To amend sections 163.02, 163.09, 163.12, 163.21, 307.08, 307.79, 307.99, 719.01, 3709.41, 6117.012, 6117.39, and 6119.11 and to enact sections 6101.181 and 6115.221 of the Revised Code to allow a county, municipal corporation, conservancy district, sanitary district, county sewer district, or regional water and sewer district to appropriate land without a prior jury assessment for the construction of sewers when the Director of Environmental Protection or a local board of health finds that unsanitary conditions compel the immediate construction of the sewers for the protection of the public health and welfare; to revise the rulemaking authority of a board of county commissioners that adopts rules governing erosion control, sediment control, and water management; to establish a penalty for violation of those rules; to authorize a board of county commissioners that has established a county sewer district to adopt rules governing the prevention of sewer back-ups; and to require health district licensing councils to meet at least annually rather than quarterly.

Section 1. That sections 163.02, 163.09, 163.12, 163.21, 307.08, 307.79, 307.99, 719.01, 3709.41, 6117.012, 6117.39, and 6119.11 be amended and sections 6101.181 and 6115.221 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 163.02.  (A) Except as provided in divisions (B), (C), and (D), (E), (F), (G), and (H) of this section, all appropriations of real property shall be made pursuant to sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code.

(B) Subject to division (E)(I) of this section, the director of transportation may appropriate real property pursuant to sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code or as otherwise provided by law.

(C) Subject to division (I) of this section, a county may appropriate real property by procedures prescribed in Chapter 307. of the Revised Code.

(D) Subject to division (I) of this section, a municipal corporation may appropriate real property by procedures prescribed in Chapter 719. of the Revised Code.

(E) Subject to division (E)(I) of this section, a conservancy district may appropriate real property by procedures prescribed in Chapter 6101. of the Revised Code.

(D)(F) Subject to division (E)(I) of this section, a sanitary district may appropriate real property by procedures prescribed in Chapter 6115. of the Revised Code.

(E)(G) Subject to division (I) of this section, a county sewer district may appropriate real property by procedures prescribed in Chapter 6117. of the Revised Code.

(H) Subject to division (I) of this section, a regional water and sewer district may appropriate real property by procedures prescribed in Chapter 6119. of the Revised Code.

(I) When the director of transportation, a county, a municipal corporation, a conservancy district, or a sanitary district, a county sewer district, or a regional water and sewer district proceeds to appropriate real property other than under sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code, the proceedings are subject to division (B) of section 163.21 of the Revised Code.

(F)(J) Any instrument by which the state or an agency of the state acquires real property pursuant to this section shall identify the agency of the state that has the use and benefit of the real property as specified in section 5301.012 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 163.09.  (A) If no answer is filed pursuant to section 163.08 of the Revised Code, nor approval ordered by the court to a settlement of the rights of all necessary parties, the court, on motion of a public agency, shall declare the value of the property taken and the damages, if any, to be as set forth in any document properly filed with the clerk of courts by the public agency. In all other cases, the court shall fix a time, within twenty days from the last date that such answer could have been filed, for the assessment of compensation by a jury.

(B) When an answer is filed pursuant to section 163.08 of the Revised Code and any of the matters relating to the right to make the appropriation, the inability of the parties to agree, or the necessity for the appropriation are specifically denied in the manner provided in such section, the court shall set a day, not less than five or more than fifteen days from the date the answer was filed, to hear such questions. Upon such questions, the burden of proof is upon the owner. A resolution or ordinance of the governing or controlling body, council, or board of the agency declaring the necessity for the appropriation shall be prima-facie evidence of such necessity in the absence of proof showing an abuse of discretion by the agency in determining such necessity. If, as to any or all the property or other interests sought to be appropriated, the court determines the questions in favor of the agency, the court shall set a time for the assessment of compensation by the jury within twenty days from the date of the journalization of such determination. An order of the court in favor of the agency on any of such questions or on qualification under section 163.06 of the Revised Code, shall not be a final order for purposes of appeal. An order of the court against the agency on any of such questions, or on the question of qualification under section 163.06 of the Revised Code, shall be a final order for purposes of appeal. If a public agency has taken possession prior to such order and such order, after any appeal, is against the agency on any of such questions, the agency shall restore the property to the owner in its original condition or respond in damages, which may include the items set forth in division (A)(2) of section 163.21 of the Revised Code, recoverable by civil action, to which the state consents.

