Article 3
Powers and Duties of the Commission
Section 3.1.--General. The commission shall develop and effectuate plans, policies, and projects relating to the water resources of the basin. It shall adopt and promote uniform and coordinated policies for water resources conservation and management in the basin. It shall encourage and direct the planning, development, operation, and subject to applicable laws the financing of water resources projects according to such plans and policies.
3.2.--Policy. It is the policy of the signatory parties to preserve and utilize the functions, powers, and duties of the existing offices and agencies of government to the extent consistent with this compact, and the commission is directed to utilize those offices and agencies for the purposes of this compact.
3.3.--Comprehensive Plan, Program and Budgets. The commission in accordance with Article 14 of this compact, shall formulate and adopt:
1. A comprehensive plan, after consultation with appropriate water users and interested public bodies for the immediate and long range development and use of the water resources of the basin;
2. A water resources program, based upon the comprehensive plan, which shall include a systematic presentation of the quantity and quality of water resources needs of the area to be served for such reasonably foreseeable period as the commission may determine, balanced by existing and proposed projects required to satisfy such needs, including all public and private projects affecting the basin, together with a separate statement of the projects proposed to be undertaken by the commission during such period; and
3. An annual current expense budget and an annual capital budget consistent with the commission's program, projects, and facilities for the budget period.
3.4.--Powers of Commission. The commission may:
1. Plan, design, acquire, construct, reconstruct, complete, own, improve, extend, develop, operate, and maintain any and all projects, facilities, properties, activities, and services which are determined by the commission to be necessary, convenient, or useful for the purposes of this compact.
2. Establish standards of planning, design, and operation of all projects and facilities in the basin to the extent they affect water resources, including without limitation thereto water, sewage and other waste treatment plants and facilities, pipelines, transmission lines, stream and lake recreational facilities, trunk mains for water distribution, local flood protection works, watershed management programs, and ground water recharging operations.
3. Conduct and sponsor research on water resources and their planning, use, conservation, management, development, control, and protection, and the capacity, adaptability, and best utility of each facility thereof, and collect, compile, correlate, analyze, report, and interpret data on water resources and uses in the basin, including without limitation thereto the relation of water to other resources, industrial water technology, ground water movement, relation between water price and water demand and other economic factors, and general hydrological conditions.
4. Collect, compile, coordinate, and interpret systematic surface and ground water data, and publicize such information when and as needed for water uses, flood warning, quality maintenance, or other purposes.
5. Conduct ground and surface water investigations, tests, and operations, and compile data relating thereto as may be required to formulate and administer the comprehensive plan.
6. Prepare, publish, and disseminate information and reports concerning the water problems of the basin and for the presentation of the needs and resources of the basin and policies of the commission to executive and legislative branches of the signatory parties.
7. Negotiate loans, grants, gifts, services, or other aids as may be lawfully available from public or private sources to finance or assist in effectuating any of the purposes of this compact, and receive and accept them upon terms and conditions, and subject to provisions, as may be required by Federal or state law or as the commission may deem necessary or desirable.
8. Exercise such other and different powers as may be delegated to it by this compact or otherwise pursuant to law, and have and exercise all powers necessary or convenient to carry out its express powers and other powers which reasonably may be implied therefrom.
9. Adopt, amend, and repeal rules and regulations to implement this compact.
3.5.--Duties of the Commission. The commission shall:
1. Develop and effectuate plans, policies, and projects relating to water resources, adopt, promote, and coordinate policies and standards for water resources conservation, control, utilization, and management, and promote and implement the planning, development, and financing of water resources projects.
2. Undertake investigations, studies, and surveys, and acquire, construct, operate, and maintain projects and facilities in regard to the water resources of the basin, whenever it is deemed necessary to do so to activate or effectuate any of the provisions of this compact.
3. Administer, manage, and control water resources in all matters determined by the commission to be interstate in nature or to have a major effect on the water resources and water resources management.
4. Assume jurisdiction in any matter affecting water resources whenever it determines after investigation and public hearing upon due notice given, that the effectuation of the comprehensive plan or the implementation of this compact so requires. If the commission finds upon subsequent hearing requested by an affected signatory party that the party will take the necessary action, the commission may relinquish jurisdiction.
5. Investigate and determine if the requirements of the compact or the rules and regulations of the commission are complied with, and if satisfactory progress has not been made, institute an action or actions in its own name in any state or Federal court of competent jurisdiction to compel compliance with any and all of the provisions of this compact or any of the rules and regulations of the commission adopted pursuant thereto. An action shall be instituted in the name of the commission and shall be conducted by its own counsel.
3.6.--Cooperative Legislation and Further Jurisdiction.
(a) Each of the signatory parties agrees that it will seek enactment of such additional legislation as will be required to enable its officers, departments, commissions, boards, and agents to accomplish effectively the obligations and duties assumed under the terms of this compact.
(b) Nothing in the compact shall be construed to repeal, modify, or qualify the authority of any signatory party to enact any legislation or enforce any additional conditions and restrictions within its jurisdiction.
3.7.--Coordination and Cooperation. The commission shall promote and aid the coordination of the activities and programs of Federal, state, municipal, and private agencies concerned with water resources administration in the basin. To this end, but without limitation thereto, the commission may:
1. Advise, consult, contract, financially assist, or otherwise cooperate with any and all such agencies;
2. Employ any other agency or instrumentality of any of the signatory parties or of any political subdivision thereof, in the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of structures, and the installation and management of river control systems, or for any other purpose;
3. Develop and adopt plans and specifications for particular water resources projects and facilities which so far as consistent with the comprehensive plan incorporate any separate plans of other public and private organizations operating in the basin, and permit the decentralized administration thereof;
4. Qualify as a sponsoring agency under any Federal legislation heretofore or hereafter enacted to provide financial or other assistance for the planning, conservation, utilization, development, management, or control of water resources.
