Section 1. That sections 6103.01, 6103.02, 6117.01, 6117.02, and 6119.011 be amended and section 6119.091 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 6103.01.  As used in this chapter:

(A) "Public water supply facilities," "water supply facilities," "water supply improvement," or "improvement" means, without limiting the generality of those terms, water wells and well fields, springs, lakes, rivers, streams, or other sources of water supply, intakes, pumping stations and equipment, treatment, filtration, or purification plants, force and distribution lines or mains, cisterns, reservoirs, storage facilities, necessary equipment for fire protection, other related structures, equipment, and furnishings, and real estate and interests in real estate, necessary or useful in the proper development of a water supply for domestic or other purposes and its proper distribution.

(B) "Current operating expenses," "debt charges," "permanent improvement," "public obligations," and "subdivision" have the same meanings as in section 133.01 of the Revised Code.

(C) "Construct," "construction," or "constructing" means construction, reconstruction, enlargement, extension, improvement, renovation, repair, and replacement of water supply facilities, but does not include repairs, replacements, or similar actions that do not constitute and qualify as permanent improvements.

(D) "Maintain," "maintaining," or "maintenance" means repairs, replacements, and similar actions that constitute and are payable as current operating expenses and that are required to restore water supply facilities to, or to continue water supply facilities in, good order and working condition, but does not include construction of permanent improvements.

(E) "Public agency" means a state and any agency or subdivision of a state, including a county, a municipal corporation, or other subdivision.

(F) "County sanitary engineer" means either of the following:

(1) The registered professional engineer employed or appointed by the board of county commissioners to be the county sanitary engineer as provided in section 6117.01 of the Revised Code;

(2) The county engineer, if, for as long as and to the extent that engineer by agreement entered into under section 315.14 of the Revised Code is retained to discharge the duties of a county sanitary engineer under this chapter.

(G) "Homestead exemption" means the reduction of taxes allowed under division (A) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code.

(H) "Low- and moderate-income persons" has the same meaning as in section 175.01 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 6103.02.  (A) For the purpose of preserving and promoting the public health and welfare, a board of county commissioners may acquire, construct, maintain, and operate any public water supply facilities within its county for one or more sewer districts and may provide for their protection and prevent their pollution and unnecessary waste. The board may negotiate and enter into a contract with any public agency or any person for the management, maintenance, operation, and repair of the facilities on behalf of the county, upon the terms and conditions as may be agreed upon with the agency or person and as may be determined by the board to be in the interests of the county. By contract with any public agency or any person operating public water supply facilities within or without its county, the board also may provide a supply of water to a sewer district from the facilities of the public agency or person.

(B) The county sanitary engineer or sanitary engineering department, in addition to other assigned duties, shall assist the board in the performance of its duties under this chapter and shall be charged with other duties and services in relation to the board's duties as the board prescribes.

(C) The board may adopt, publish, administer, and enforce rules for the construction, maintenance, protection, and use of county-owned or county-operated public water supply facilities outside municipal corporations and of public water supply facilities within municipal corporations that are owned or operated by the county or that are supplied with water from water supply facilities owned or operated by the county, including, but not limited to, rules for the establishment and use of any connections, the termination in accordance with reasonable procedures of water service for nonpayment of county water rates and charges, and the establishment and use of security deposits to the extent considered necessary to ensure the payment of county water rates and charges. The rules shall not be inconsistent with the laws of the state or any applicable rules of the director of environmental protection.

(D) No public water supply facilities shall be constructed in any county outside municipal corporations by any person, except for the purpose of supplying water to those municipal corporations, until the plans and specifications for the facilities have been approved by the board. Construction shall be done under the supervision of the county sanitary engineer. Any person constructing public water supply facilities shall pay to the county all expenses incurred by the board in connection with the construction.

(E) The county sanitary engineer or the county sanitary engineer's authorized assistants or agents, when properly identified in writing or otherwise and after written notice is delivered to the owner at least five days in advance or mailed at least five days in advance by first class or certified mail to the owner's tax mailing address, may enter upon any public or private property for the purpose of making, and may make, surveys or inspections necessary for the design or evaluation of county public water supply facilities. This entry is not a trespass and is not to be considered an entry in connection with any appropriation of property proceedings under sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code that may be pending. No person or public agency shall forbid the county sanitary engineer or the county sanitary engineer's authorized assistants or agents to enter, or interfere with their entry, upon the property for the purpose of making the surveys or inspections. If actual damage is done to property by the making of the surveys or inspections, the board shall pay the reasonable value of the damage to the property owner, and the cost shall be included in the cost of the facilities and may be included in any special assessments levied and collected to pay that cost.

