§ 13-29-2-1 — Ratification; text of compact

Indiana § 13-29-2-1

• Jurisdiction: Indiana
• Art. 29: INTERSTATE COMPACTS
• Ch. 2: Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Compact

Text

The following Ohio River Valley Water
Sanitation Compact, which has been negotiated by representatives of
the states of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and West Virginia, is hereby approved,
ratified, adopted, enacted into law, and entered into by the state of
Indiana as a party thereto and signatory state, namely:
Whereas, A substantial part of the territory of each of the signatory
states is situated within the drainage basin of the Ohio river; and
Whereas, The rapid increase in the population of the various
metropolitan areas situated within the Ohio drainage basin, and the
growth in industrial activity within that area, have resulted in recent
years in an increasingly serious pollution of the waters and streams
within the said drainage basin, constituting a grave menace to the
health, welfare, and recreational facilities of the people living in such
basin, and occasioning great economic loss; and
Whereas, The control of future pollution and the abatement of
existing pollution in the waters of said basin are of prime importance
to the people thereof, and can best be accomplished through the
cooperation of the states situated therein, by and through a joint or
common agency;
Now Therefore, The states of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, New York,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and West Virginia do hereby covenant
and agree as follows:
Article 1.
Each of the signatory states pledges to each of the other signatory
states faithful cooperation in the control of future pollution in and
abatement of existing pollution from the rivers, streams, and waters in
the Ohio river basin which flow through, into, or border upon any of
such signatory states, and in order to effect such object, agrees to enact
any necessary legislation to enable each such state to place and
maintain the waters of said basin in a satisfactory sanitary condition,
available for safe and satisfactory use as public and industrial water
supplies after reasonable treatment, suitable for recreational usage,
capable of maintaining fish and other aquatic life, free from unsightly
or malodorous nuisances due to floating solids or sludge deposits, and
adaptable to such other uses as may be legitimate.
Article 2.
The signatory states hereby create a district to be known as the
"Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation District", hereinafter called the
district, which shall embrace all territory within the signatory states, the
water in which flows ultimately into the Ohio river, or its tributaries.
Article 3.
The signatory states hereby create the "Ohio River Valley Water
Sanitation Commission", hereinafter called the commission, which
shall be a body corporate, with the powers and duties set forth herein,
and such additional powers as may be conferred upon it by subsequent
action of the respective legislatures of the signatory states or by act or
acts of the congress of the United States.
Article 4.
The commission shall consist of three (3) commissioners from each
state, each of whom shall be a citizen of the state from which he is
appointed, and three (3) commissioners representing the United States
government. The commissioners from each state shall be chosen in the
manner and for the terms provided by the laws of the state from which
they shall be appointed, and any commissioner may be removed or
suspended from office as provided by the laws of the state from which
he shall be appointed. The commissioners representing the United
States shall be appointed by the President of the United States, or in
such other manner as may be provided by congress. The commissioners
shall serve without compensation, but shall be paid their actual
expenses incurred in and incident to the performance of their duties;
but nothing herein shall prevent the appointment of an officer or
employee of any state or of the United States government.
Article 5.
The commission shall elect from its number a chairman and vice
chairman and shall appoint, and at its pleasure remove or discharge,
such officers and legal, clerical, expert, and other assistants as may be
required to carry the provisions of this compact into effect, and shall fix
and determine their duties, qualifications, and compensation. It shall
adopt a seal and suitable bylaws, and shall adopt and promulgate rules
and regulations for its management and control. It may establish and
maintain one (1) or more offices within the district for the transaction
of its business, and may meet at any time or place. One (1) or more
commissioners from a majority of the member states shall constitute a
quorum for the transaction of business.
The commission shall submit to the governor of each state, at such
time as he may request, a budget of its estimated expenditures for such
period as may be required by the laws of such state for presentation to
the legislature thereof.
The commission shall keep accurate books of account, showing in
full its receipts and disbursements, and said books of account shall be
open at any reasonable time to the inspection of such representatives
of the respective signatory states as may be duly constituted for that
purpose.
On or before the first day of December of each year, the commission
shall submit to the respective governors of the signatory states a full
and complete report of its activities for the preceding year.
The commission shall not incur any obligations of any kind prior to
the making of appropriations adequate to meet the same; nor shall the
commission pledge the credit of any of the signatory states, except by
and with the authority of the legislature thereof.
Article 6.
It is recognized by the signatory states that no single standard for the
treatment of sewage or industrial wastes is applicable in all parts of the
district due to such variable factors as size, flow, location, character,
self-purification, and usage of waters within the district. The guiding
principle of this compact shall be that pollution by sewage or industrial
wastes originating within a signatory state shall not injuriously affect
the various uses of the interstate waters as hereinbefore defined.
All sewage from municipalities or other political subdivisions,
public or private institutions, or corporations, discharged or permitted
to flow into those portions of the Ohio River and its tributary waters
which form boundaries between or are contiguous to two (2) or more
signatory states, or which flow from one (1) signatory state into another
