DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
RULE NOS.:RULE TITLES:
62-503.200Definitions
62-503.300General Program Information
62-503.430Loan Agreements
62-503.751Environmental Review
62-503.800Audits Required
NOTICE OF CHANGE
Notice is hereby given that the following changes have been made to the proposed rule in accordance with subparagraph 120.54(3)(d)1., F.S., published in Vol. 39, No. 192, October 2, 2013 issue of the Florida Administrative Register.
Note that the box for no legislative ratification should have been marked. The Agency has determined that the proposed rule is not expected to require legislative ratification based on the statement of estimated regulatory costs or if no SERC is required, the information expressly relied upon and described herein. The Department analyzed the potential impact of the proposed rule and determined that there will be no adverse economic impact or regulatory increases that would require legislative ratification. For example, the requirement for the project specific audit has been removed because it is redundant with the single audit act requirement.
Additionally, the formula underlined in subparagraph 62-503.300(1)(e)1. below is not new language it was erroneously omitted in the Notice of Proposed Rule.
62-503.200 Definitions.
For purposes of this rule chapter:
(1) “Act” means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 USC § 1251 et seq., as amended, November 2002 1987, also known as the amended Clean Water Act. Sections 212, 319, and 320 and Title VI of the Act pertain to the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, and are hereby adopted and incorporated by reference. This document is available from the Department’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program, 2600 Blair Stone Road, MS 3505, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400, or at http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/xxxxxx.
(2) through (22) No change.
(23) renumbered (24) No change.
(24) renumbered (23) No change.
(25) through (29) No change.
(30) “Request for Inclusion” means completed Form RFI 1 62-503.900(1), Request for Inclusion on the CWSRF Priority List, effective (effective date of rule), which is hereby incorporated by reference. This form is available from the Department’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program, 2600 Blair Stone Road, MS 3505, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400, or at http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/xxxxxx.
(31) through (37) No change.
62-503.300 General Program Information.
(1) Steps involved in obtaining a loan.
(a) through (d) No change.
(e) Priority system. Timely submitted projects shall be given priority according to the extent each project is intended to remove, mitigate, or prevent adverse effects on surface or ground water quality and public health. The final priority score for each project shall be determined as described in subparagraphs 1. though 4. below.
1. Base priority score. Each project shall receive a base priority score (BPS) based on the weighted average of its components or facilities. The BPS shall be determined based on the following formula where CPS means the component priority score and CCC means component construction cost or:
BPS = [CPS1 x CCC1 + . . + CPSn x CCCn ] / Total Construction Cost
Project components shall be assigned component priority scores according to the categories in Table 1.
Table 1 No change.
2. through 4. No change.
(f) No change.
(2) Allowable project costs. Costs incurred before execution of a loan agreement shall be ineligible for reimbursement upon execution of the agreement unless the project sponsor receives prior written authorization from the Department to incur such costs. Categories of allowable project costs include the following water pollution control activities subject to such limitations for leveraged loans as are necessary to maintain the tax-exempt status of bonds issued by the FWPCFC:
(a) Land necessary for and integral to the treatment process and that will be used for the ultimate disposal of wastewater or stormwater, including the zone of discharge. Funding shall be limited to the fair market value of the acreage, in fee simple, of the qualifying land necessary for and integral to the treatment process, including the zone of discharge. If additional land is acquired, the eligible amount shall be the acreage of the qualifying land necessary for treatment divided by the total area purchased times the purchase price;
(b) through (g) No change.
(h) The purchase of a domestic wastewater facility excluding the value of land that does not meet the requirements of paragraph 62-503.300(2)(a), F.A.C. In addition, an appraisal is required to identify the land costs that must be excluded. being acquired if the Department has issued a notice of violation because the facility exceeds permit limits for nutrients and the non-compliance will be corrected as a result of the project,
(i) through (o) No change.
(3) through (6) No change.
62-503.430 Loan Applications and Agreements.
(1) General.
(a) A complete loan application, Form Application 1 62-503.900(2), State Revolving Fund Loan Program for Point Source Water Pollution Control Loan Application, effective (effective date of rule), or Form Application 2 62-503.900(3), State Revolving Fund Loan Program for Non-Point Source Water Pollution Control Loan Application, effective (effective date of rule), shall be submitted to the Department within 120 days after the project is listed on the fundable portion of the priority list. Both of these forms are hereby incorporated by reference. The project sponsor may incorporate into the loan application, by reference, any information previously submitted to the Department. These forms are available from the Department’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program, 2600 Blair Stone Road, MS 3505, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400, or at http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/xxxxxx.
(b) through (f) No change.
(2) through (10) No change.
62-503.751 Environmental Review.
(1) No change.
(2) Florida Categorical Exclusion Notice (FCEN). A FCEN shall be used The Department shall issue a FCEN for certain projects that are not expected to generate controversy over potential environmental effects. A FCEN shall not be used when there are documented environmental objections to a project before the local governmental agency adopted the planning recommendations provided that such objections have a basis in statute, regulation, or ordinance.
(a) No change.
(b) Projects potentially eligible for which a categorical exclusion will be used are:
1. Rehabilitation of existing water pollution control system components or replacement of structures, materials or equipment;
2. Water pollution control systems that do not change the existing discharge point or permitted pollutant concentration limits and that do not involve acquisition of undisturbed land;
3. Water pollution control systems that serve less than 10,000 people in unsewered communities that involve self-contained individual or cluster systems providing both treatment and disposal of wastewater that will take place near the buildings from which the wastewater is to be discharged;
4. Water pollution control systems in areas where streets have been established, underground utilities installed, or building sites excavated; and
5. Treatment plant upgrades that are solely to enable public access reuse.
(3) through (7) No change.
62-503.800 Audits Required.
(1) Federal or State Audit Required.
(a) No change.
(b) Section 215.97, F.S., and the rules adopted pursuant to that section by the Department of Financial Services or Auditor General imposes audit requirements on the project sponsor and sub-recipients based on designated thresholds for expenditures. Each agreement entered into pursuant to this rule chapter shall include the audit requirements applicable to the project at the time the agreement is executed.
(2) No change.
The person to be contacted regarding the proposed rule is: Tim Banks at (850)245-8360 or email at timothy.banks@dep.state.fl.us
