As Amended
SEC. 49-17-163. Legislative findings and declaration of purpose.
(1) It is hereby found and declared that a critical health hazard to the residents of the State of Mississippi results from the pollution of the waters in the Mississippi Sound which is one (1) of the state's basic resources; that such pollution is adversely affecting the economy and growth of the state; and that such pollution is caused primarily by the operation of inadequate wastewater collection and treatment facilities within the counties bordering the Gulf of Mexico.
(2) It is further found and declared that it is in the public interest to foster and promote by all reasonable means the abatement of pollution of water in or bordering the state and thus to reduce and ultimately abate the menace to the public health and welfare resulting from such pollution; that the abatement of the pollution of the waters in the Mississippi Sound can best be accomplished through the establishment of regional wastewater management districts to provide for the planning and financing of adequate wastewater collection and treatment facilities for the benefit of all public agencies and other persons within those counties bordering the Gulf of Mexico, who desire by means of and through such districts to obtain such facilities; and that the establishment of a regional wastewater management district will serve to maximize the amount of federal aid and assistance which can be received for this pollution abatement effort.
(3) It is further found and declared that to aid in remedying these conditions, and to promote the development and operation of adequate wastewater collection and treatment facilities and thereby to abate such pollution, public bodies corporate and politic of the state may be created with authority to cause and assist in compliance with the standards of water quality established by the Mississippi Air and Water Pollution Control Law, appearing as Section 49-17-1 et seq., Mississippi Code of 1972, and by the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, appearing as 33 U.S.C. 1251, as amended, regarding collection and treatment facilities located in the counties bordering the Gulf of Mexico; to plan, acquire, construct, finance, develop, own, operate or maintain wastewater collection and treatment facilities within said counties; and to apply and contract for and to accept grants-in-aid and other funds from the federal government and the state government and their agencies in this regard.
(4) The Legislature further finds that the authority and powers conferred under Sections 49-17-161 through 49-17-209 and the expenditure of public moneys pursuant thereto constitute a valid public purpose; that the creation and establishment of the Southern Regional Wastewater Management District is necessary and essential to the accomplishment of the aforesaid purposes; that Sections 49-17-161 through 49-17-209 operate on a subject in which the state at large is interested; and that each of these matters are declared as a matter of express legislative determination.
SOURCES: Laws, 1980, ch. 519, Sec. 2. Laws, 1993, ch. 321, Sec. 3, eff from and after passage (approved March 12, 1993).