Title 61, Waters

The engineer acting for the district shall retain a copy of the plans, specifications, and estimates that have been prepared for any improvement. The engineer shall furnish copies at the request of any person at a reasonable cost.

The plans, specifications, and estimates prepared as directed under section 61-24.8-10 are the property of the district, must be filed in the district office, and must remain on file subject to inspection by any interested person.

1. Upon the filing of the engineer's report provided for in section 61-24.8-09, and after satisfying the requirements of section 61-24.8-10, the board shall fix a date and place for public hearing on the proposed project, except when the conditions under subsection 2 are met. The…

At the hearing or in the written notice, the affected landowners must be informed when and where votes concerning the proposed project may be filed. Affected landowners to be assessed have thirty days after the date of the hearing or thirty days after the date of mailing the noti…

In order that there may be a fair relationship between the amount of liability for assessments and the power of objecting to the establishment of a proposed project, the voting rights of affected landowners on the question of establishing the project are as provided in this secti…

When the board proposes to make any special assessment under this chapter, the board or its agent, before the hearing or the mailing of written notice required under section 61-24.8-13, shall inspect any and all lots and parcels of land that may be subject to assessment and shall…

After entering an order establishing the project, the board shall cause the assessment list to be published once each week for two successive weeks in the official county newspaper of each county in which the benefited lands are located and in local newspapers of general circulat…

Within ten days after the hearing under section 61-24.8-17, affected landowners subject to assessment, who believe the assessment has not been fairly or equitably made, or the project is not properly located or designed, may petition the department of water resources to review th…

After the requirements of this chapter have been satisfied and a contract and bond for any work for which a special assessment is to be levied have been approved by the board, the board may direct special assessments to be levied for the payment of appropriate costs and the secre…

If mathematical errors or other mistakes occur in making any assessment resulting in a deficiency in that assessment, the board shall cause additional assessments to be made in a manner substantially complying with chapter 40-26 as it relates to special assessments.

A special assessment imposed by the district, with accrued interest and penalties, is a lien upon the property on which the assessment is levied from the time the assessment list is approved by the board until the assessment is fully paid. The liens have precedence over all other…

The district constructing an irrigation improvement under the special assessment method may resolve in the resolution required by section 61-24.8-07 that a portion of the cost of the improvement must be raised by service charges for the use of the improvement and of the utility o…

In all proceedings for the levy and collection of special assessments, abbreviations, letters, and figures may be used to denote all or parts of additions, lots, lands, blocks, sections, townships, ranges, years, days of the month, and amounts of money.

The district office shall keep a complete record of all the proceedings taken in the matter of making any improvements under this chapter. The record must include all reports and confirmations, all petitions, orders, notices and proofs of publication, and resolutions of the board…

Defects and irregularities in any proceedings had or to be had under this chapter relating to district improvements by the special assessment method, if the proceedings are for a lawful purpose and are unaffected by fraud and do not violate any constitutional limitation or restri…

All special assessments levied under this chapter may be paid without interest within ten days after they have been approved by the board and thereafter bear interest at an annual rate not exceeding one and one-half percentage points above the average net annual interest rate on …

As between a vendor and vendee of real property, unless the purchase contract otherwise provides, the installment of all special assessments for local improvements which are required to be certified and returned to the county auditor in each year become a lien upon the real prope…

Special assessments for the payment of the cost of constructing any irrigation works are payable in equal annual amounts, or in such annual amounts as will permit the annual increase in payment of principal to approximate the annual decrease in the interest on amounts remaining u…

The owner of any property against which an assessment has been made under this chapter for the cost of any improvement may pay in full or in part the amount remaining unpaid and the unpaid accumulated interest. The payment in full discharges the lien of the assessment upon that p…

When the board, by resolution, has caused special assessments to be levied to cover the cost of constructing a project the board shall determine the rate of interest unpaid special assessments are to bear, which rate may not exceed one and one-half percent above the bond rate. In…

The district treasurer shall notify the county auditor not later than August twentieth in each year of any special assessments that were made in the improvement district in addition to those reported in the previous year. The county auditor shall make and deliver to the district …

The county auditor shall extend the special assessments upon the improvement tax lists of the district for the current year and the assessments with interest and penalties must be collected as general taxes are collected and paid over to the district treasurer and shall be placed…

The county auditor shall keep a special assessment record. When the improvement district causes the installments of special assessments for a period of more than one year to be certified, the county auditor shall cause the certified special assessments to be recorded for the resp…