(F) The board shall fix reasonable rates, including penalties for late payments, for water supplied to public agencies and persons when the source of supply or the facilities for its distribution are owned or operated by the county and may change the rates from time to time as it considers advisable. When the source of the water supply to be used by the county is owned by another public agency or person, the schedule of rates to be charged by the public agency or person shall be approved by the board at the time it enters into a contract for the use of water from the public agency or person. When

When the distribution facilities are owned by the county, the board also may fix reasonable charges to be collected for the privilege of connecting to the distribution facilities and may require that, prior to the connection, the charges be paid in full or, if determined by the board to be equitable in a resolution relating to the payment of the charges, may require their payment in installments, as considered adequate by the board, at the times, in the amounts, and with the security, carrying charges, and penalties as may be determined by the board in that resolution to be fair and appropriate. No public agency or person shall be permitted to connect to those facilities until the charges have been paid in full or provision for their payment in installments has been made. If the connection charges are to be paid in installments, the board shall certify, to the county auditor, information sufficient to identify each parcel of property served by a connection and, with respect to each parcel, the total of the charges to be paid in installments, the amount of each installment, and the total number of installments to be paid. The county auditor shall record and maintain the information so supplied in the waterworks record provided for in section 6103.16 of the Revised Code until the connection charges are paid in full. The board may include amounts attributable to connection charges being paid in installments in its billings of rates and other charges for water supplied. In addition, the board may consider payments made to a school district under section 6103.25 of the Revised Code when the board establishes rates and other charges for water supplied.

A board may establish discounted rates or charges or may establish another mechanism for providing a reduction in rates or charges for persons who are sixty-five years of age or older. The board shall establish eligibility requirements for such discounted or reduced rates or charges, including a requirement that a person be eligible for the homestead exemption or qualify as a low- and moderate-income person.

(G) When any rates or charges are not paid when due, the board may do any or all of the following:

(1) Certify the unpaid rates or charges, together with any penalties, to the county auditor. The county auditor shall place the certified amount upon the real property tax list and duplicate against the property served by the connection. The certified amount shall be a lien on the property from the date placed on the real property tax list and duplicate and shall be collected in the same manner as taxes, except that, notwithstanding section 323.15 of the Revised Code, a county treasurer shall accept a payment in that amount when separately tendered as payment for the full amount of the unpaid rates or charges and associated penalties. The lien shall be released immediately upon payment in full of the certified amount.

(2) Collect the unpaid rates or charges, together with any penalties, by actions at law in the name of the county from an owner, tenant, or other person or public agency that is liable for the payment of the rates or charges;

(3) Terminate, in accordance with established rules, the water service to the particular property unless and until the unpaid rates or charges, together with any penalties, are paid in full;

(4) Apply, to the extent required, any security deposit made in accordance with established rules to the payment of the unpaid rates and charges, together with any penalties, for water service to the particular property.

All moneys collected as rates, charges, or penalties fixed or established in accordance with division (F) of this section for water supply purposes in or for any sewer district shall be paid to the county treasurer and kept in a separate and distinct water fund established by the board to the credit of the district.

Each board that fixes water rates or charges may render estimated bills periodically, provided that at least quarterly it shall schedule an actual reading of each customer's meter so as to render a bill for the actual amount shown by the meter reading to be due, with credit for prior payments of any estimated bills submitted for any part of the billing period, except that estimated bills may be rendered if a customer's meter is not accessible for a timely reading or if the circumstances preclude a scheduled reading. Each board also shall establish procedures providing a fair and reasonable opportunity for the resolution of billing disputes.

When property to which water service is provided is about to be sold, any party to the sale or an agent of a party may request the board to have the meter at that property read and to render, within ten days following the date on which the request is made, a final bill for all outstanding rates and charges for water service. The request shall be made at least fourteen days prior to the transfer of the title of the property.

At any time prior to a certification under division (G)(1) of this section, the board shall accept any partial payment of unpaid water rates or charges in the amount of ten dollars or more.

