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August 1, 2007
Subject: Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Annual
Project Request
Dear Public Water System
Owner or Operator:
The 1996 Amendments of the
Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) authorized the creation of a Drinking Water
State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) to assist public water systems in financing
infrastructure improvements needed to achieve or maintain compliance with the
SDWA and protect public health. The
State of
Public water systems desiring
to receive financial assistance through the 2008 DWSRF must complete and submit
the enclosed Standard Form for Reporting DWSRF Eligible Projects and the
Estimated Project Cost forms by September 13, 2007. A separate form should be completed for
each project. Projects will be
prioritized to determine which projects will be funded.
Status of project
information previously submitted to the DWP: Water systems that previously applied for funding for projects that
have not been started may not need to resubmit an application. However, the water systems must contact the
DWP prior to the application deadline to discuss their project status.
Project application
deadline
..
.....September 14, 2007
Projects prioritized, placed in IUP
.....October
12, 2007
IUP available for public
review
..
..November 2, 2007
Public review and comment meetings
...week
of November 12, 2007
End of written comment period
November
30, 2007
2008 DWSRF Grant Application submission to
EPA Region I........... January 2008
Grant Award by EPA Region I
...May
2008
Technical/administrative questions regarding the 2008
DWSRF application process should be directed to Roger Crouse at (207) 287-5684
or Nate Saunders at (207) 287-5685. Questions regarding loan applications and
the loan approval process should be directed to Karen Asselin at the Maine
Municipal Bond Bank at (207) 622-9386 or (800) 821-1113.
Yours for safe drinking water,
Roger L. Crouse, P.E.
Acting Director,
Enc:
Attachment A; Standard Form for Reporting DWSRF Eligible Projects; Estimated
DWSRF Project Cost
Attachment A
DWSRF Terms and Conditions
1) Water System and Project Eligibility
Who is eligible?
The Drinking Water
State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) provides assistance to any community system,
either publicly and privately owned, and also to any non-profit non-community
system. So, what does this mean? For communities, any system that serves year
round residents, such as water utilities, water districts, water departments,
water companies, associations, apartment complexes or mobile home parks. On the non-community side, it includes
schools and non-profit seasonal or year round establishments. There are approximately 800 public water
systems that currently qualify for the DWSRF Program.
Who is not
eligible?
Any water system that
serves a federal facility or is a for-profit non-community system is
ineligible. Any public water system that
does not have adequate technical, financial or managerial capacity to ensure
compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) is ineligible unless the
public water system will undertake appropriate changes. Any public water system that is in significant
non-compliance (SNC) with the SDWA is ineligible for funding unless the DWSRF
funds will be used to address the reason for the SNC.
Which projects are
eligible?
Eligible projects
include:
·
Public
health related projects.
·
Projects
which primary purpose is compliance with existing and future requirements of
the Safe Drinking Water Act.
·
Planning,
pilot study, environmental assessment and design costs for eligible projects.
·
Land
Acquisition:
o
Needed
for an eligible project.
o
For
source water protection.
o
Land
integral to the water system.
·
Cost of
restructuring or facility consolidation for systems that lack the technical,
managerial and financial capacity to maintain their system.
·
Projects
that replace aging infrastructure.
·
Source
water protection measures.
·
Refinancing
of eligible projects for debt incurred after July, 1, 1993. Water rates must exceed the maximum water
rate goal as described in the Intended Use Plan.
Ineligible projects
include:
·
Projects
which primary purpose is system expansion or future growth.
·
Projects
which primary purpose is fire protection.
·
Laboratory
fees for monitoring.
·
Operation
and maintenance expenses.
·
Land
taken by eminent domain.
·
Construction
of dams or reservoirs for the storage of non-potable water.
·
Purchase
of water rights.
·
Refinancing
of projects for any privately owned water system.
2)
Types of Assistance/ Use of Funds
·
Interest
rates are set at two percent below the Maine Municipal Bond Banks cost of
funds.
·
Principal
repayments must begin no later than one year after project completion.
·
Up to
20-year repayment term with shorter terms for loans less than $250,000.
·
May have
separate loans for planning, design and construction projects.
·
Water
systems must establish a dedicated source of loan repayment.
·
All
repayments, principal and interest, must return to the DWSRF for future fund
use.
·
States
have authority to decide the availability of disadvantage assistance funds, the
terms and conditions of the loans, and the definition of a disadvantaged
community.
·
Interest
rates may be reduced to zero percent.
·
Assistance
can be in the form of loan principal forgiveness.
·
Loan
repayments can be extended up to 30 years or for the life expectancy of the
project.
·
A maximum
of 30 percent of the annual federal capitalization grant allotment can be used
for disadvantaged assistance.
·
All
refinanced loan payments must return to the DWSRF for future fund use.
·
Refinancing
applies to all project costs that incurred after July 1, 1993 and before a loan
agreement is finalized.
·
Privately
owned water systems are not eligible for refinancing.