§ 46-15.6-2. Legislative findings, intent, and objectives. (a) The general assembly hereby recognizes and declares that:

(1) Water is vital to life and comprises an invaluable natural resource which is not to be abused by any segment of the state's population or its economy. It is the policy of this state to restore, enhance, and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of its waters to protect health.

(2) The waters of this state are a critical renewable resource which must be protected to insure the availability of safe and potable drinking water for present and future needs.

(3) It is a paramount policy of the state to protect the purity of present and future drinking water supplies by protecting the infrastructure of potable water, including treatment plants, pipes, valves, pumping stations, storage facilities, interconnections, and water mains.

(4) It is imperative to provide a uniform and valid mechanism to base assistance for the construction, repair, protection, and/or improvement of potable water infrastructure replacement.

(5) The decay of infrastructure and related construction due to deterioration or functional obsolescence can threaten the quality of supplies and, therefore, can endanger public health; thus it is necessary to take immediate and continuing steps to repair and replace the infrastructure used to deliver water supplies in order to restore water system facilities.

(6) Failure to replace the infrastructure used to deliver water supplies may cause and probably will continue to degrade the quality of public drinking water.

(7) Protection of water quality is necessary from the collection source through the point of delivery to the ultimate consumer.

(8) The potable threat to public health caused by unsafe drinking water far outweighs the economic costs for the construction of the potable water infrastructure replacement.

(b) That the objectives of this chapter are:

(1) To establish a funding mechanism to insure that infrastructure replacement programs are carried out by each municipality and by each municipal department, agency, district, authority, or other entity engaged in or authorized to engage in the supply, treatment, transmission, or distribution of drinking water, and

(2) That the plans and their execution achieve and insure that the investment of the public in such facilities is not eroded.

History of Section. (P.L. 1993, ch. 312, § 1; P.L. 1993, ch. 438, § 1; P.L. 2007, ch. 340, § 53.)