402 INITIATING A CHALLENGE

402.1 An owner or occupant may challenge the charges assessed by DC Water for water, sewer and groundwater sewer service, or any other billed service as follows:

1. (a) Billing disputes involving usage, meter accuracy, meter malfunction, or leaks, the owner or occupant may dispute the bill by:
2. 1. Paying the current charges in the bill and notifying DC Water in writing, within twenty (20) calendar days after the bill date, the reason(s) why the bill is believed to be incorrect and that the bill is being paid under protest; or
3. 1. Not paying the current charges in the bill and notifying DC Water in writing, within twenty (20) calendar days after the bill date, the reason(s) why the bill is believed to be incorrect.
4. (b) All other disputes regarding billing charges not covered by section 402.1(a), such as erroneous classification due to failure of DC Water to change classification after receiving notice of change by customer, misapplication of account credits, incorrect impervious area, incorrect meter size, or payments applied to the wrong account, the owner or occupant may dispute those charges by:
5. 1. Paying the current charges in the current bill and notifying DC Water in writing, within two (2) years after the date of the alleged erroneous charges, the reason(s) why the current charges and any similar charges issued within two (2) years of the date of written notice of dispute is believed to be incorrect and that the current bill is being paid under protest; or
6. 1. Not paying the current charges in the bill and notifying DC Water in writing, within twenty (20) calendar days after the bill date the reason(s) why the current charges and any similar charges issued within two (2) years of the date of written notice of dispute is believed to be incorrect.
7. 1. For issues related to misapplication of account credits or payments applied to the wrong account, notifying DC Water in writing, two (2) years of the misapplied credit and/or payment, requesting a review of the account for misapplied credits and/or payments.
8. (c) Disputes under § 402.1(a) and § 402.1(b)(2), each bill challenge only applies to the current bill; the owner or occupant must file a separate dispute for each future bill.

(d) Disputes under § 402.1(b)(1):

1. May be treated as continuous and will apply to future bills until the General Manager has issued a decision.

2. The owner or occupant continues to pay the current monthly bill or the General Manager, at the General Manager’s sole discretion, has agreed to a temporary billing arrangement.

(e) Disputes under § 402.1(b), DC Water may review bills rendered within two (2) years prior to the date of written notice of the dispute.

(f) The owner or occupant shall submit their bill dispute in writing to:

District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority

Customer Service Department

1385 Canal St SE

Washington, DC 20003

Or email to: customer.service@dcwater.com

402.2 Challenges will be deemed to be filed untimely as follows:

(a) Challenges under § 402.1(a) will be untimely if made more than twenty (20) days after the bill date.

(b) Challenges under § 402.1(b)(1) and (2) will be untimely if made more than two (2) years after the bill date.

(c) Challenges under § 402.1(b)(3) will be untimely if made more than two (2) years after the misapplied credit and/or payment.

(d) Challenges made more than twenty (20) days under §§ 402.1(a)(2) and (b)(2) shall be subject to the imposition of a penalty for nonpayment of charges as provided in 21 DCMR 112 and/or termination of service for nonpayment.

(e) Challenges made more than twenty (20) days under § 402.1(a) may not be investigated as provided under Section 403.

402.3 Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to relieve the owner or occupant of responsibility for paying all previously or subsequently rendered, uncontested water, sewer and groundwater sewer service charges, penalties, interest, and administrative costs.

402.4 An owner or occupant may appeal a practicability determination made by the General

Manager pursuant to Section 207 by filing a petition for an administrative hearing within fifteen (15) calendar days of the date of the notice required in § 207. This petition shall be filed in accordance with the requirements set forth in Section 412 of this chapter, "Petition for Administrative Hearing".

402.5 An owner or owner's agent may appeal a practicability determination made by the General Manager pursuant to Section 5403 by filing a petition for an administrative hearing within fifteen (15) calendar days of the date of the notice required in Section 5403. This petition shall be filed in accordance with the requirements set forth in Section 412 of this chapter "Petition for Administrative Hearing".

402.6 An owner or owner's agent may appeal a determination of imminent threat made by the General Manager pursuant to § 5405 by filing a petition for an administrative hearing within fifteen (15) calendar days of the date of the termination. This petition shall be filed in accordance with the requirements set forth in Section 412 of this chapter "Petition for Administrative Hearing."

402.7 Non-residential and multi-family owners or their agents may seek an impervious surface area charge adjustment under Subsection 402.1 if the owner or agent can establish that the property has been assigned to the wrong rate class, the impervious service area used in the computation of the charge is incorrect or if the ownership information is incorrect.

402.8 Non-residential and multi-family owners or their agents shall submit a site survey, prepared by a registered professional land surveyor, showing impervious surfaces on the site and other information that may be requested by DC Water.

402.9 A User subject to the requirements of Chapter 15 of this title, may appeal any of the following final decisions made by the General Manager by filing a petition for an administrative hearing in accordance with the requirements set forth in Section 412 entitled "Petition for Administrative Hearing":

(a) Determination that a User's uncontaminated non-wastewater flows are discharging to a sewer specifically designated as sanitary sewer;

(b) Determination regarding the issuance, revocation, or non-transferability of a Wastewater Discharge Permit, or the terms and conditions of a Wastewater Discharge Permit;

(c) Determination regarding the issuance, suspension, termination, or denial of a Temporary Discharge Authorization or Waste Hauler Discharge Permit, or the terms and conditions of a Temporary Discharge Authorization or Waste Hauler Discharge Permit; and

(d) Determination regarding the suspension of water and sewer service due to an

imminent danger to the environment or the operation or integrity of the District’s wastewater system.

402.10 A Non-Residential Customer subject to the requirements of Subsection 112.13 of this title, may appeal the General Manager’s determination denying a Zero FOG Discharge Exemption by filing a petition for an administrative hearing within fifteen (15) days of the date of the General Manager’s written determination in accordance with the requirements set forth in Section 412 entitled “Petition for Administrative Hearing”.

SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 24 DCR 8315 (March 24, 1978), incorporating text of Proposed Rulemaking published at 24 DCR 6206 (January 27, 1978), 12 DCRR §§ 400.37 and 400.37 2; as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 40 DCR 1300, 1307 (February 12, 1993); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 46 DCR 5358 (June 18, 1999); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 48 DCR 1743 (February 23, 2001); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 56 DCR 2730 (April 10, 2009); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 59 DCR 1021, 1093 (February 10, 2012); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 60 DCR 11239 (August 2, 2013); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 66 DCR 10586 (August 16, 2019); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 67 DCR 8839 (July 17, 2020); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 68 DCR 013611 (December 17, 2021).