Except as otherwise provided in any proceedings authorizing or providing for the security for and payment of any public obligations, or in any indenture or trust or other agreement securing public obligations, moneys in the water fund shall be applied first to the payment of the cost of the management, maintenance, and operation of the water supply facilities of, or used or operated for, the sewer district, which cost may include the county's share of management, maintenance, and operation costs under cooperative contracts for the acquisition, construction, or use of water supply facilities and, in accordance with a cost allocation plan adopted under division (H) of this section, payment of all allowable direct and indirect costs of the district, the county sanitary engineer or sanitary engineering department, or a federal or state grant program, incurred for the purposes of this chapter, and shall be applied second to the payment of debt charges payable on any outstanding public obligations issued or incurred for the acquisition or construction of water supply facilities for or serving the district, or for the funding of a bond retirement or other fund established for the payment of or security for the obligations. Any surplus remaining may be applied to the acquisition or construction of those facilities or for the payment of contributions to be made, or costs incurred, for the acquisition or construction of those facilities under cooperative contracts. Moneys in the water fund shall not be expended other than for the use and benefit of the district.

(H) A board of county commissioners may adopt a cost allocation plan that identifies, accumulates, and distributes allowable direct and indirect costs that may be paid from the water fund of the sewer district created pursuant to division (G) of this section, and that prescribes methods for allocating those costs. The plan shall authorize payment from the fund of only those costs incurred by the district, the county sanitary engineer or sanitary engineering department, or a federal or state grant program, and those costs incurred by the general and other funds of the county for a common or joint purpose, that are necessary and reasonable for the proper and efficient administration of the district under this chapter. The plan shall not authorize payment from the fund of any general government expense required to carry out the overall governmental responsibilities of a county. The plan shall conform to United States office of management and budget Circular A-87, "Cost Principles for State, Local, and Indian Tribal Governments," published May 17, 1995.

Sec. 6117.01.  (A) As used in this chapter:

(1) "Sanitary facilities" means sanitary sewers, force mains, lift or pumping stations, and facilities for the treatment, disposal, impoundment, or storage of wastes; equipment and furnishings; and all required appurtenances and necessary real estate and interests in real estate.

(2) "Drainage" or "waters" means flows from rainfall or otherwise produced by, or resulting from, the elements, storm water discharges and releases or migrations of waters from properties, accumulations, flows, and overflows of water, including accelerated flows and runoffs, flooding and threats of flooding of properties and structures, and other surface and subsurface drainage.

(3) "Drainage facilities" means storm sewers, force mains, pumping stations, and facilities for the treatment, disposal, impoundment, retention, control, or storage of waters; improvements of or for any channel, ditch, drain, floodway, or watercourse, including location, construction, reconstruction, reconditioning, widening, deepening, cleaning, removal of obstructions, straightening, boxing, culverting, tiling, filling, walling, arching, or change in course, location, or terminus; improvements of or for a river, creek, or run, including reinforcement of banks, enclosing, deepening, widening, straightening, removal of obstructions, or change in course, location, or terminus; facilities for the protection of lands from the overflow of water, including a levee, wall, embankment, jetty, dike, dam, sluice, revetment, reservoir, retention or holding basin, control gate, or breakwater; facilities for controlled drainage, regulation of stream flow, and protection of an outlet; the vacation of a ditch or drain; equipment and furnishings; and all required appurtenances and necessary real estate and interests in real estate.

(4) "County sanitary engineer" means either of the following:

(a) The registered professional engineer employed or appointed by the board of county commissioners to be the county sanitary engineer as provided in section 6117.01 of the Revised Code;

(b) The county engineer, if, for as long as and to the extent that engineer by agreement entered into under section 315.14 of the Revised Code is retained to discharge duties of a county sanitary engineer under this chapter.

(5) "Current operating expenses," "debt charges," "permanent improvement," "public obligations," and "subdivision" have the same meanings as in section 133.01 of the Revised Code.

(6) "Construct," "construction," or "constructing" means construction, reconstruction, enlargement, extension, improvement, renovation, repair, and replacement of sanitary or drainage facilities, but does not include any repairs, replacements, or similar actions that do not constitute and qualify as permanent improvements.

(7) "Maintain," "maintaining," or "maintenance" means repairs, replacements, and similar actions that constitute and are payable as current operating expenses and that are required to restore sanitary or drainage facilities to, or to continue sanitary or drainage facilities in, good order and working condition, but does not include construction of permanent improvements.

(8) "Public agency" means a state and any agency or subdivision of a state, including a county, a municipal corporation, or other subdivision.

(9) "Homestead exemption" means the reduction of taxes allowed under division (A) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code.

