Virginia Code 32.1-172: Permit required.
A. No owner shall establish, construct or operate any waterworks or water supply in the Commonwealth without a written permit from the Commissioner, except for the extension of water distribution piping having a diameter of eight inches or less and serving less than fifteen equivalent residential connections.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 32.1-172
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Owner: means an individual, group of individuals, partnership, firm, association, institution, corporation, governmental entity, or the federal government, that supplies or proposes to supply water to any person within this Commonwealth from or by means of any waterworks. See Virginia Code 32.1-167
- Pure water: means water fit for human consumption that is (i) sanitary and normally free of minerals, organic substances, and toxic agents in excess of reasonable amounts and (ii) adequate in quantity and quality for the minimum health requirements of the persons served. See Virginia Code 32.1-167
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- Water supply: means water taken into a waterworks from wells, streams, springs, lakes, and other bodies of surface water, natural or impounded, and the tributaries thereto, and all impounded ground water but does not include any water above the point of intake of such waterworks. See Virginia Code 32.1-167
- Waterworks: includes all structures, equipment, and appurtenances used in the storage, collection, purification, treatment, and distribution of pure water except the piping and fixtures inside the building where such water is delivered. See Virginia Code 32.1-167
B. The application for such a permit shall comply with regulations of the Board and shall be accompanied by a certified copy of the maps, plans and specifications for the construction of such waterworks, a description of the source or sources from which it is proposed to derive the water supply and the manner of storage, purification or treatment proposed for the water supply prior to its delivery to consumers.
The application also shall include a comprehensive business plan detailing the technical, managerial, and financial commitments to be made by the owner in order to assure that system performance requirements for providing the water supply will be met over the long term. The Board, in consultation with the State Corporation Commission, shall establish the criteria to be used by the applicant in the development of a business plan.
In addition, the Board may require the submission of a business plan by those existing waterworks that have demonstrated significant noncompliance with the waterworks regulations. The Board may waive the requirement for submission of a comprehensive business plan for applicants who have demonstrated a history of acceptable compliance with waterworks regulations.
If any applicant so requests, the Board shall not disclose the contents of the comprehensive business plan except as necessary to perform its duties.
C. The permit may state the permitted capacity of the waterworks, the permitted source or sources of the water supply, the permitted manner of storage, purification and treatment for the water supply and such other conditions as the Commissioner may deem necessary to afford a supply of pure water.
D. Except as may be provided by regulation of the Board, no other source of water supply shall subsequently be used for any such waterworks, nor shall any change in the manner of storage, purification and treatment of the water supply be made without obtaining an additional or amended permit.
E. Whenever application shall be made to the Commissioner for a permit, he shall examine the application and, as soon as practicable thereafter, shall issue the permit if, in his judgment, the proposed waterworks will furnish pure water. If the proposed waterworks is not in compliance with all regulations of the Board but, in the opinion of the Commissioner, the public health will not be jeopardized, the Commissioner may issue a temporary permit for such period of time and subject to such conditions as the Commissioner may deem appropriate for the owner to achieve compliance with such regulations.
F. No permit shall be assigned or transferred.
Code 1950, §§ 62.1-50, 62.1-56; 1964, c. 475; 1968, c. 659; 1979, c. 711; 1994, cc. 395, 708.