This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Clean Water for Delaware Act.”

83 Del. Laws, c. 84, § 1; 

(a) The General Assembly finds all of the following:

(1) The waters of this State are among Delaware’s most basic and valuable resources and should be conserved and protected in a manner to realize their full benefits.

(2) Delaware’s continued economic vitality is dependent upon: maintaining and improving the State’s water and wastewater systems; and protecting and enhancing the State’s water resources and natural infrastructure as the foundation for a healthy population and environment to sustain a high quality of life for residents, healthy habitats, as well as an attraction for tourism, employers and workers.

(3) Many Delaware homes, farms, agricultural lands, and businesses are at risk from flooding and drainage hazards, which have environmental, public safety, health, and economic impacts, and some Delawareans lack access to potable drinking water or basic wastewater disposal in their homes.

(4) Delaware’s list of impaired waters includes 377 bodies of water that suffer from excess nutrients, low dissolved oxygen, toxins and bacteria that negatively impact human and aquatic life.

(5) It is important that priorities for clean water projects in this State be given to projects that utilize green infrastructure and enhancement of natural systems to provide ecological benefits that include all of the following:

a. Improvement of water quality.

b. Demonstration of a high ratio of nutrient or pollution reduction to the amount of funding.

c. Improvement of community resilience to extreme weather, sea level rise, and other climate impacts.

(6) Existing federal and state funding resources alone are inadequate to meeting the State’s current and future demand for clean water projects.

(7) It is fitting and proper for the State to encourage local governments, private entities and farmers to undertake clean water projects that effectively and efficiently reduce pollution in the waters of the State by establishing mechanisms to assist planning and financing of such projects at the lowest reasonable costs.

(b) Based on its findings in subsection (a) of this section, the General Assembly determines that it is in the public interest to designate a Delaware Clean Water Trust account to ensure the greatest environmental return on investment through the management and coordination of financial resources available to the State for drinking water, wastewater, drainage, stormwater, and other eligible clean water projects to be funded from the following sources:

(1) Appropriations, including supplemental funds in the bond bill, intended to satisfy all of the following purposes:

a. Section 7903(14) of this title related to the Delaware Safe Drinking Water Revolving Fund.

b. Section 8003(12) of this title related to the Delaware Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund.

c. Section 3923 of Title 7 related to resource conservation and development projects undertaken by the County Conservation Districts in Kent, New Castle and Sussex Counties.

(2) Moneys received as repayments of principal and interest on loans, interest received on invested funds, and other funding made available for the programs and purposes in paragraph (b)(1) of this section.

83 Del. Laws, c. 84, § 1;  84 Del. Laws, c. 233, § 61; 

(a) To ensure coordination of the management of resources available for Clean Water Trust projects and other programs that impact the quality of the State’s water resources, the Clean Water Trust Oversight Committee (“Committee”) is established and shall serve in an advisory capacity to the Governor and the General Assembly.

(b) The Committee shall be comprised of 7 members to include all of the following:

(1) The Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources who shall serve as its Chair.

(2) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Services.

(3) The Secretary of the Department of Finance.

(4) The Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.

(5) The Secretary of the Department of Transportation.

(6) The Chair and Co-Chair of the Joint Capital Improvement Committee of the Delaware General Assembly.

(c) Members who serve by virtue of their position may designate a designee to serve on the Committee.

(d) The Committee shall be responsible for oversight of the Clean Water Trust account and shall produce and publish an annual report and strategic plan for clean water that shall include all of the following:

(1) An annual report, titled “The Mulrooney Report,” accounting for the sources, benefits, and uses of the Clean Water Trust account and other water quality programs funded with state or federal resources including wastewater, stormwater and drinking water infrastructure and programs for drainage, beach preservation, waterway management, cover crop, the conservation reserve enhancement program, tax ditches and conservation cost-sharing that shall include a list of all funded projects.

(2) An annually updated strategic plan that shall include all of the following:

a. Multi-year water quality goals and progress toward meeting those goals.

b. Challenges facing the achievement of such water quality goals.

c. A prioritized list of proposed projects to attain such goals, including increased accessibility to low-income and traditionally underserved communities.

d. Drinking water testing priorities of the State.

e. Recommendations on minimum funding levels for wastewater and drinking water projects benefitting low-income and traditionally underserved communities through low interest loans and affordability grants.

f. Recommendations on strategies that support low-income consumer affordability.

g. An annual work plan report on the implementation of the strategic plan for the previous fiscal year addressing success indicators, deliverables and milestones.

(e) Prior to the publication of the initial annual report and strategic plan, the Committee shall hold at least 3 publicly noticed meetings in Dover to seek input and allow public comment. Thereafter, the Committee shall hold at least 1 publicly noticed meeting prior to publication of the annual report and annually updated strategic plan. All meetings under this subsection shall comply with § 10004 of this title.

(f) The Committee must submit the annual report and the updated strategic plan identified in subsection (d) of this section to the General Assembly, the Governor, and the Director and Librarian of the Division of Research of Legislative Council no later than February 1 of each year.

(g) The Water Infrastructure Advisory Council and the conservation districts shall provide outside, technical assistance and advice to the Committee.

83 Del. Laws, c. 84, § 1;  84 Del. Laws, c. 139, § 1;