(10) "Low- and moderate-income person" has the same meaning as in section 175.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) For the purpose of preserving and promoting the public health and welfare, a board of county commissioners may lay out, establish, consolidate, or otherwise modify the boundaries of, and maintain, one or more sewer districts within the county and outside municipal corporations and may have a registered professional engineer make the surveys necessary for the determination of the proper boundaries of each district, which shall be designated by an appropriate name or number. The board may acquire, construct, maintain, and operate within any district sanitary or drainage facilities that it determines to be necessary or appropriate for the collection of sewage and other wastes originating in or entering the district, to comply with the provisions of a contract entered into for the purposes described in sections 6117.41 to 6117.44 of the Revised Code and pursuant to those sections or other applicable provisions of law, or for the collection, control, or abatement of waters originating or accumulating in, or flowing in, into, or through, the district, and other sanitary or drainage facilities, within or outside of the district, that it determines to be necessary or appropriate to conduct the wastes and waters to a proper outlet and to provide for their proper treatment, disposal, and disposition. The board may provide for the protection of the sanitary and drainage facilities and may negotiate and enter into a contract with any public agency or person for the management, maintenance, operation, and repair of any of the facilities on behalf of the county upon the terms and conditions that may be agreed upon with the agency or person and that may be determined by the board to be in the best interests of the county. By contract with any public agency or person operating sanitary or drainage facilities within or outside of the county, the board may provide a proper outlet for any of the wastes and waters and for their proper treatment, disposal, and disposition.

(C) The board of county commissioners may employ a registered professional engineer to be the county sanitary engineer for the time and on the terms it considers best and may authorize the county sanitary engineer to employ necessary assistants upon the terms fixed by the board. Prior to the initial assignment of drainage facilities duties to the county sanitary engineer, if the county sanitary engineer is not the county engineer, the board first shall offer to enter into an agreement with the county engineer pursuant to section 315.14 of the Revised Code for assistance in the performance of those duties of the board pertaining to drainage facilities, and the county engineer shall accept or reject the offer within thirty days after the date the offer is made.

The board may create and maintain a sanitary engineering department, which shall be under its supervision and which shall be headed by the county sanitary engineer, for the purpose of aiding it in the performance of its duties under this chapter and Chapter 6103. of the Revised Code or its other duties regarding sanitation, drainage, and water supply provided by law. The board shall provide suitable facilities for the use of the department and shall provide for and pay the compensation of the county sanitary engineer and all authorized necessary expenses of the county sanitary engineer and the sanitary engineering department. The county sanitary engineer, with the approval of the board, may appoint necessary assistants and clerks, and the compensation of those assistants and clerks shall be provided for and paid by the board.

(D) The board of county commissioners may adopt, publish, administer, and enforce rules for the construction, maintenance, protection, and use of county-owned or county-operated sanitary and drainage facilities outside municipal corporations, and of sanitary and drainage facilities within municipal corporations that are owned or operated by the county or that discharge into sanitary or drainage facilities owned or operated by the county, including, but not limited to, rules for the establishment and use of any connections, the termination in accordance with reasonable procedures of sanitary service for the nonpayment of county sanitary rates and charges and, if so determined, the concurrent termination of any county water service for the nonpayment of those rates and charges, the termination in accordance with reasonable procedures of drainage service for the nonpayment of county drainage rates and charges, and the establishment and use of security deposits to the extent considered necessary to ensure the payment of county sanitary or drainage rates and charges. The rules shall not be inconsistent with the laws of this state or any applicable rules of the director of environmental protection.

(E) No sanitary or drainage facilities shall be constructed in any county outside municipal corporations by any person until the plans and specifications have been approved by the board of county commissioners, and any construction shall be done under the supervision of the county sanitary engineer. Not less than thirty days before the date drainage plans are submitted to the board for its approval, the plans shall be submitted to the county engineer. If the county engineer is of the opinion after review that the facilities will have a significant adverse effect on roads, culverts, bridges, or existing maintenance within the county, the county engineer may submit a written opinion to the board not later than thirty days after the date the plans are submitted to the county engineer. The board may take action relative to the drainage plans only after the earliest of receiving the written opinion of the county engineer, receiving a written waiver of submission of an opinion from the county engineer, or passage of thirty days from the date the plans are submitted to the county engineer. Any person constructing the facilities shall pay to the county all expenses incurred by the board in connection with the construction

