WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER, Governor

Ch. 196

services. The five-year plans shall give due consideration to the need for water supply and
wastewater purification projects included in the approved county water and sewerage
plans adopted in compliance with Title 9 of the Environment Article. The five-year plans
shall designate the existing facilities or portions that are to be transferred to the
jurisdiction of the Service; improvements to and extension of existing facilities;
construction of new water supply, wastewater purification, and solid waste disposal
projects; proposed methods of acquisition, ownership, and operation by the Service or by
affected municipalities and persons, or both together with anticipated expenditures,
sources of revenue, and charges for projects to be levied against municipalities and
persons; and related matters the Service finds necessary or convenient.

(e)     The Service may adopt a five-year plan only after at least one public hearing
in each of the counties affected. At least 60 days before a hearing, the proposed five-year
plan shall be submitted for review and comment to each county, [and person against
whom charges will be levied if the plan is adopted,] to each municipality which owns or
operates a public facility affected by the plan, and to the Secretaries of Natural Resources
and the Environment and the Director of Planning. A five-year plan can be adopted by
the Service only after it is submitted to and approved by resolution of the governing body
of each county and after consultation with the governing body of each municipality which
owns or operates a public facility affected by the plan, or if the plan is not approved by
each of the appropriate governing bodies within 120 days following submission of the plan
for approval of the governing bodies, after the plan is approved by joint resolution of the
General Assembly. If a joint resolution of the General Assembly approving a five-year
plan contains any amendments or modifications to the plan, those amendments and
modifications repeal the plan to the extent of any inconsistency. The provisions of this
subtitle do not authorize the Service to take any action which would be inconsistent with
the amendments or modifications without the approval of the governing body of each
county and after consultation with the governing body of each municipality which owns or
operates a public facility included within the plan.

(f)      Upon adoption of a five-year plan by the Service, service districts shall be
established in the manner and following the schedule set forth in the plan. Immediately
thereafter, the Service shall proceed with the acquisition, extension, and construction of
facilities set forth in the plan and assume jurisdiction over and provide for the
maintenance and operation of water supply, wastewater purification and solid waste
disposal projects included in the plan, for those projects within the service region and
districts placed under the jurisdiction of the Service by the plan.

(g)     The Service shall enter into contracts with municipalities and persons within a
service district and stipulate the projects to be provided, the amount of compensation for
acquiring existing projects, the charges to be apportioned to the municipalities and
persons, the manner of repaying the Service for these charges, and the effective date or
dates the Service will initiate the provision of projects.

(h) Existing projects providing water supply, wastewater purification and solid
waste disposal services, including all rights, easements, laboratory facilities, vehicles,
records and all other property, equipment, and furnishings necessary and normally
associated with the operation of the facility, shall be transferred to the sole ownership of
the Service at the time designated in the five-year plan. Compensation for existing

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