Special assessments of any kind certified to the county auditor by the district treasurer must be paid to the county treasurer and included in the receipt required by section 57-20-08. If the county treasurer receives less than the full amount of taxes and special assessments due…

The county treasurer shall add to all special assessments the same interest and penalties that are added in the case of general taxes and at the same time. The county treasurer shall collect the interest and penalties with the special assessments and shall pay all such interest a…

All special assessments and taxes levied and other revenues pledged under the provisions of this chapter to pay the cost of an improvement constitute a fund for the payment of that cost, including all principal of and interest on bonds and other obligations issued by the district…

At any time after entering a contract for a project to be financed in whole or in part by special assessments, the district may issue temporary and definitive bonds on the project fund created for that purpose in the manner and subject to the limitations prescribed in section 40-…

Improvement bonds may be sold for cash at not less than ninety-eight percent of par and accrued interest, and the proceeds, less accrued interest, must be credited to the construction account of the fund and must be used exclusively to pay those contracts and construction costs. …

Any district having outstanding special assessment bonds, payable in whole or in part out of collections from special assessments, which are past-due or which are redeemable, either at the option of the district or with the consent of the bondholders, may issue refunding special …

Special assessments imposed under this chapter become due and delinquent and are subject to penalties for nonpayment at the same date and rates as first installments of real estate taxes at the same time and in the same manner as provided in title 57. If there is no delinquent ge…

If the cost of construction or maintenance of a project does not exceed the amount provided for construction of a public improvement under section 48-01.2-02, the work may be done on a day work basis or a contract may be let without being advertised. If the costs of the construct…

The legislative assembly declares it to be the policy of this state that safe supplies of drinking water are essential to the maintenance of public health and welfare. Those persons supplied with water from public water systems must be able to rely with confidence upon the qualit…

As used herein, unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires: 1. "Contaminant" means any physical, chemical, biological, or radiological substance or matter in water. 2. "Department" means the department of environmental quality. 3. "Maximum contaminant level" means th…

The department may exercise the following powers and shall have the following duties: 1. Administer and enforce a safe drinking water program pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. 2. Provide technical assistance on request to public water systems of the state and other pers…

1. No person shall construct, install, modify, use, or operate a public water system without prior approval from the department or in violation of the terms of, conditions imposed upon, or order of the department concerning such approval. 2. The department shall provide for the i…

The department may issue variances or exemptions and make rules and regulations governing the issuance, denial, modification, revocation, and suspension of the same to noncomplying water systems. Such variances and exemptions shall be accompanied by a compliance time schedule req…

1. Any duly authorized officer, employee, or agent of the department may enter and inspect any property, premise, or place on or at which a public water system is located or is being constructed, installed, or established at any reasonable time for the purpose of ascertaining the…

Any proceeding under this chapter for: 1. The issuance or modification of rules and regulations, including emergency orders; or 2. The determination of compliance with rules and regulations of the department, shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of chapter 28-32, …

The violation of any provision of this chapter, or any rule, regulation, or order issued thereunder, is declared a nuisance inimical to the public health, welfare, and safety. Whenever in the judgment of the department any person has engaged in or is about to engage in any acts o…

1. If, after the completion of the administrative hearing process, the department determines that a violation of this chapter, or any rule, regulation, or order of the department issued under this chapter has occurred, it shall make all of its evidence and findings available to t…

To coordinate funding for public water systems in North Dakota, there is established a drinking water treatment revolving loan fund to be administered by the department. The loan fund is also authorized under section 1452(a) of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, as amended. Gra…

The department has the following powers and duties and shall administer the drinking water treatment revolving loan fund as follows: 1. To apply for and accept grants of money from the United States environmental protection agency or other federal agencies which must be deposited…

1. It is the determination of the legislative assembly that the federal funds for the administration and implementation of the federal wastewater construction grants program will decline within the years to come, thereby decreasing the amount of funds that the state will have to …

For purposes of this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires: 1. "Corps survey" means the last known survey conducted by the army corps of engineers in connection with the corps' determination of the amount of land acquired by the corps for the impoundment of Lake Sakakawe…

The state sovereign land mineral ownership of the riverbed segments subject to inundation by Pick-Sloan Missouri basin project dams extends only to the historical Missouri riverbed channel up to the ordinary high water mark. The state holds no claim or title to any minerals above…

1. The corps survey must be considered the presumptive determination of the ordinary high water mark of the historical Missouri riverbed channel, subject only to the review process under this section and judicial review as provided in this chapter. 2. Effective April 21, 2017, th…