State Department of Education - Sexual Abuse and Sexual Misconduct Model Response Policy - Requirements
Summary
HB1168 amends Maryland law governing the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) and its water service charges in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. The bill authorizes WSSC to establish one or more customer classes for service rates and charges, including classes based on meter size, and requires rates within a class to be uniform across the sanitary district. It also clarifies that the Commission may set multiple service rates as needed to fund system operation, maintenance, repairs, depreciation, and payments to the District of Columbia.
The bill further changes how WSSC’s minimum or “ready to serve” charge for water may be structured. It allows that charge to include an infrastructure investment component and permits the Commission to base the charge on criteria other than meter size if adopted by regulation. WSSC is also expressly authorized to create customer classes within a meter size for the ready-to-serve charge, which is intended to give the Commission more flexibility in designing rates that better reflect customer categories and system costs.
Impact
The bill amends Sections 25-501 and 25-502(a) of the Public Utilities Article, expanding WSSC’s statutory authority over rate design. It changes current law that tied ready-to-serve charges primarily to meter size and required uniform rates across the district by allowing class-based rates and charges, including for residential, commercial, or other customer categories. This could reduce the disparity faced by certain residential customers with larger meters, while giving WSSC broader discretion to structure water charges and recover infrastructure costs.
Sentiment
The overall sentiment reflected in the bill text is supportive and reform-oriented. The preamble frames the measure as a correction to an inequity affecting a small number of residential customers who must use 1.5-inch meters for sprinkler systems and therefore pay substantially higher ready-to-serve charges. The House action also indicates strong support, with the bill passing 132-0 on third reading, suggesting broad bipartisan approval and little visible opposition in the recorded vote.
Contention
The main policy issue is how WSSC should allocate fixed water-system costs: by meter size alone, as under prior law, or by customer class and other criteria. Supporters argue that class-based rates are more equitable and consistent with practices used by other Maryland utilities and industry standards. The likely point of concern is that allowing broader rate-setting discretion could shift costs among customer groups or reduce the predictability of charges, but no specific opposition is reflected in the available committee or vote record.