(C) When an answer is filed pursuant to section 163.08 of the Revised Code, and none of the matters set forth in division (B) of this section is specifically denied, the court shall fix a time within twenty days from the date the answer was filed for the assessment of compensation by a jury.

(D) If answers are filed pursuant to divisions (B) and (C) of this section, or an answer is filed on behalf of fewer than all the named owners, the court shall set the hearing or hearings at such times as are reasonable under all the circumstances, but in no event later than twenty days after the issues are joined as to all necessary parties or twenty days after rule therefor, whichever is earlier.

(E) The court, with the consent of the parties, may order two or more cases to be consolidated and tried together, but the rights of each owner to compensation, damages, or both shall be separately determined by the jury in its verdict.

(F) If an answer is filed under section 163.08 of the Revised Code with respect to the value of property appropriated under section 307.08, 719.01, 6101.181, 6115.221, 6117.39, or 6119.11 of the Revised Code as the result of a public exigency, the burden of proof is not on the owner, but is on the other party or parties to the appropriation.

Sec. 163.12.  (A) A view of the premises to be appropriated shall be ordered by the court when demanded by a party to the proceedings. The owners shall open and close the case. However, if the premises are to be appropriated under section 307.08, 719.01, 6101.181, 6115.221, 6117.39, or 6119.11 of the Revised Code as the result of a public exigency, the party or parties other than the owners shall open and close the case.

(B) The court may amend any defect or informality in proceedings under sections 163.01 to 163.22, inclusive, of the Revised Code. The court may cause new parties to be added, and direct such further notice to be given to a party in interest as the court deems proper.

(C) No part of the pleadings, other than the petition, shall be read or exhibited to the jury.

Sec. 163.21.  (A)(1) If it has not taken possession of property that is appropriated, an agency may abandon appropriation proceedings under sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code at any time after the proceedings are commenced, but not later than ninety days after the final determination of the cause.

(2) In all cases of abandonment as described in division (A)(1) of this section, the court shall enter a judgment against the agency for costs, including jury fees, and shall enter a judgment in favor of each affected owner, in amounts that the court considers to be just, for each of the following that the owner incurred:

(a) Witness fees, including expert witness fees;

(b) Attorney's fees;

(c) Other actual expenses.

(B)(1) Except as provided in division (B)(2) of this section, if in appropriation proceedings under sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code or, as authorized by divisions (B), (C), and (D), (E), (F), (G), and (H) of section 163.02 of the Revised Code, in appropriation proceedings under other sections of the Revised Code, the court determines that an agency is not entitled to appropriate particular property, the court shall enter both of the following:

(a) A judgment against the agency for costs, including jury fees;

(b) A judgment in favor of each affected owner, in amounts that the court considers to be just, for witness fees, including expert witness fees, for attorney's fees, and for other actual expenses that the owner incurred in connection with the proceedings.

(2) This division does not apply to a state agency that is subject to section 163.62 of the Revised Code in connection with condemnation proceedings.

Sec. 307.08.  When (A) Except as provided in division (B) of this section, when, in the opinion of the board of county commissioners, it is necessary to procure real estate, a right-of-way, or an easement for a courthouse, jail, or public offices, or for a bridge and the approaches thereto, or other structure, or public market place or market house, proceedings shall be had in accordance with sections 163.01 to 163.22, inclusive, of the Revised Code.

(B)(1) For the purposes of division (B) of this section, either of the following constitutes a public exigency:

(a) A finding by the director of environmental protection that a public health nuisance caused by an occasion of unavoidable urgency and suddenness due to unsanitary conditions compels the immediate construction of sewers for the protection of the public health and welfare;

(b) The issuance of an order by the board of health of a health district to mitigate or abate a public health nuisance caused by an occasion of unavoidable urgency and suddenness due to unsanitary conditions that compels the immediate construction of sewers for the protection of the public health and welfare.

(2) If the board of county commissioners is unable to purchase property for the purpose of the construction of sewers to mitigate or abate the public health nuisance that is the subject of a finding of the director or an order of the board of health, the board of county commissioners may adopt a resolution finding that it is necessary for the protection of the public health and welfare to appropriate property that the board of county commissioners considers needed for that purpose. The resolution shall contain a definite, accurate, and detailed description of the property and the name and place of residence, if known or with reasonable diligence ascertainable, of the owner of the property appropriated.

