5100665 District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority - Amend Chapter 1 – ROW and PILOT Fees; and Chapter 41 - Rates for Water and Sewer Service - of Title 21

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY

 

NOTICE OF FINAL RULEMAKING

 

The Board of Directors (Board) of the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water), pursuant to the authority set forth in Sections 203(3) and (11) and 216 of the Water and Sewer Authority Establishment and Department of Public Works Reorganization Act of 1996, effective April 18, 1996 (D.C. Law 11-111, §§ 203(3), (11) and 216; D.C. Official Code §§ 34-2202.03(3) and (11) (2012 Repl.) and D.C. Official Code § 34-2202.16 (2012 Repl.)); Section 6(a) of the District of Columbia Administrative Procedure Act, approved October 21, 1968 (82 Stat. 1206; D.C. Official Code § 2-505(a) (2012 Repl.)); and in accordance with Chapter 40 (Retail Ratemaking), of Title 21 (Water and Sanitation), of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR), hereby gives notice that at its regularly scheduled meeting on September 4, 2014, took final action through adoption of Board Resolution #14-58 to amend Section 112 (Fees), of Chapter 1 (Water Supply), and Sections 4100 (Rates for Water Service), and 4101 (Rates for Sewer Service), of Chapter 41, (Retail Water and Sewer Rates), of Title 21 (Water and Sanitation) of the DCMR.

 

Pursuant to Board Resolutions #13-120, DC Water’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published in the D.C. Register on January 17, 2014 at 61 DCR 438.  Further, a notice of public hearing was published in the D.C. Register on April 4, 2014 at 61 DCR 3543, and a public hearing was held on May 14, 2014.  The record of the public hearing remained open until June 14, 2014, to receive written comments on the proposed rulemaking.  DC Water also conducted eight (8) town hall meetings from April 1, 2014 through April 30, 2014 to receive comments on the proposed rulemaking.  On July 22, 2014 and September 3, 2014, the Retail Water and Sewer Rates Committee met to consider the comments offered at the May 14, 2014 public hearing and during the public comment period and recommendations from the DC Water General Manager.

 

On September 4, 2014, the Board, through Resolution #14-58, after consideration of all comments received and the report of the Retail Water and Sewer Rates Committee, voted to amend the DCMR to: increase the retail metered water service rates from $3.61 per One Hundred Cubic Feet of water used to $3.88 per One Hundred Cubic Feet of water used; increase the retail sewer service rates from $4.41 per One Hundred Cubic Feet of water used to $4.74; increase the annual Clean Rivers Impervious Surface Area Charge from $142.20 to $201.00 per Equivalent Residential Unit; maintain the Right of Way Occupancy Fee Pass Through Charge at $0.17 per One Hundred Cubic Feet of water used; and decrease the PILOT Fee from $0.53 per One Hundred Cubic Feet of water used to $0.46 per One Hundred Cubic Feet of water used.

 

No changes were made to the substance of the proposed regulations.

 

These rules will become effective October 1, 2014.

 

Section 112, FEES, of Chapter 1, WATER SUPPLY, of Title 21, WATER AND SANITATION, of the DCMR is amended as follows:

 

Subsection 112.8 is amended to read as follows:

 

112.8               Effective October 1, 2014, the District of Columbia Right of Way Occupancy Fee Pass Through Charge and the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) Fee, shall be decreased from seventy cents ($0.70) for each one hundred cubic feet (1 Ccf) (or the equivalent of ninety-three cents ($0.93) for each one thousand gallons (1,000 gals.) (one hundred cubic feet (1 Ccf) equals seven hundred forty-eight and five hundredths gallons (748.05 gals.)) to sixty-three cents ($0.63) for each one hundred cubic feet (1 Ccf) (or the equivalent of eighty-four cents ($0.84) for each one thousand gallons (1,000 gals.)) of water used, divided as follows:

 

(a)        District of Columbia Right of Way Fee, assessed to recover the cost of fees charged by the District of Columbia to D.C. Water and Sewer Authority for use of District of Columbia public space and rights of way shall be:

 

(1)        Residential Customers: seventeen cents ($0.17) per Ccf (or the equivalent of twenty-two cents ($0.22) per one thousand gallons (1,000 gals.)) of water used;

 

(2)        Multi-Family Customers: seventeen cents ($0.17) per Ccf (or the equivalent of twenty-two cents ($0.22) per one thousand gallons (1,000 gals.)) of water used; and

 

(3)        Non-Residential Customers: seventeen cents ($0.17) per Ccf (or the equivalent of twenty-two cents ($0.22) per one thousand gallons (1,000 gals.)) of water used; and