(F) The county sanitary engineer or the county sanitary engineer's authorized assistants or agents, when properly identified in writing or otherwise and after written notice is delivered to the owner at least five days in advance or is mailed at least five days in advance by first class or certified mail to the owner's tax mailing address, may enter upon any public or private property for the purpose of making, and may make, surveys or inspections necessary for the laying out of sewer districts or the design or evaluation of county sanitary or drainage facilities. This entry is not a trespass and is not to be considered an entry in connection with any appropriation of property proceedings under sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code that may be pending. No person or public agency shall forbid the county sanitary engineer or the county sanitary engineer's authorized assistants or agents to enter, or interfere with their entry, upon the property for that purpose or forbid or interfere with their making of surveys or inspections. If actual damage is done to property by the making of the surveys and inspections, the board shall pay the reasonable value of the damage to the property owner, and the cost shall be included in the cost of the facilities and may be included in any special assessments to be levied and collected to pay that cost.

Sec. 6117.02.  (A) The board of county commissioners shall fix reasonable rates, including penalties for late payments, for the use, or the availability for use, of the sanitary facilities of a sewer district to be paid by every person and public agency whose premises are served, or capable of being served, by a connection directly or indirectly to those facilities when those facilities are owned or operated by the county and may change the rates from time to time as it considers advisable. When the sanitary facilities to be used by the county are owned by another public agency or person, the schedule of rates to be charged by the public agency or person for the use of the facilities by the county, or the formula or other procedure for their determination, shall be approved by the board at the time it enters into a contract for that use.

(B) The board also shall establish reasonable charges to be collected for the privilege of connecting to the sanitary facilities of the district, with the requirement that, prior to the connection, the charges shall be paid in full, or, if determined by the board to be equitable in a resolution relating to the payment of the charges, provision considered adequate by the board shall be made for their payment in installments at the times, in the amounts, and with the security, carrying charges, and penalties as may be found by the board in that resolution to be fair and appropriate. No public agency or person shall be permitted to connect to those facilities until the charges have been paid in full or provision for their payment in installments has been made. If the connection charges are to be paid in installments, the board shall certify to the county auditor information sufficient to identify each parcel of property served by a connection and, with respect to each parcel, the total of the charges to be paid in installments, the amount of each installment, and the total number of installments to be paid. The auditor shall record and maintain the information supplied in the sewer improvement record provided for in section 6117.33 of the Revised Code until the connection charges are paid in full. The board may include amounts attributable to connection charges being paid in installments in its billings of rates and charges for the use of sanitary facilities.

(C) When any of the sanitary rates or charges are not paid when due, the board may do any or all of the following as it considers appropriate:

(1) Certify the unpaid rates or charges, together with any penalties, to the county auditor, who shall place them upon the real property tax list and duplicate against the property served by the connection. The certified amount shall be a lien on the property from the date placed on the real property tax list and duplicate and shall be collected in the same manner as taxes, except that, notwithstanding section 323.15 of the Revised Code, a county treasurer shall accept a payment in that amount when separately tendered as payment for the full amount of the unpaid sanitary rates or charges and associated penalties. The lien shall be released immediately upon payment in full of the certified amount.

(2) Collect the unpaid rates or charges, together with any penalties, by actions at law in the name of the county from an owner, tenant, or other person or public agency that is liable for the payment of the rates or charges;

(3) Terminate, in accordance with established rules, the sanitary service to the particular property and, if so determined, any county water service to that property, unless and until the unpaid sanitary rates or charges, together with any penalties, are paid in full;

(4) Apply, to the extent required, any security deposit made in accordance with established rules to the payment of sanitary rates and charges for service to the particular property.

All moneys collected as sanitary rates, charges, or penalties fixed or established in accordance with divisions (A) and (B) of this section for any sewer district shall be paid to the county treasurer and kept in a separate and distinct sanitary fund established by the board to the credit of the district. Except as otherwise provided in any proceedings authorizing or providing for the security for and payment of any public obligations, or in any indenture or trust or other agreement securing public obligations, moneys in the sanitary fund shall be applied first to the payment of the cost of the management, maintenance, and operation of the sanitary facilities of, or used or operated for, the district, which cost may include the county's share of management, maintenance, and operation costs under cooperative contracts for the acquisition, construction, or use of sanitary facilities and, in accordance with a cost allocation plan adopted under division (E) of this section, payment of all allowable direct and indirect costs of the district, the county sanitary engineer or sanitary engineering department, or a federal or state grant program, incurred for sanitary purposes under this chapter, and shall be applied second to the payment of debt charges payable on any outstanding public obligations issued or incurred for the acquisition or construction of sanitary facilities for or serving the district, or for the funding of a bond retirement or other fund established for the payment of or security for the obligations. Any surplus remaining may be applied to the acquisition or construction of those facilities or for the payment of contributions to be made, or costs incurred, for the acquisition or construction of those facilities under cooperative contracts. Moneys in the sanitary fund shall not be expended other than for the use and benefit of the district.

