65.8901 Legislative findings -- Statutory authority for regional wastewater commission. (1) The General Assembly finds that regionalization of utility services can benefit Kentuckians by sharing the capital and operating costs of facilities among many users while protecting and enhancing the water quality of the Commonwealth's watersheds, creeks, lakes, and rivers. The General Assembly additionally finds and declares that: (a) Continued economic growth in the Commonwealth is dependent upon the expansion of infrastructure to promote industrial, commercial, and residential development; (b) Industrial, commercial, institutional, and residential development must be undertaken in a manner consistent with applicable planning, and in a manner that safeguards the waters of the Commonwealth from pollution; (c) The challenges of improving and safeguarding the Commonwealth's watersheds, creeks, streams, lakes, and rivers through improvements infrastructure and expanded wastewater treatment capacity favor a cooperative, regional approach; the quality of in wastewater (d) The Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission has realigned the mission at Fort Knox, a one hundred nine thousand (109,000) acre military reservation located in three (3) counties of the Commonwealth, resulting in significant economic expansion in the region encompassing the post; (e) The ongoing regional economic expansion in the Fort Knox area of Hardin, Bullitt, and Meade counties resulting from BRAC, and the industrial, commercial and residential development throughout the Salt River Basin, including expansion in the adjacent counties of Oldham and Jefferson, provide a unique opportunity to illustrate the advisability of adopting a regionally integrated approach to wastewater management as a cost-effective and more affordable way to preserve Kentucky's water resources; and (f) It is, therefore, the intent of the General Assembly to authorize the creation of a regional wastewater commission in accordance with KRS 65.8901 to 65.8923, within the counties of Bullitt, Hardin, Jefferson, Meade, and Oldham, or portions of those counties, for the purposes of preserving water quality and developing infrastructure in the Salt River Basin sufficient to promote and sustain industrial, commercial, and residential development. (2) KRS 65.8901 to 65.8923 shall constitute full and complete authority for the creation of a regional wastewater commission and for carrying out the powers and duties of the commission. Effective: June 8, 2011 History: Created 2011 Ky. Acts ch. 98, sec. 1, effective June 8, 2011.