The board of county commissioners shall fix in the resolution what the board considers to be the value of the property appropriated, which shall be supported by an independent appraisal, together with damages to the residue, and shall deposit the value of it, together with the damages, with the probate court or the court of common pleas of the county in which the property, or a part of it, is situated. The power to appropriate property for the purposes of division (B) of this section shall be exercised in the manner provided in sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code.

(3) As used in division (B) of this section:

(a) "Board of health" means the board of health of a city or general health district or the authority having the duties of a board of health in any city as authorized by section 3709.05 of the Revised Code.

(b) "Health district" means a city or general health district as created by or under the authority of Chapter 3709. of the Revised Code.

Sec. 307.79.  The board of county commissioners may adopt, amend, and rescind rules establishing technically feasible and economically reasonable standards to achieve a level of management and conservation practices which that will abate wind or water erosion of the soil or abate the degradation of the waters of the state by soil sediment in conjunction with land grading, excavating, filling, or other soil disturbing activities on land used or being developed for nonfarm commercial, industrial, residential, or other nonfarm purposes, and establish criteria for determination of the acceptability of such management and conservation practices. The rules shall be designed to implement the applicable areawide waste treatment management plan prepared under section 208 of the "Federal Water Pollution Control Act," 86 Stat. 816 (1972), 33 U.S.C.A. 1228, as amended, and to implement phase II of the storm water program of the national pollutant discharge elimination system established in 40 C.F.R. Part 122. Such The rules shall not apply to lands being used in a strip mine operation as defined in section 1513.01 of the Revised Code or land being used in a surface mine operation as defined in section 1514.01 of the Revised Code.

The rules may require persons to file plans governing erosion control, sediment control, and water management plans incident thereto, before clearing, grading, excavating, filling, or otherwise wholly or partially disturbing five one or more contiguous acres of land owned by one person or operated as one development unit for the construction of nonfarm buildings, structures, utilities, recreational areas, or other similar nonfarm uses. Areas If the rules require plans to be filed, the rules shall do all of the following:

(A) Designate the board itself, its employees, or another agency or official to review and approve or disapprove the plans;

(B) Establish procedures and criteria for the review and approval or disapproval of the plans;

(C) Require the designated entity to issue a permit to a person for the clearing, grading, excavating, filling, or other project for which plans are approved and to deny a permit to a person whose plans have been disapproved;

(D) Establish procedures for the issuance of the permits;

(E) Establish procedures under which a person may appeal the denial of a permit.

Areas of less than five one contiguous acres acre shall not be exempt from compliance with other provisions of this section or rules adopted pursuant to this section. The rules may impose reasonable filing fees for plan review, permit processing, and field inspections.

No permit or plan shall be required for a public highway, transportation, or drainage improvement or maintenance thereof undertaken by a government agency or political subdivision in accordance with a statement of its standard sediment control policies that is approved by the board or the chief of the division of soil and water districts conservation in the department of natural resources.

The rules shall not apply inside the limits of municipal corporations.

Rules or amendments may be adopted under this section only after public hearing at not fewer than two regular sessions of the board. The board shall cause to be published, in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, notice of the public hearings, including time, date, and place, once a week for two weeks immediately preceding the hearings. The proposed rules or amendments shall be made available by the board to the public at the board office or other location indicated in the notice. The rules or amendments shall take effect on the thirty-first day following the date of their adoption.

The board may employ personnel, to assist in the administration of this section and rules adopted under it. The board also, if the action does not conflict with the rules, may delegate duties to review sediment control and water management plans to its employees, and may enter into agreements with one or more political subdivisions, other county officials, or other government agencies, in any combination, in order to obtain reviews and comments on such plans governing erosion control, sediment control, and water management or to obtain other services for the administration of the rules adopted under this section.

The board or any duly authorized representative of the board may, upon identification to the owner or person in charge, enter any land upon obtaining agreement with the owner, tenant, or manager thereof in order to determine whether there is compliance with the rules. If the board or its duly authorized representative is unable to obtain such an agreement, the board or representative may apply for and a judge of the court of common pleas for the county where the land is located may issue an appropriate inspection warrant as necessary to achieve the purposes of this chapter.