(D) The board may fix reasonable rates and charges, including connection charges and penalties for late payments, to be paid by any person or public agency owning or having possession or control of any properties that are connected with, capable of being served by, or otherwise served directly or indirectly by, drainage facilities owned or operated by or under the jurisdiction of the county, including, but not limited to, properties requiring, or lying within an area of the district requiring, in the judgment of the board, the collection, control, or abatement of waters originating or accumulating in, or flowing in, into, or through, the district, and may change those rates and charges from time to time as it considers advisable. In addition, the board may fix the rates and charges in order to pay the costs of complying with the requirements of phase II of the storm water program of the national pollutant discharge elimination system established in 40 C.F.R. part 122.

The rates and charges shall be payable periodically as determined by the board, except that any connection charges shall be paid in full in one payment, or, if determined by the board to be equitable in a resolution relating to the payment of those charges, provision considered adequate by the board shall be made for their payment in installments at the times, in the amounts, and with the security, carrying charges, and penalties as may be found by the board in that resolution to be fair and appropriate. The board may include amounts attributable to connection charges being paid in installments in its billings of rates and charges for the services provided by the drainage facilities. In the case of rates and charges that are fixed in order to pay the costs of complying with the requirements of phase II of the storm water program of the national pollutant discharge elimination system established in 40 C.F.R. part 122, the rates and charges may be paid annually or semiannually with real property taxes, provided that the board certifies to the county auditor information that is sufficient for the auditor to identify each parcel of property for which a rate or charge is levied and the amount of the rate or charge.

When any of the drainage rates or charges are not paid when due, the board may do any or all of the following as it considers appropriate:

(1) Certify the unpaid rates or charges, together with any penalties, to the county auditor, who shall place them upon the real property tax list and duplicate against the property to which the rates or charges apply. The certified amount shall be a lien on the property from the date placed on the real property tax list and duplicate and shall be collected in the same manner as taxes, except that notwithstanding section 323.15 of the Revised Code, a county treasurer shall accept a payment in that amount when separately tendered as payment for the full amount of the unpaid drainage rates or charges and associated penalties. The lien shall be released immediately upon payment in full of the certified amount.

(2) Collect the unpaid rates or charges, together with any penalties, by actions at law in the name of the county from an owner, tenant, or other person or public agency that is liable for the payment of the rates or charges;

(3) Terminate, in accordance with established rules, the drainage service for the particular property until the unpaid rates or charges, together with any penalties, are paid in full;

(4) Apply, to the extent required, any security deposit made in accordance with established rules to the payment of drainage rates and charges applicable to the particular property.

All moneys collected as drainage rates, charges, or penalties in or for any sewer district shall be paid to the county treasurer and kept in a separate and distinct drainage fund established by the board to the credit of the district. Except as otherwise provided in any proceedings authorizing or providing for the security for and payment of any public obligations, or in any indenture or trust or other agreement securing public obligations, moneys in the drainage fund shall be applied first to the payment of the cost of the management, maintenance, and operation of the drainage facilities of, or used or operated for, the district, which cost may include the county's share of management, maintenance, and operation costs under cooperative contracts for the acquisition, construction, or use of drainage facilities and, in accordance with a cost allocation plan adopted under division (E) of this section, payment of all allowable direct and indirect costs of the district, the county sanitary engineer or sanitary engineering department, or a federal or state grant program, incurred for drainage purposes under this chapter, and shall be applied second to the payment of debt charges payable on any outstanding public obligations issued or incurred for the acquisition or construction of drainage facilities for or serving the district, or for the funding of a bond retirement or other fund established for the payment of or security for the obligations. Any surplus remaining may be applied to the acquisition or construction of those facilities or for the payment of contributions to be made, or costs incurred, for the acquisition or construction of those facilities under cooperative contracts. Moneys in the drainage fund shall not be expended other than for the use and benefit of the district.

