A new House bill would dramatically overhaul the Birmingham Water Works Board, converting it to a seven-member regional board (there are currently nine) and giving the Birmingham mayor the authority to make four appointments with the governor appointing the remaining three.

The bill (HB 177), introduced Tuesday, is co-sponsored Rep. Jim Carms and Rep. David Faulkner, both Republicans.

Now, four BWWB members are appointed by the Birmingham City Council, two by the Birmingham mayor, and one each by the Jefferson County Mayors Association, the Shelby County Commission, and Blount County Commission.

Current board members could be immediately replaced with new appointees if the bill becomes law.

The new law would apply to “municipal water works boards that, on January 1, 2015, or thereafter serves customers or has assets in four or more counties other than the county where the authorizing municipality is located.”

The Birmingham Water Works serves Jefferson, Shelby, Blount, St. Clair, and Walker counties.

The bill would also require “certain qualifications” for appointees.

“All members of the board of directors must be well experienced in business affairs of the complexity of the operation of a water or sewer system,” the bill states.

At least one of the mayor’s and governor’s appointees “must have an engineering background,” the bill reads, and another “must have a financial background”.

Elected officials could be appointed to the board, the bill says.

The bill also requires appointees to each year undergo 10 hours of training “on the duties and best practices of directors of organizations engaged in the operation of water or sewer systems, the obligations of directors under the Ethics Act, and the reporting requirements under this division.”

The bill also forbids members who “had a business relationship with the regional board in the two-year period prior to appointment, or who was employed by a firm that has had a business relationship with the regional board in the two-year period prior to appointment.”

Additionally, the bill states: “Any director may be removed for good cause by the public official who appointed the director if the public official first conducts a hearing that gives the director an opportunity to address the cause or causes for removal.”

Last September, former BWWB chair Chris Rice resigned a few weeks after Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin publicly criticized the board amid the storm of billing complaints that plagued the water works last year.