71-5315.

Legislative findings.

The Legislature finds that safe drinking water is essential to the protection of public health. The Legislature further finds that the construction, rehabilitation, operation, and maintenance of modern and efficient public water systems and safe drinking water projects are essential to protecting and improving the quality of the state's drinking water, that protecting water quality is an issue of concern to all citizens of the state, and that adequate public water systems and safe drinking water projects are essential to public health and to economic growth and development. Systems need to have adequate technical, managerial, and financial capacities to assure that the public is protected. Needed assistance can be provided to systems through the funds created by the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Act. The Legislature finds and determines that the funds should be available in perpetuity for providing financial assistance to such systems and for such projects.

The Legislature finds and determines that these funds will consist of both state money and federal grant funds. In addition, the funds can be increased and additional needed safe drinking water projects for owners of public water systems can be undertaken more expeditiously through the issuance of revenue bonds by the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority and the deposit of the proceeds thereof into the Drinking Water Facilities Loan Fund or the Land Acquisition and Source Water Loan Fund.

The Legislature finds and determines that the issuance of revenue bonds for financing the funds serves a public purpose by assisting public water systems in providing and improving safe drinking water projects and thereby providing safe drinking water to the citizens of the state, promoting the health and well-being of the citizens, and assisting in the economic growth and development of the state. The full faith and credit and the taxing power of the state are not pledged to the payment of such bonds or the interest thereon.