3.8.--Allocations, Diversions and Releases.
(a) The commission shall have power from time to time as the need appears, to allocate the waters of the basin to and among the states signatory to this compact and impose related conditions, obligations, and release requirements.
(b) The commission shall have power from time to time as the need appears to enter into agreements with other river basin commissions or other states with respect to in-basin and out-of-basin allocations, withdrawals, and diversions.
(c) No allocation of waters made pursuant to this section shall constitute a prior appropriation of the waters of the basin or confer any superiority of right in respect to the use of those waters, nor shall any such action be deemed to constitute an apportionment of the waters of the basin among the parties hereto. This subsection shall not be deemed to limit or restrict the power of the commission to enter into covenants with respect to water supply, with a duration not exceeding the life of this compact, as it may deem necessary for the benefit or development of the water resources of the basin.
3.9.--Rates and Charges. The commission, from time to time after public hearing upon due notice given may fix, alter, and revise rates, rentals, charges, and tolls, and classifications thereof, without regulation or control by any department, office, or agency of any signatory party, for the use of facilities owned or operated by it, and any services or products which it provides.
3.10.--Referral and Review. No projects affecting the water resources of the basin, except those not requiring review and approval by the commission under paragraph 3 following, shall be undertaken by any person, governmental authority or other entity prior to submission to and approval by the commission or appropriate agencies of the signatory parties for review.
1. All water resources projects for which a permit or other form of permission to proceed with construction or implementation is required by legislative action of a signatory party or by rule or regulation of an office or agency of a signatory party having functions, powers, and duties in the planning, conservation, development, management, or control of water resources shall be submitted as heretofore to the appropriate office or agency of the signatory party for review and approval. To assure that the commission is apprised of all projects within the basin, monthly reports and listings of all permits granted, or similar actions taken, by offices or agencies of the signatory parties shall be submitted to the commission in a manner prescribed by it.
Those projects which also require commission approval pursuant to the provisions of paragraphs 2(ii) and 2(iii) following shall be submitted to the commission through appropriate offices or agencies of a signatory party, except that, if no agency of a signatory party has jurisdiction, such projects shall be submitted directly to the commission in such manner as the commission shall prescribe.
2. Approval of the commission shall be required for, but not limited to, the following:
(i) All projects on or crossing the boundary between any two signatory states;
(ii) Any project involving the diversion of water;
(iii) Any project within the boundaries of any signatory state found and determined by the commission or by any agency of a signatory party having functions, powers, and duties in the planning, conservation, development, management, or control of water resources to have a significant effect on water resources within another signatory state; and
(iv) Any project which has been included by the commission, after hearing, as provided in Article 14, section 14.1, as a part of the commission's comprehensive plan for the development of the water resources of the basin, or which would have a significant effect upon the plan.
3. Review and approval by the commission shall not be required for:
(i) Projects which fall into an exempt classification or designation established by legislative action of a signatory party or by rule or regulation of an office or agency of a signatory party having functions, powers, and duties in the planning, conservation, development, management, or control of water resources. The sponsors of those projects are not required to obtain a permit or other form of permission to proceed with construction or implementation, unless it is determined by the commission or by the agency of a signatory party that such project or projects may cause an adverse, adverse cumulative, or an interstate effect on water resources of the basin, and the project sponsor has been notified in writing by the commission or by the agency of a signatory party that commission approval is required.
(ii) Projects which are classified by the commission as not requiring its review and approval, for so long as they are so classified.
4. The commission shall approve a project if it determines that the project is not detrimental to the proper conservation, development, management, or control of the water resources of the basin and may modify and approve as modified, or may disapprove the project, if it determines that the project is not in the best interest of the conservation, development, management, or control of the basin's water resources, or is in conflict with the comprehensive plan.
5. The commission, after consultation with the appropriate offices or agencies of the signatory parties, shall establish the procedure of submission, review, and consideration of projects. Any procedure for review and approval of diversions of water shall include public hearing on due notice given with opportunity for interested persons, agencies, governmental units, and signatory parties to be heard and to present evidence. A complete transcript of the proceedings at the hearing shall be made and preserved, and it shall be made available under rules for that purpose adopted by the commission.
6. Any determination of the commission pursuant to this article or any article of the compact providing for judicial review shall be subject to such judicial review in any court of competent jurisdiction, provided that an action or proceeding for such review is commenced within 90 days from the effective date of the determination sought to be reviewed; but a determination of the commission concerning a diversion, under section 3.10-2(ii) with the claimed effect of reducing below a proper minimum the flow of water in that portion of the basin within the area of a signatory party, shall be subject to judicial review under the particular provisions of paragraph 7 below.
7. Any signatory party deeming itself aggrieved by an action of the commission concerning a diversion under section 3.10-2(ii) with the claimed effect of reducing below a proper minimum the flow of water in that portion of the basin which lies within the area of that signatory party, and notwithstanding the powers provided to the commission by this compact, may have review of commission action approving the diversion in the Supreme Court of the United States; provided that a proceeding for such review is commenced within one year from the date of action sought to be reviewed. Any such review shall be on the record made before the commission. The action of the commission shall be affirmed, unless the court finds that it is not supported by substantial evidence.
3.11.--Advisory Committees. The commission may constitute and empower advisory committees.