 

(b)        Payment in Lieu of Taxes to the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) of the District of Columbia, assessed to cover the amount which D.C. Water and Sewer Authority pays each fiscal year to the District of Columbia, consistent with D.C. Water and Sewer Authority's enabling statute for public goods and services received from the District of Columbia: A decrease from fifty-three cents ($0.53) per Ccf (or the equivalent of seventy-one cents ($0.71) per one thousand gallons (1,000 gals.)) of water used to:

 

(1)        Residential Customers: forty-six cents ($0.46) per Ccf (or the equivalent of sixty-two cents ($0.62) per one thousand gallons (1,000 gals.)) of water used;

 

(2)        Multi-Family Customers: forty-six cents ($0.46) per Ccf (or the equivalent of sixty-two cents ($0.62) per one thousand gallons (1,000 gals.)) of water used; and

 

(3)        Non-Residential Customers: forty-six cents ($0.46) per Ccf (or the equivalent of sixty-two cents ($0.62) per one thousand gallons (1,000 gals.)) of water used.

 

Section 4100, RATES FOR SEWER SERVICE, of Chapter 41, RETAIL WATER AND SEWER RATES, of Title 21, WATER AND SANITATION, of the DCMR is amended as follows:

 

Subsection 4100.3 is amended to read as follows:

 

4100                RATES FOR WATER SERVICE

 

4100.3             Effective October 1, 2014, the rate for retail metered water service shall be increased from three dollars and sixty-one cents ($3.61) for each one hundred cubic feet (1 Ccf) (or the equivalent of four dollars and eighty-three cents ($4.83) for each one thousand gallons (1,000 gals.) (one hundred cubic feet (1 Ccf) equals seven hundred forty-eight and five hundredths gallons (748.05 gals.)) of water used to:

 

(a)        Residential Customers: three dollars and eighty-eight cents ($3.88) per Ccf (or the equivalent of five dollars and nineteen cents ($5.19) for each one thousand gallons (1,000 gals.)) of water used;

 

(b)        Multi-Family Customers: three dollars and eighty-eight cents ($3.88) per Ccf (or the equivalent of five dollars and nineteen cents ($5.19) for each one thousand gallons (1,000 gals.)) of water used; and

 

(c)        Non-Residential Customers: three dollars and eighty-eight cents ($3.88) per Ccf (or the equivalent of five dollars and nineteen cents ($5.19) for each one thousand gallons (1,000 gals.)) of water used.

 

Section 4101, RATES FOR SEWER SERVICE, of Chapter 41, RETAIL WATER AND SEWER RATES, of Title 21, WATER AND SANITATION, of the DCMR is amended as follows:

 

Subsection 4101.1 is amended to read as follows:

 

4101                RATES FOR SEWER SERVICE

 

4101.1             Effective October 1, 2014, the rates for sanitary sewer service shall be:

 

(a)        The retail sanitary sewer service rate shall be increased from four dollars and forty-one cents ($4.41) for each one hundred cubic feet (1 Ccf) (or five dollars and eighty-nine cents ($5.89) for each one thousand gallons (1,000 gals.) (one hundred cubic feet (1 Ccf) equals seven hundred forty-eight and five hundredths gallons (748.05 gals.)) of water used to:

 

(1)        Residential Customers: four dollars and seventy-four cents ($4.74) per Ccf (or the equivalent of six dollars and thirty-three cents ($6.33) for each one thousand gallons (1,000 gals.)) of water used;

 

(2)        Multi-Family Customers: four dollars and seventy-four cents ($4.74) per Ccf (or the equivalent of six dollars and thirty-three cents ($6.33) for each one thousand gallons (1,000 gals.)) of water used; and

 

(3)        Non-Residential Customers: four dollars and seventy-four cents ($4.74) per Ccf (or the equivalent of six dollars and thirty-three cents ($6.33) for each one thousand gallons (1,000 gals.)) of water used; and

 

(b)        The annual Clean Rivers Impervious Surface Area Charge (IAC) shall be increased from one hundred forty-two dollars and twenty cents ($142.20), billed monthly at eleven dollars and eighty-five cents ($11.85), per Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU), to two hundred one dollars and zero cents ($201.00) per ERU, billed monthly as follows:

 

(1)        Residential Customers: sixteen dollars and seventy-five cents ($16.75) per month for each ERU;

 

(2)        Multi-Family Customers: sixteen dollars and seventy-five cents ($16.75) per month for each ERU; and

 

(3)        Non-Residential Customers: sixteen dollars and seventy-five cents ($16.75) per month for each ERU.