If the board or its duly authorized representative determines that a violation exists and requests, the board or representative shall authorize the issuance of a notice of violation. If, after a period of not less than fourteen days has elapsed following the issuance of a notice of violation, the violation continues, the board or its duly authorized representative may issue a stop work order and shall then request in writing the prosecuting attorney of the county in writing, the prosecuting attorney shall to seek an injunction or other appropriate relief to abate excessive erosion or sedimentation and secure compliance with the rules. In granting relief the court may order the construction of sediment control improvements or implementation of other control measures and shall assess a fine under section 307.99 of the Revised Code if the person to whom a notice of violation was issued under this section is convicted of or pleads guilty to the violation. The person to whom a stop-work order is issued under this section may appeal the order to the court of common pleas of the county in which it was issued.

No person shall violate any rule adopted or order issued under this section. For purposes of any penalty that is established for violation of a rule or order, each day of continued violation is a separate offense.

Sec. 307.99.  (A) Whoever violates section 307.42 of the Revised Code shall be fined not less than twenty-five nor more than one hundred dollars for each offense.

(B) Whoever violates section 307.43 of the Revised Code shall be fined not less than twenty-five nor more than two hundred dollars, and imprisoned not less than ten nor more than sixty days.

(C) Whoever violates section 307.37 of the Revised Code, shall be fined not more than three hundred dollars.

(D) Whoever violates division (C)(5) of section 307.97 of the Revised Code shall be fined not less than one hundred nor more than five hundred dollars.

(E) Whoever violates any other subdivision of division (C) of section 307.97 of the Revised Code shall be imprisoned not more than six months or fined not more than one thousand dollars, or both.

(F) Whoever violates section 307.79 of the Revised Code shall be fined not less than one hundred nor more than five hundred dollars. Each day of violation is a separate offense. The sentencing court may issue a cease and desist order if warranted by the violation.

Sec. 719.01.  Any municipal corporation may appropriate, enter upon, and hold real estate within its corporate limits:

(A) For opening, widening, straightening, changing the grade of, and extending streets, and all other public places, and for this purpose, the municipal corporation may appropriate the right-of-way across railway tracks and lands held by railway companies, where such appropriation will not unnecessarily interfere with the reasonable use of such property, and for obtaining material for the improvement of streets and other public places;

(B) For parks, park entrances, boulevards, market places, and children's playgrounds;

(C) For public halls and offices, and for all buildings and structures required for the use of any municipal department;

(D) For prisons, workhouses, houses of refuge and correction, and farm schools;

(E) For hospitals, pesthouses, reformatories, crematories, and cemeteries;

(F) For levees, wharves, and landings;

(G) For bridges, aqueducts, viaducts, and approaches thereto;

(H) For libraries, university sites, and grounds therefor;

(I) For constructing, opening, excavating, improving, or extending any canal or watercourse, located in whole or in part within the limits of the municipal corporation or adjacent and contiguous thereto, and which that is not owned in whole or in part by the state, or by a company or individual authorized by law to make such improvement;

(J) For sewers, drains, ditches, public urinals, bathhouses, water closets, and sewage and garbage disposal plants and farms;.

(1) For the purposes of division (J) of this section, either of the following constitutes a public exigency:

(a) A finding by the director of environmental protection that a public health nuisance caused by an occasion of unavoidable urgency and suddenness due to unsanitary conditions compels the immediate construction of sewers for the protection of the public health and welfare;

(b) The issuance of an order by the board of health of a health district to mitigate or abate a public health nuisance caused by an occasion of unavoidable urgency and suddenness due to unsanitary conditions that compels the immediate construction of sewers for the protection of the public health and welfare.

(2) If the legislative authority of a municipal corporation is unable to purchase property for the purpose of the construction of sewers to mitigate or abate the public health nuisance that is the subject of a finding of the director or an order of the board of health, the legislative authority of the municipal corporation may enact an ordinance finding that it is necessary for the protection of the public health and welfare to appropriate property that the legislative authority considers needed for that purpose. The ordinance shall contain a definite, accurate, and detailed description of the property and the name and place of residence, if known or with reasonable diligence ascertainable, of the owner of the property appropriated.

The legislative authority of the municipal corporation shall fix in the ordinance what it considers to be the value of the property appropriated, which shall be supported by an independent appraisal, together with damages to the residue, and shall deposit the value of it, together with the damages, with the probate court or the court of common pleas of the county in which the property, or a part of it, is situated. The power to appropriate property for the purposes of division (J) of this section shall be exercised in the manner provided in sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code.

(3) As used in division (J) of this section:

(a) "Board of health" means the board of health of a city or general health district or the authority having the duties of a board of health in any city as authorized by section 3709.05 of the Revised Code.