signatory state, shall be so treated, within a time reasonable for the
construction of the necessary works, as to provide for substantially
complete removal of settleable solids, and the removal of not less than
forty-five percent (45 percent) of the total suspended solids: Provided,
That in order to protect the public health or to preserve the waters for
other legitimate purposes, including those specified in Article 1, in
specific instances such higher degree of treatment shall be used as may
be determined to be necessary by the commission after investigation,
due notice, and hearing.
All industrial wastes discharged or permitted to flow into the
aforesaid waters shall be modified or treated, within a time reasonable
for the construction of the necessary works, in order to protect the
public health or to preserve the waters for other legitimate purposes,
including those specified in Article 1, to such degree as may be
determined to be necessary by the commission after investigation, due
notice, and hearing.
All sewage or industrial wastes discharged or permitted to flow into
tributaries of the aforesaid waters situated wholly within one (1) state
shall be treated to that extent, if any, which may be necessary to
maintain such waters in a sanitary and satisfactory condition at least
equal to the condition of the waters of the interstate stream immediately
above the confluence.
The commission is hereby authorized to adopt, prescribe, and
promulgate rules, regulations, and standards for administering and
enforcing the provisions of this article.
Article 7.
Nothing in this compact shall be construed to limit the powers of
any signatory state, or to repeal or prevent the enactment of any
legislation or the enforcement of any requirement by any signatory
state, imposing additional conditions and restrictions to further lessen
or prevent the pollution of waters within its jurisdiction.
Article 8.
The commission shall conduct a survey of the territory included
within the district, shall study the pollution problems of the district and
shall make a comprehensive report for the prevention or reduction of
stream pollution therein. In preparing such report, the commission shall
confer with any national or regional planning body which may be
established, and any department of the federal government authorized
to deal with matters relating to the pollution problems of the district.
The commission shall draft and recommend to the governors of the
various signatory states uniform legislation dealing with the pollution
of rivers, streams, and waters and other pollution problems within the
district. The commission shall consult with and advise the various
states, communities, municipalities, corporations, persons, or other
entities with regard to particular problems connected with the pollution
of waters, particularly with regard to the construction of plants for the
disposal of sewage, industrial, and other waste. The commission shall,
more than one (1) month prior to any regular meeting of the legislature
of any state which is a party thereto, present to the governor of the state
its recommendations relating to enactments to be made by any
legislature in furthering the intents and purposes of his compact.
Article 9.
The commission may from time to time, after investigation and after
a hearing, issue an order or orders upon any municipality, corporation,
person, or other entity discharging sewage or industrial waste into the
Ohio river or any other river, stream, or water, any part of which
constitutes any part of the boundary line between any two (2) or more
of the signatory states, or into any stream any part of which flows from
any portion of one (1) signatory state through any portion of another
signatory state. Any such order or orders may prescribe the date on or
before which such discharge shall be wholly or partially discontinued,
modified, or treated or otherwise disposed of. The commission shall
give reasonable notice of the time and place of the hearing to the
municipality, corporation, or other entity against which such order is
proposed. No such order shall go into effect unless and until it receives
the assent of at least a majority of the commissioners from each of not
less than a majority of the signatory states; and no such order upon a
municipality, corporation, person, or entity in any state shall go into
effect unless and until it receives the assent of not less than a majority
of the commissioners from such state.
It shall be the duty of the municipality, corporation, person, or other
entity to comply with any such order issued against it or him by the
commission and any court of general jurisdiction or any United States
district court in any of the signatory states shall have the jurisdiction,
by mandamus, injunction, specific performance, or other form of
remedy, to enforce any such order against any municipality,
corporation, or other entity domiciled or located within such state or
whose discharge of the waste takes place within or adjoining such state,
or against any employee, department, or subdivision of such
municipality, corporation, person, or other entity: Provided, however,
such court may review the order and affirm, reverse, or modify the
same upon any of the grounds customarily applicable in proceedings
for court review of administrative decisions. The commission or, at its
request, the attorney general or other law enforcing official, shall have
power to institute in such court any action for the enforcement of such
order.
Article 10.
The signatory states agree to appropriate for the salaries, office, and
other administrative expenses, their proper proportion of the annual
budget as determined by the commission and approved by the
governors of the signatory states, one-half (1/2) of such amount to be
prorated among the several states in proportion to their population
within the district at the last preceding federal census, the other half to
be prorated in proportion to their land area within the district.
Article 11.
This compact shall become effective upon ratification by the
legislatures of a majority of the states located within the district and
upon approval by the Congress of the United States; and shall become
effective as to any additional states signing thereafter at the time of
such signing.
In Witness Whereof, The various signatory states have executed this
compact through their respective compact commissioners.
The state of Indiana hereby consents that the state of Virginia may
become a party to and a signatory state of the aforesaid compact as
fully as if it had been expressly named herein.
[Pre-1996 Recodification Citation: 13-5-5-1.]

Legislative History

As added by P.L.1-1996, SEC.19. Amended by P.L.109-2015, SEC.32.