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S. B. No. 2311 *SS08/R550* ~ OFFICIAL ~ G1/2
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To: Energy
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026
By: Senator(s) Carter
SENATE BILL NO. 2311
AN ACT TO ENACT THE COMMUNITY DRINKING WATER INFRASTRUCTURE 1
SUSTAINABILITY ACT; TO ESTABLISH AN ACCOUNTABILITY PROCESS TO 2
SUPPORT COMMUNITY DRINKING WATER INFRASTRUCTURE SUSTAINABILITY, 3
PROMOTE THE PROTECTION OF MISSISSIPPI CITIZENS FROM POOR WATER 4
QUALITY AND DEFICIENT DRINKING WATER SERVICE, AND CREATE A 5
TRANSPARENT PROCESS THAT PRODUCES CLEAR STANDARDS AND EXPECTATIONS 6
FOR COMMUNITY PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS; TO DIRECT THE MISSISSIPPI 7
STATE BOARD OF HEALTH TO CREATE AND ADMINISTER A STATEWIDE 8
FRAMEWORK FOR ACCOUNTABILITY FOR COMMUNITY PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS 9
THAT INCLUDES A LETTER GRADE SCHEDULE BASED ON CERTAIN CRITERIA; 10
TO REQUIRE THE BOARD TO PROMULGATE RULES AND REGULATIONS TO 11
ESTABLISH AND IMPLEMENT THE COMMUNITY PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM LETTER 12
GRADE SCHEDULE; TO REQUIRE THE BOARD TO PUBLISH AN ANNUAL REPORT 13
ON ITS WEBSITE CONTAINING THE ASSESSMENT, SCORES AND LETTER GRADE 14
FOR EACH COMMUNITY PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM, AND TO REQUIRE EACH 15
COMMUNITY PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM TO PROVIDE NOTIFICATION TO ITS 16
CUSTOMERS OF THE BOARD'S PUBLISHED SCORE AND LETTER GRADE WITHIN 17
30 DAYS FOLLOWING PUBLICATION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 18
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 19
SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as 20
"Community Drinking Water Infrastructure Sustainability Act." 21
SECTION 2. As used in this act, the following terms shall 22
have the meaning ascribed herein: 23
(a) "Board" means the Mississippi State Board of 24
Health. 25
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(b) "Community public water system," means a public 26
water system serving at least fifteen (15) individual service 27
connections used by year-round consumers or regularly servicing at 28
least twenty-five (25) individual consumers year-round. 29
(c) "Contaminant" means any physical, chemical, 30
biological or radiological substance or matter in water. 31
(d) "Person" means an individual, corporation, company, 32
association, partnership, municipality or federal agency. 33
SECTION 3. There is hereby established a community public 34
water system accountability process to: 35
(a) Support community drinking water infrastructure 36
sustainability for the citizens of Mississippi; 37
(b) Promote the protection of the citizens of 38
Mississippi from poor water quality and deficient service by 39
assuring the drinking water provided by community public water 40
systems remains consistently at levels essential for health, 41
safety, welfare and long-term sustainability; and 42
(c) Create a transparent accountability process that 43
produces clear standards and expectations for community public 44
water systems so that assessment of their quality, performance and 45
sustainability will be understood. 46
SECTION 4. The board shall create and administer a statewide 47
framework of accountability for community public water systems. 48
The framework shall include a letter grade schedule based on, at a 49
minimum, the following criteria: 50
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(a) Federal water quality violation history; 51
(b) State water quality violation history; 52
(c) Water system financial sustainability; 53
(d) Operation and maintenance performance history; 54
(e) Infrastructure condition and compliance; 55
(f) Customer satisfaction; and 56
(g) Levels of secondary contaminants. 57
SECTION 5. (1) The board shall promulgate rules and 58
regulations to establish and implement the community public water 59
system letter grade schedule described in this section. The rules 60
and regulations shall provide clear and appropriate point values 61
for each standard set forth in Section 4 of this act and other 62
assessment criteria as determined by the board to calculate the 63
community public water system's letter grade. Point values shall 64
be based on objective criteria to ensure equal and fair 65
assessments. Community public water systems shall be assigned a 66
letter grade of "A," "B," "C," "D" or "F." A consolidated score 67
and letter grade shall be calculated on a weighted-average basis 68
for any person owning more than one (1) community public water 69
system in the state. 70
(2) The board shall publish on its website an annual report 71
summarizing the board's assessment, scores and letter grade for 72
each community public water system. Each community public water 73
system shall provide notification to its customers of the board's 74
published score and letter grade within thirty (30) days following 75
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ST: Community Drinking Water Infrastructure
Sustainability Act; enact.
publication by the board in a manner to be established by 76
regulation by the board. 77
(3) By January 1, 2028, the board shall begin publishing 78
annual letter grades issued pursuant to this section. 79
SECTION 6. If there is a conflict between the provisions of 80
any other law and this act, this act shall govern. 81
SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from 82
and after July 1, 2026. 83