(b) "Health district" means a city or general health district as created by or under the authority of Chapter 3709. of the Revised Code.

(K) For natural and artificial gas, electric lighting, heating, and power plants, and for supplying the product thereof;

(L) For establishing esplanades, boulevards, parkways, park grounds, and public reservations in, around, and leading to public buildings, and for the purpose of reselling such land with reservations in the deeds as to the future use of such lands, so as to protect public buildings and their environs, and to preserve the view, appearance, light, air, and usefulness of public grounds occupied by public buildings and esplanades and parkways leading thereto;

(M) For providing a water supply for itself and its inhabitants by the construction of wells, pumps, cisterns, aqueducts, water pipes, dams, reservoirs, reservoir sites, and water works, and for the protection thereof; and to provide for a supply of water for itself and its inhabitants, any municipal corporation may appropriate property within or without its limits; and for such purpose and any such municipal corporation may appropriate, in the manner provided in sections 163.01 to 163.22, inclusive, of the Revised Code, any property or right or interest therein, previously acquired by any private corporation for any purpose by appropriation proceedings or otherwise, and either party to such appropriation proceedings shall have the same right to change of venue as is given in the trial of civil actions;

(N) For the construction or operation of street, interurban, suburban, or other railways or terminals and the necessary tracks, way stations, depots, terminals, workshops, conduits, elevated structures, subways, tunnels, offices, sidetracks, turnouts, machine shops, bridges, and other appurtenances for the transportation of persons, packages, express matter, freight, and other matter, in, from, into, or through the municipal corporation; and for such purpose any municipal corporation may appropriate any property within or without its corporate limits; and any municipal corporation may appropriate any property, right, or interest therein previously acquired by any private or public utility corporation for any purpose by appropriate proceedings, as well as the right to cross on, over, or under any street, avenue, alley, way, or public place or part thereof of any other municipal corporation, township, or county;

(O) For establishing airports, landing fields, or other air navigation facilities, either within or without the limits of a municipal corporation for aircraft and transportation terminals, with power to impose restrictions on any part thereof and leasing such part thereof as is desired for purposes associated with or incident to such airports, landing fields, or other air navigation facilities and transportation terminals, including the right to appropriate a right-of-way for highways, electric, steam, and interurban railroads leading from such airport or landing field to the main highways or the main line of such steam, electric, or interurban railroads, as are desired; all of which are hereby declared to be public purposes.

Division (O) of this section does not authorize a municipal corporation to take or disturb property or facilities belonging to any public utility or to a common carrier engaged in interstate commerce, which property or facilities are required for the proper and convenient operation of such utility or carrier, unless provision is made for the restoration, relocation, or duplication of such property or facilities elsewhere, at the sole cost of the municipal corporation.

The Except as provided in division (J) of this section, the powers conferred upon municipal corporations by this section shall be exercised for the purposes and in the manner provided in sections 163.01 to 163.22, inclusive, of the Revised Code.

"Airport," "landing field," and "air navigation facility," as defined in section 4561.01 of the Revised Code, apply to division (O) of this section.

Sec. 3709.41. (A) There is hereby created in each city and in each general health district a health district licensing council, to be appointed by the entity that has responsibility for appointing the board of health in the health district. The members of the health district licensing council shall consist of one representative of each business activity for which the board of health operates a licensing program. To be appointed and remain a member, an individual must shall be a resident of the health district for which the council was created.

The appointing authority shall make initial appointments to the council not later than thirty days after the effective date of this section November 21, 2001. Of the initial appointments to the council, one-third of the members, rounded to the nearest whole number, shall serve for a term ending three years after the effective date of this section November 21, 2001; one-third, rounded to the nearest whole number, shall serve for a term ending four years after the effective date of this section November 21, 2001; and the remaining members shall serve for a term ending five years after the effective date of this section November 21, 2001. Thereafter, terms of office shall be five years, with each term ending on the same day of the same month as did the term that it succeeds.

Each member shall hold office from the date of the member's appointment until the end of the term for which the member was appointed. Members may be reappointed.

Vacancies shall be filled in the manner provided for original appointments. Any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which the member's predecessor was appointed shall hold office as a member for the remainder of that term. A member shall continue in office subsequent to the expiration date of the member's term until the member's successor takes office or until a period of sixty days has elapsed, whichever occurs first.

Members of a health district licensing council shall serve without compensation, except to the extent that serving on the council is part of their regular duties of employment.

