Section 4: National fund for the development of water supplies.

The fee provided for in 1° of article L. 2335-10 is payable by drinking water utilities regardless of how these utilities are operated. Notwithstanding any provisions to the contrary, these utilities are authorised to recover the amount of the fee from users, without any surcharge for recovery or other costs.

All supplies of drinking water, whether paid for or free of charge, give rise to the application of the charge, with the exception of: 1° Supplies made to other public drinking water distribution services; 2° The supply of public standpipes, washbasins, public drinking troughs and urinals, washing, sprinkling and fire hydrants, and sewer charging tanks.

Consumption of water distributed by connections with a diameter greater than forty millimetres is subject to an annual flat-rate assessment by the distributor, verified by the technical service responsible for inspection. Consumption thus determined gives rise to the application of the tariff provided for in article L. 2335-13.

Agreements between the Minister of the Economy and Finance and the Minister of Agriculture, on the one hand, and the Caisse Nationale de Crédit Agricole, on the other hand, determine the terms and conditions under which this body carries out the operations chargeable to the National Fund.

The decrees in the Council of State provided for in Article L. 2335-12 are issued on the report of the Minister for the Interior, the Minister for the Economy and Finance and the Minister for Agriculture.

Distributors are required to pay the Treasury the amount of the fees in the month following their collection from users or, where there is no collection, in January for the previous year. In the absence of payment by the distributor, recovery of the fee is pursued against the distributor in accordance with the rules applicable to the recovery of State debts unrelated to taxes and property. In the event of…

For the application of Article L. 2335-9, all municipalities not included in the list defined in Annex VIII to this Code are considered to be rural.