PRINTER'S NO. 1944
No. 1569 Session of 2005
INTRODUCED BY CREIGHTON, CALTAGIRONE, CAWLEY, LEVDANSKY AND
DALEY, MAY 10, 2005
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY,
MAY 10, 2005
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of May 1, 1984 (P.L.206, No.43), entitled "An
2 act providing for safe drinking water; imposing powers and
3 duties on the Department of Environmental Resources in
4 relation thereto; and appropriating certain funds," providing
5 for water withdrawal fee.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. The act of May 1, 1984 (P.L.206, No.43), known as
9 the Pennsylvania Safe Drinking Water Act, is amended by adding a
10 section to read:
11 Section 14.1. Water withdrawal fee.
12 (a) Establishment.--A municipality may enact by local
13 ordinance a fee not to exceed $.05 per gallon of water withdrawn
14 from a water supply source within the geographical boundary of
15 the municipality for the purpose of commercial bottling as a
16 beverage. This fee shall be assessed at the time of withdrawal.
17 Moneys collected pursuant to this section shall be remitted to
18 the municipality from which the water was extracted.
19 (b) Filing of return.--The fee established by this section
1 shall be remitted to the municipality. Each bottled water system
2 registered shall, within 30 days of the end of the preceding
3 calendar year, render a return to the municipality on forms
4 prescribed and furnished by the municipality. The return shall
5 show the total number of gallons withdrawn during the previous
6 calendar year, together with such other information as the
7 municipality may require for the reasonable administration of
8 this section.
9 (c) Penalty for noncompliance.--
10 (1) Failure to file the return by the date required
11 under subsection (b) shall result in the assessment of a 10%
12 penalty, which shall be added to the amount of fees due for
13 that calendar year. The penalty shall immediately accrue, and
14 thereafter the overdue fees and the penalty shall bear
15 interest at the rate established by the Internal Revenue
16 Service effective on the first business day of the calendar
17 year.
18 (2) The municipality may waive all or any portion of the
19 penalty and interest for good cause.
20 (3) Any person who is an individual and violates any
21 provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of
22 the third degree. Otherwise the violation shall be graded as
23 a felony of the third degree.
24 (d) Nonapplicability.--The fee established by this section
25 shall not apply to:
26 (1) Water withdrawn from public water supplies owned by
27 a municipality or private for-profit water company supplying
28 water for public use.
29 (2) Water withdrawn solely for agricultural use.
30 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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