(E) A board of county commissioners may adopt a cost allocation plan that identifies, accumulates, and distributes allowable direct and indirect costs that may be paid from each of the funds of the district created pursuant to divisions (C) and (D) of this section, and that prescribes methods for allocating those costs. The plan shall authorize payment from each of those funds of only those costs incurred by the district, the county sanitary engineer or sanitary engineering department, or a federal or state grant program, and those costs incurred by the general and other funds of the county for a common or joint purpose, that are necessary and reasonable for the proper and efficient administration of the district under this chapter and properly attributable to the particular fund of the district. The plan shall not authorize payment from either of the funds of any general government expense required to carry out the overall governmental responsibilities of a county. The plan shall conform to United States office of management and budget Circular A-87, "Cost Principles for State, Local, and Indian Tribal Governments," published May 17, 1995.

(F) A board of county commissioners may establish discounted rates or charges or may establish another mechanism for providing a reduction in rates or charges for persons who are sixty-five years of age or older. The board shall establish eligibility requirements for such discounted or reduced rates or charges, including a requirement that a person be eligible for the homestead exemption or qualify as a low- and moderate-income person.

Sec. 6119.011.  As used in Chapter 6119. of the Revised Code this chapter:

(A) "Court of common pleas" or "court" means, unless the context indicates a different meaning or intent, the court of common pleas in which the petition for the organization of a regional water and sewer district is filed.

(B) "Political subdivision" includes departments, divisions, authorities, or other units of state governments, watershed districts, soil and water conservation districts, park districts, municipal corporations, counties, townships, and other political subdivisions, special water districts, including county and regional water and sewer districts, conservancy districts, sanitary districts, sewer districts or any other public corporation or agency having the authority to acquire, construct, or operate waste water or water management facilities, and all other governmental agencies now or hereafter granted the power of levying taxes or special assessments, the United States or any agency thereof, and any agency, commission, or authority established pursuant to an interstate compact or agreement.

(C) "Person" means any natural person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation other than a political subdivision.

(D) "Beneficial use" means a use of water, including the method of diversion, storage, transportation, treatment, and application, that is reasonable and consistent with the public interest in the proper utilization of water resources, including, but not limited to, domestic, agricultural, industrial, power, municipal, navigational, fish and wildlife, and recreational uses.

(E) "Waters of the state" mean means all streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, irrigation systems, drainage systems, and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface and underground, natural or artificial, which that are situated wholly or partly within, or border upon, this state, or are within its jurisdiction, except those private waters which that do not combine or effect a junction with natural surface or underground waters.

(F) "Water resources" means all waters of the state occurring on the surface in natural or artificial channels, lakes, reservoirs, or impoundments, and in subsurface aquifers, which that are available or may be made available to agricultural, commercial, recreational, public, and domestic users.

(G) "Project" or "water resource project" means any waste water facility or water management facility acquired, constructed, or operated by or leased to a regional water and sewer district or to be acquired, constructed, or operated by or leased to a regional water and sewer district under Chapter 6119. of the Revised Code this chapter, or acquired or constructed or to be acquired or constructed by a political subdivision with a portion of the cost thereof being paid from a loan or grant from the district under Chapter 6119. of the Revised Code this chapter, including all buildings and facilities which that the district considers necessary for the operation of the project, together with all property, rights, easements, and interest which that may be required for the operation of the project. Any water resource project shall be determined by the board of trustees of the district to be consistent with any applicable comprehensive plan of water management approved by the director of natural resources of the state or in the process of preparation by such the director and to be not inconsistent with the standards set for the waters of the state affected thereby by the water pollution control board of the state environmental protection agency. Any resolution of the board of trustees of the district providing for acquiring, operating, leasing, or constructing such projects or for making a loan or grant for such projects shall include a finding by the board of trustees of the district that such those determinations have been made.

(H) "Pollution" means the placing of any noxious or deleterious substances in any waters of the state or affecting the properties of any waters of the state in a manner which that renders such those waters harmful or inimical to the public health, or to animal or aquatic life, or to the use of such the waters for domestic water supply, industrial or agricultural purposes, or recreation.

(I) "Sewage" means any substance that contains any of the waste products or excrementitious or other discharge from the bodies of human beings or animals, which that pollutes the waters of the state.

(J) "Industrial waste" means any liquid, gaseous, or solid waste substance resulting from any process of industry, manufacture, trade, or business, or from the development, processing, or recovery of any natural resource, together with such sewage as is present, which that pollutes the waters of the state.

(K) "Waste water" means any storm water and any water containing sewage or industrial waste or other pollutants or contaminants derived from the prior use of such the water.

