as between and among public water supply districts, water corporations subject to public service commission jurisdiction, and municipally owned utilities may be displaced by written territorial agreements, but only to the extent hereinafter provided for in this section.

2. Such territorial agreements shall specifically designate the boundaries of the water service area of each water supplier subject to the agreement, any and all powers granted to a public water supply district by a municipality, pursuant to the agreement, to operate within the corporate boundaries of that municipality, notwithstanding the provisions of sections 247.010 to 247.670 to the contrary, and any and all powers granted to a municipally owned utility, pursuant to the agreement, to operate in areas beyond the corporate municipal boundaries of its municipality.

3. Where the parties cannot agree upon the boundaries of the water service areas that are to be set forth in the agreement, they may, by mutual consent of all parties involved, petition the public service commission to designate the boundaries of the water service areas to be served by each party and such designations by the commission shall be binding on all such parties. Petitions shall be made pursuant to the rules and regulations of the commission governing applications for certificates of public convenience and necessity and the commission shall hold evidentiary hearings on all petitions so received as required in subsection 5 of this section. The commission shall base its final determination regarding such petitions upon a finding that the commission's designation of water service areas is in the public interest.

4. Before becoming effective, all territorial agreements entered into under the provisions of this section, including any subsequent amendments to such agreements, or the transfer or assignment of the agreement or any rights or obligations of any party to an agreement, shall receive the approval of the public service commission by report and order. Applications for commission approval shall be made and notice of such filing shall be given to other water suppliers pursuant to the rules and regulations of the commission governing applications for certificates of public convenience and necessity. Unless otherwise ordered by the commission for good cause shown, the commission shall rule on such applications not later than one hundred twenty days after the application is properly filed with the secretary of the commission.

5. The commission shall hold evidentiary hearings to determine whether such territorial agreements should be approved or disapproved, except that in those instances where the matter is resolved by a stipulation and agreement submitted to the commission by all the parties, such hearings may be waived by agreement of the parties. The commission may approve the application if it determines that approval of the territorial agreement in total is not detrimental to the public interest. Review of commission decisions under this section shall be governed by the provisions of sections 386.500 to 386.550.

6. Commission approval of any territorial agreement entered into under the provisions of this section shall in no way affect or diminish the rights and duties of any water supplier not a party to the agreement to provide service within the boundaries designated in such territorial agreement. In the event any water corporation which is not a party to the territorial agreement and which is subject to the jurisdiction, control and regulation of the commission under chapters 386 and 393 has sought or hereafter seeks authorization from the commission to sell and distribute water or construct, operate and maintain water supply facilities within the boundaries designated in any such territorial agreement, the commission, in making its determination regarding such requested authority, shall give no consideration or weight to the existence of any such territorial agreement and any actual rendition of retail water supply services by any of the parties to such territorial agreement will not preclude the commission from granting the requested authority.

7. The commission shall have jurisdiction to entertain and hear complaints involving any commission-approved territorial agreement. Such complaints shall be brought and prosecuted in the same manner as other complaints before the commission. The commission shall hold an evidentiary hearing regarding such complaints, except that in those instances where the matter is resolved by a stipulation and agreement submitted to the commission by all the parties, such hearings may be waived by agreement of the parties. If the commission determines that a territorial agreement that is the subject of a complaint is no longer in the public interest, it shall have the authority to suspend or revoke the territorial agreement. If the commission determines that the territorial agreement is still in the public interest, such territorial agreement shall remain in full force and effect. Except as provided in this section, nothing in this section shall be construed as otherwise conferring upon the commission jurisdiction over the service, rates, financing, accounting, or management of any public water supply district or municipally owned utility, or to amend, modify, or otherwise limit the rights of public water supply districts to provide service as otherwise provided by law.

8. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 386.410, the commission shall by rule set a schedule of fees based upon its costs in reviewing proposed territorial agreements for approval or disapproval. Responsibility for payment of the fees shall be that of the parties to the proceeding as ordered by the commission in each case. The fees shall be paid to the director of revenue who shall remit such payments to the state treasurer. The state treasurer shall credit such payments to the public service commission fund, or its successor fund, as established in section 33.571. Nothing in this section shall be construed as otherwise conferring upon the commission jurisdiction over the service, rates, financing, accounting or management of any public water supply district or municipally owned utility and except as provided in this section, nothing shall affect the rights, privileges or duties of public water supply districts, water corporations subject to public service commission jurisdiction or municipally owned utilities.

9. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, the commission may hold a hearing regarding any application, complaint or petition filed under this section upon its own motion.

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(L. 1991 H.B. 299, A.L. 2007 S.B. 416)