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HB3883 HFLR Page 1
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - FLOOR VERSION
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2nd Session of the 60th Legislature (2026)
HOUSE BILL 3883 By: Cantrell of the House
and
Mann of the Senate
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to cities and towns; providing
definitions; directing the governing body of the
public utility to engage users of the utility to be
advised of their responsibility to properly use the
system; providing for notification of system
malfunctions to be advised on; limiting liability of
public utilities that implement provided standards;
providing an affirmative defense for third-party
contractors; limiting liability for community public
utility systems for violations or alleged
noncompliance that arose under prior owner or
operator; providing for codification; and providing
an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 37-235 of Title 11, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. As used in this act:
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1. "Public utility" means a municipally owned utility or other
publicly owned utility providing municipal water or wastewater
services through a utility system;
2. "Qualified operations and maintenance program" is a formal,
documented program for the management, operation, and maintenance of
a municipal water or wastewater utility system. The program may be
implemented directly by municipal employees or through a contractual
agreement between the municipality and a third-party operator
delegating responsibilities and liabilities for operation and
maintenance of the public utility to the third-party operator. At a
minimum, the program shall include and document the following
components:
a. the provision of personnel who are certified as
required by the Department of Environmental Quality to
operate the facilities, and the implementation of a
program for ongoing training and education in areas of
process control, maintenance, and safety,
b. a documented preventative maintenance schedule for all
system assets, performed in accordance with
manufacturer's recommendations or accepted industry
standard. The program shall utilize a computer
maintenance management system (CMMS) or equivalent
system to track and manage maintenance activities,
work orders, and asset inventory,
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c. a routine inspection and cleaning program for the
wastewater collection system designed to maintain
capacity and reduce blockages. Such a program shall
include at a minimum, the annual inspection of ten
percent (10%) of sewer lines of the collection system
to determine whether sewage flows are clear,
moderately occluded or severely occluded and, to the
extent financially feasible, a program to clean those
lines identified as moderately occluded or severely
occluded shall be implemented. If such a cleaning
program is not financially feasible, then a program
over a five-year period to clean all lines within the
collection system that have been identified as
moderately occluded or severely occluded shall be
adopted by the governing body of the municipality,
d. a documented plan for responding to system emergencies
on a twenty-four-hour per day, seven-day per week
basis. The plan shall include protocols for
responding to incidents such as line breaks,
overflows, or power failures, and shall establish a
maximum response time for on-call personnel, no more
than two (2) hours from notification if within normal
business hours or within a reasonable time if
notification occurs outside of normal business hours,
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e. the maintenance of comprehensive records, kept for a
period of not less than three (3) years, documenting
all operational activities, maintenance and repairs,
compliance with permit requirements, laboratory
testing results, and all correspondence with state and
federal regulatory agencies, and
f. an analysis at a minimum of once every five (5) years
of the utility's infrastructure needs to identify and
create a priority listing of necessary repairs,
replacements, and capital improvements required to
maintain the long-term function and compliance of the
system. A summary report of such analysis shall be
provided to the governing body of the municipality no
later than ninety (90) days after the end of the
municipality's fiscal year in which the analysis is
completed, and annual progress reports over the next
four (4) years.
B. The governing body of the public utility shall engage users
of the public utility system to be advised of their responsibility
to properly use the system and methods to safeguard against system
malfunction, including, but not limited to, the following:
1. As applicable, adopt a "fats, oils and grease ordinance"
(FOG) that makes unlawful the improper introduction of fats, oils,
or grease from nonresidential entities that are connected to the
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sanitary sewer system and incorporating pre-treatment regulations
adopted by the Department of Environmental Quality for such
entities. Public utilities shall periodically notify sanitary sewer
system participants and dischargers of the restrictions within this
paragraph;
2. An ordinance requiring new construction to be connected to
the sanitary sewer system or remodels of existing commercial and
residential buildings that are already connected to the sanitary
sewer system, to include the installation of a backflow-prevention
device on the private service line connecting the structure to the
sanitary sewer main line;
3. Periodically advise private residential property owners who
are connected to the sanitary sewer system of the option to install
a backflow-prevention device on the private service line. At the
discretion of the governing body of the public utility, private
residential property owners connected to the sanitary sewer system
may be offered public assistance with installation and inspection of
backflow-prevention devices, and
4. Advising public utility customers of backflow-prevention
devices shall be satisfied by annual publication in a newspaper of
general circulation within the service area of the public utility,
publication on the public utility or city-sponsored website, or
annual inserts in ratepayer monthly utility bills.
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C. Public utilities that implement the standards prescribed in
paragraph 2 of subsection A of this section shall be considered in
conformance with the prescribed requirements and recognized
standards for operation of the public utility, and as such shall not
be liable if a loss or claim results therefrom as provided by
paragraph 30 of Section 155 of Title 51 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
D. 1. A third-party contractor operating a municipal utility
system pursuant to a contractual agreement shall have an affirmative
defense against the imposition of administrative penalties by the
Department of Environmental Quality for a period of twelve (12)
months following the commencement date of the contract, provided
that the violations giving rise to such penalties are a direct
result of pre-existing, latent, or previously undocumented
deficiencies in the system's infrastructure or condition. To
qualify for this defense, the contractor must:
a. within one hundred eighty (180) days of the contract
commencement date, complete and submit to the
municipality and the Department a comprehensive system
condition assessment and a corrective action plan that
identifies such pre-existing deficiencies and outlines
a schedule for their remediation, and
b. demonstrate good-faith efforts to implement the
corrective action plan and bring the system into
compliance;
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2. No community public utility system, including its contract
operator, shall be liable under this act, for violations or alleged
noncompliance that occurred or arose under a prior owner or
operator. To maintain liability protections under this provision,
the community public utility system or its contract operator shall
implement a detailed plan, approved by the Department of
Environmental Quality, to return the system to full compliance.
Liability protections shall remain in place for the duration of the
approved plan.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2026.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT, dated
03/03/2026 - DO PASS, As Coauthored.