(B) Each licensing council shall organize by selecting from among its members a chairperson, secretary, and any other officers it considers necessary. Each council shall adopt bylaws for the regulation of its affairs and the conduct of its business.

Each council shall meet at least quarterly annually or at more frequent intervals if specified in its bylaws. In addition to the mandatory meetings, a council shall meet at the call of the chairperson or the request of a majority of the council members.

(C) Pursuant to sections 3709.03, 3709.05, and 3709.07 of the Revised Code, the health district licensing council shall appoint one of its members to serve as a member of the board of health. The council shall appoint one of its members to serve as an alternate board of health member if for any reason the original member is required to abstain from voting on a particular issue being considered by the board of health. While serving on behalf of the original member, the alternate member has the same powers and duties as the original member.

Sec. 6101.181. (A) For the purposes of this section, either of the following constitutes a public exigency:

(1) A finding by the director of environmental protection that a public health nuisance caused by an occasion of unavoidable urgency and suddenness due to unsanitary conditions compels the immediate construction of sewers for the protection of the public health and welfare;

(2) The issuance of an order by the board of health of a health district to mitigate or abate a public health nuisance caused by an occasion of unavoidable urgency and suddenness due to unsanitary conditions that compels the immediate construction of sewers for the protection of the public health and welfare.

(B) If the board of directors of a conservancy district is unable to purchase property for the purpose of the construction of sewers to mitigate or abate the public health nuisance that is the subject of a finding of the director or an order of the board of health, the board of directors may adopt a resolution finding that it is necessary for the protection of the public health and welfare to appropriate property that the board of directors considers needed for that purpose. The resolution shall contain a definite, accurate, and detailed description of the property and the name and place of residence, if known or with reasonable diligence ascertainable, of the owner of the property appropriated.

The board of directors shall fix in the resolution what the board considers to be the value of the property appropriated, which shall be supported by an independent appraisal, together with damages to the residue, and shall deposit the value of it, together with the damages, with the probate court or the court of common pleas of the county in which the property, or a part of it, is situated. The power to appropriate property for the purposes of this section shall be exercised in the manner provided in sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code.

(C) As used in this section:

(1) "Board of health" means the board of health of a city or general health district or the authority having the duties of a board of health in any city as authorized by section 3709.05 of the Revised Code.

(2) "Health district" means a city or general health district as created by or under the authority of Chapter 3709. of the Revised Code.

Sec. 6115.221. (A) For the purposes of this section, either of the following constitutes a public exigency:

(1) A finding by the director of environmental protection that a public health nuisance caused by an occasion of unavoidable urgency and suddenness due to unsanitary conditions compels the immediate construction of sewers for the protection of the public health and welfare;

(2) The issuance of an order by the board of health of a health district to mitigate or abate a public health nuisance caused by an occasion of unavoidable urgency and suddenness due to unsanitary conditions that compels the immediate construction of sewers for the protection of the public health and welfare.

(B) If the board of directors of a sanitary district is unable to purchase property for the purpose of the construction of sewers to mitigate or abate the public health nuisance that is the subject of a finding of the director or an order of the board of health, the board of directors may adopt a resolution finding that it is necessary for the protection of the public health and welfare to appropriate property that the board of directors considers needed for that purpose. The resolution shall contain a definite, accurate, and detailed description of the property and the name and place of residence, if known or with reasonable diligence ascertainable, of the owner of the property appropriated.

The board of directors shall fix in the resolution what the board considers to be the value of the property appropriated, which shall be supported by an independent appraisal, together with damages to the residue, and shall deposit the value of it, together with the damages, with the probate court or the court of common pleas of the county in which the property, or a part of it, is situated. The power to appropriate property for the purposes of this section shall be exercised in the manner provided in sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code.

(C) As used in this section:

(1) "Board of health" means the board of health of a city or general health district or the authority having the duties of a board of health in any city as authorized by section 3709.05 of the Revised Code.

(2) "Health district" means a city or general health district as created by or under the authority of Chapter 3709. of the Revised Code.

Sec. 6117.012.  (A) A board of county commissioners may adopt rules requiring owners of property within the district whose property is served by a connection to sewers maintained and operated by the board or to sewers that are connected to interceptor sewers maintained and operated by the board to:

(1) Disconnect stormwater inflows to sanitary sewers maintained and operated by the board and not operated as a combined sewer, or to connections with such sewers;

(2) Disconnect non-stormwater inflows to stormwater sewers maintained and operated by the board and not operated as a combined sewer, or to connections with such sewers;

(3) Reconnect or relocate any such disconnected inflows in compliance with board rules and applicable building codes, health codes, or other relevant codes;

(4) Prevent sewer back-ups into properties that have experienced one or more overflows of sanitary or combined sewers maintained and operated by the board.

