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<br />Senate Bill 802 Session Law 2024-44 Page 9 <br />… <br />(2) An Employee Stock Ownership Plan company in which at least fifty-one <br />percent (51%) of the stock is owned by one or more persons who plan <br />participants are members of at least one of the groups set forth in subsection <br />(b) of this section. An ESOP company applying for certification as a <br />historically underutilized business shall provide an attestation that it meets the <br />requirements of this subdivision together with such documentation supporting <br />the attestation as may be required by the Secretary." <br /> <br />MODERNIZE WASTEWATER PERMITTING TO SUPPORT ENVIRONMENTALLY <br />SOUND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT <br />SECTION 5.1.(a) The General Assembly finds all of the following: <br />(1) Residents of the State should be assured enjoyment of, and access to, proven <br />and reasonable methods of treating and disposing of wastewater that embrace <br />new technologies. <br />(2) As the State continues to grow and attract businesses, it is critical that <br />wastewater treatment and disposal facilities are provided for those businesses; <br />and adequate and affordable housing that is proximate to those businesses <br />must be available to assure the success of those businesses. <br />(3) Residents of the State should be assured treatment in an equitable manner to <br />their counterparts within other states comprising the United States <br />Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) Region 4 where permits are <br />authorized and issued for the discharge of treated wastewater from <br />municipalities, businesses, and developments to, for example, receiving <br />waters "in which natural flow is intermittent, or under certain circumstances <br />non-existent" (Alabama Admin. Code r. 335-6-10-.09). <br />(4) The discharge of treated wastewater to low flow or zero flow receiving waters <br />is of low risk to the environment, protects and improves water quality, and <br />provides the most prudent use of ratepayer funds. <br />(5) For all these reasons, it is necessary to establish methodologies and rules for <br />the discharge of treated domestic wastewaters with low risk following site <br />specific criteria to surface waters of the State, including wetlands, perennial <br />streams, and unnamed tributaries of named and classified streams and <br />intermittent streams or drainage courses where the 7Q10 flow or 30Q2 flow <br />of the receiving waters is estimated to be low flow or zero flow, as determined <br />by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). <br />(6) This act preserves and maintains the authority of the Department of <br />Environmental Quality (Department) for appropriate review, including <br />opportunities for public comment, and requires the Department and the <br />Environmental Management Commission (Commission) to seek necessary <br />approvals from USEPA to adopt temporary and permanent rules to authorize <br />discharges of wastewater to such receiving waters. <br />SECTION 5.1.(b) G.S. 143-215.1(c8) is repealed. <br />SECTION 5.1.(c) Section 12.9 of S.L. 2023-134 is repealed. <br />SECTION 5.1.(d) No later than August 1, 2024, the Department of Environmental <br />Quality (Department) and the Environmental Management Commission (Commission) shall <br />develop and submit to the United States Environmental Protection Agency for USEPA's approval <br />draft rules that establish methodologies and permitting requirements for the discharge of treated <br />domestic wastewaters with low risk following site-specific criteria to surface waters of the State, <br />including wetlands, perennial streams, and unnamed tributaries of named and classified streams <br />and intermittent streams or drainage courses where the 7Q10 flow or 30Q2 flow of the receiving <br />13