(L) "Waste water facilities" means facilities for the purpose of treating, neutralizing, disposing of, stabilizing, cooling, segregating, or holding waste water, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, facilities for the treatment and disposal of sewage or industrial waste and the residue thereof, facilities for the temporary or permanent impoundment of waste water, both surface and underground, and storm and sanitary sewers and other systems, whether on the surface or underground, designed to transport waste water, together with the equipment and furnishings thereof and their appurtenances and systems, whether on the surface or underground, including force mains and pumping facilities therefor when necessary.

(M) "Water management facilities" means facilities for the purpose of the development, use, and protection of water resources, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, facilities for water supply, facilities for stream flow improvement, dams, reservoirs, and other impoundments, water transmission lines, water wells and well fields, pumping stations and works for underground water recharge, stream monitoring systems, facilities for the stabilization of stream and river banks, and facilities for the treatment of streams and rivers, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, facilities for the removal of oil, debris, and other solid waste from the waters of the state and stream and river aeration facilities.

(N) "Cost" as applied to water resource projects means the cost of acquisition and construction, the cost of acquisition of all land, rights-of-way, property rights, easements, franchise rights, and interests required by the district for such acquisition and construction, the cost of demolishing or removing any buildings or structures on land so acquired, including the cost of acquiring any lands to which such buildings or structures may be moved, the cost of acquiring or constructing and equipping a principal office and sub-offices of the district, the cost of diverting highways, interchange of highways, and access roads to private property, including the cost of land or easements therefor, the cost of all machinery, furnishings, and equipment, financing charges, interest prior to and during construction and for no more than eighteen months after completion of acquistion acquisition or construction, engineering, expenses of research and development with respect to waste water or water management facilities, legal expenses, plans, specifications, surveys, estimates of cost and revenues, working capital, other expenses necessary or incident to determining the feasibility or practicability of acquiring or constructing any such project, administrative expense, and such other expense as may be necessary or incident to the acquisition or construction of the project, the financing of such the acquisition or construction, including the amount authorized in the resolution of the district providing for the issuance of water resource revenue bonds to be paid into any special funds from the proceeds of such those bonds and the financing of the placing of any such project in operation. Any obligation or expense incurred by any political subdivision, and approved by the district, for surveys, borings, preparation of plans and specifications, and other engineering services in connection with the acquisition or construction of a project shall be regarded as a part of the cost of such the project and may be reimbursed by the district.

(O) "Owner" includes all individuals, partnerships, associations, corporations, or political subdivisions having any title or interest in any property rights, easements, and interests authorized to be acquired by Chapter 6119. of the Revised Code this chapter.

(P) "Revenues" means all rentals and other charges received by a district for the use or services of any project, all special assessments levied by the district pursuant to Chapter 6119. of the Revised Code this chapter, any gift or grant received with respect thereto, and moneys received in repayment of and for interest on any loan made by the district to a political subdivision, whether from the United States or a department, administration, or agency thereof, or otherwise.

(Q) "Public roads" includes all public highways, roads, and streets in the state, whether maintained by the state, county, city, township, or other political subdivision.

(R) "Public utility facilities" includes tracks, pipes, mains, conduits, cables, wires, towers, poles, and other equipment and appliances of any public utility.

(S) "Construction," unless the context indicates a different meaning or intent, includes reconstruction, enlargement, improvement, or providing furnishings or equipment.

(T) "Water resources bonds," unless the context indicates a different meaning or intent, includes water resource notes and water resource refunding bonds.

(U) "Regional water and sewer district" means a district organized or operating for one or both of the purposes described in section 6119.01 of the Revised Code and, if organized or operating for only one of such those purposes, may be designated either a regional water district or a regional sewer district, as the case may be.

(V) "Homestead exemption" means the reduction of taxes allowed under division (A) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code.

(W) "Low- and moderate-income person" has the same meaning as in section 175.01 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 6119.091.  When fixing rentals or other charges under section 6119.09 of the Revised Code, a board of trustees of a regional water and sewer district may establish discounted rentals or charges or may establish another mechanism for providing a reduction in rentals or charges for persons who are sixty-five years of age or older. The board shall establish eligibility requirements for such discounted or reduced rentals or charges, including a requirement that a person be eligible for the homestead exemption or qualify as a low- and moderate-income person.

Section 2. That existing sections 6103.01, 6103.02, 6117.01, 6117.02, and 6119.011 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.