(B) Any inflow required to be disconnected or any sewer back-up required to be prevented under a rule adopted pursuant to division (A) of this section constitutes a nuisance subject to injunctive relief and abatement pursuant to Chapter 3767. of the Revised Code or as otherwise permitted by law.

(C) A board of county commissioners may use sewer district funds; county general fund moneys; and, to the extent permitted by their terms, loans, grants, or other moneys from appropriate state or federal funds, for either of the following:

(1) The cost of disconnections, reconnections, or relocations, or sewer back-up prevention required by rules adopted pursuant to division (A) of this section, performed by the county or under contract with the county;

(2) Payments to the property owner or a contractor hired by the property owner pursuant to a competitive process established by district rules, for the cost of disconnections, reconnections, or relocations, or sewer back-up prevention required by rules adopted pursuant to division (A) of this section after the board, pursuant to its rules, has approved the work to be performed and after the county has received from the property owner a statement releasing the county from all liability in connection with the disconnections, reconnections, or relocations, or sewer back-up prevention.

(D) Except as provided in division (E) of this section, the board of county commissioners shall require in its rules regarding disconnections, reconnections, or relocations of sewers or sewer back-up prevention the reimbursement of moneys expended pursuant to division (C) of this section by either of the following methods:

(1) A charge to the property owner in the amount of the payment made pursuant to division (C) of this section for immediate payment or payment in installments with interest as determined by the board not to exceed ten per cent, which payments may be billed as a separate item with the rents charged to that owner for use of the sewers. The board may approve installment payments for a period of not more than fifteen years. If charges are to be paid in installments, the board shall certify to the county auditor information sufficient to identify each subject parcel of property, the total of the charges to be paid in installments, and the total number of installments to be paid. The auditor shall record the information in the sewer improvement record until these charges are paid in full. Charges not paid when due shall be certified to the county auditor, who shall place the charges upon the real property tax list and duplicate against that property. Such charges shall be a lien on the property from the date they are placed on the tax list and duplicate and shall be collected in the same manner as other taxes.

(2) A special assessment levied against the property, payable in such number of years as the board determines, not to exceed fifteen years, with interest as determined by the board not to exceed ten per cent. The board of county commissioners shall certify the assessments to the county auditor, stating the amount and time of payment. The auditor shall record the information in the county sewer improvement record, showing separately the assessments to be collected, and shall place the assessments upon the real property tax list and duplicate for collection. Such assessment shall be a lien on the property from the date it is placed on the tax list and duplicate and shall be collected in the same manner as other taxes.

(E) The county may adopt a resolution specifying a maximum amount of the cost of any disconnection, reconnection, or relocation, or sewer back-up prevention required pursuant to division (A) of this section that may be paid by the county for each affected parcel of property without requiring reimbursement. Such That amount may be allowed only if there is a building code, health code, or other relevant code, or a federally imposed or state-imposed consent decree that is filed or otherwise recorded in a court of competent jurisdiction, applicable to the affected parcel that prohibits in the future any inflows or sewer back-ups not allowed under rules adopted pursuant to division (A)(1) or (4) of this section. The board, by rule, shall establish criteria for determining how much of the maximum amount for each qualifying parcel need not be reimbursed.

(F) Disconnections, reconnections, or relocations, or sewer back-up prevention required under this section that are and performed by a contractor under contract with the property owner shall not be considered a "public improvement" and those performed by the county shall be considered a "public improvement" as defined in section 4115.03 of the Revised Code.

Disconnections, reconnections, or relocations, or sewer back-up prevention required under this section performed by a contractor under contract with the property owner shall not be subject to competitive bidding or public bond laws.

(G) Property owners shall be responsible for maintaining any improvements made on private property to reconnect or relocate disconnected inflows or for sewer back-up prevention pursuant to this section unless a public easement exists for the county to maintain that improvement.

Sec. 6117.39.  Whenever (A) Except as provided in division (B) of this section, whenever, in the opinion of the board of county commissioners, it is necessary to acquire real estate or any interest in real estate for the acquisition, construction, maintenance, or operation of any sewer, drainage, or other improvement authorized by this chapter, or to acquire the right to construct, maintain, and operate the sewer, drainage, or other improvement in and upon any property within or outside of a county sewer district, it may purchase the real estate, interest in real estate, or right by negotiation. If the board and the owner of the real estate, interest in real estate, or right are unable to agree upon its purchase and sale, or the amount of damages to be awarded for it, the board may appropriate the real estate, interest, or right in accordance with sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code, except that the board, in the exercise of the powers granted by this section or any other section of this chapter, may not appropriate real estate or personal property owned by a municipal corporation.

(B)(1) For the purposes of division (B) of this section, either of the following constitutes a public exigency:

(a) A finding by the director of environmental protection that a public health nuisance caused by an occasion of unavoidable urgency and suddenness due to unsanitary conditions compels the immediate construction of sewers for the protection of the public health and welfare;

(b) The issuance of an order by the board of health of a health district to mitigate or abate a public health nuisance caused by an occasion of unavoidable urgency and suddenness due to unsanitary conditions that compels the immediate construction of sewers for the protection of the public health and welfare.

(2) If the board of county commissioners is unable to purchase property for the purpose of the construction of sewers to mitigate or abate the public health nuisance that is the subject of a finding of the director or an order of the board of health, the board of county commissioners may adopt a resolution finding that it is necessary for the protection of the public health and welfare to appropriate property that the board of county commissioners considers needed for that purpose. The resolution shall contain a definite, accurate, and detailed description of the property and the name and place of residence, if known or with reasonable diligence ascertainable, of the owner of the property appropriated.

The board of county commissioners shall fix in the resolution what the board considers to be the value of the property appropriated, which shall be supported by an independent appraisal, together with damages to the residue, and shall deposit the value of it, together with the damages, with the probate court or the court of common pleas of the county in which the property, or a part of it, is situated. The power to appropriate property for the purposes of division (B) of this section shall be exercised in the manner provided in sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code.

(3) As used in division (B) of this section:

(a) "Board of health" means the board of health of a city or general health district or the authority having the duties of a board of health in any city as authorized by section 3709.05 of the Revised Code.

(b) "Health district" means a city or general health district as created by or under the authority of Chapter 3709. of the Revised Code.

Sec. 6119.11.  The (A) Except as provided in division (B) of this section, the board of trustees of a regional water and sewer district may condemn for the use of the district any public or private land, easement, rights, rights-of-way, franchises, or other property within or without the district required by it for the accomplishment of its purposes according to the procedure set forth in sections 163.01 to 163.22, inclusive, of the Revised Code.

(B)(1) For the purposes of division (B) of this section, either of the following constitutes a public exigency:

(a) A finding by the director of environmental protection that a public health nuisance caused by an occasion of unavoidable urgency and suddenness due to unsanitary conditions compels the immediate construction of sewers for the protection of the public health and welfare;

(b) The issuance of an order by the board of health of a health district to mitigate or abate a public health nuisance caused by an occasion of unavoidable urgency and suddenness due to unsanitary conditions that compels the immediate construction of sewers for the protection of the public health and welfare.

(2) If the board of trustees of a regional water and sewer district is unable to purchase property for the purpose of the construction of sewers to mitigate or abate the public health nuisance that is the subject of a finding of the director or an order of the board of health, the board of trustees may adopt a resolution finding that it is necessary for the protection of the public health and welfare to appropriate property that the board of trustees considers needed for that purpose. The resolution shall contain a definite, accurate, and detailed description of the property and the name and place of residence, if known or with reasonable diligence ascertainable, of the owner of the property appropriated.

The board of trustees shall fix in the resolution what the board considers to be the value of the property appropriated, which shall be supported by an independent appraisal, together with damages to the residue, and shall deposit the value of it, together with the damages, with the probate court or the court of common pleas of the county in which the property, or a part of it, is situated. The power to appropriate property for the purposes of division (B) of this section shall be exercised in the manner provided in sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code.

(3) As used in division (B) of this section:

(a) "Board of health" means the board of health of a city or general health district or the authority having the duties of a board of health in any city as authorized by section 3709.05 of the Revised Code.

(b) "Health district" means a city or general health district as created by or under the authority of Chapter 3709. of the Revised Code.

Section 2. That existing sections 163.02, 163.09, 163.12, 163.21, 307.08, 307.79, 307.99, 719.01, 3709.41, 6117.012, 6117.39, and 6119.11 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.