The Department has developed amendments to clarify and update grant rules for financially disadvantaged small communities.

NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

RULE NO.:RULE TITLE:

62-505.200:Definitions.

62-505.300: General Program Information.

62-505.350:Grant Funding.

62-505.600:Priority List Information.

PURPOSE AND EFFECT: The Department has developed amendments to clarify and update grant rules for financially disadvantaged small communities.

SUMMARY: The Small Community Wastewater Facilities Grants Program provides financial assistance in the form of grants to municipalities for planning, design, construction, and technical services associated with construction of point source water pollution control projects. Rule development will address minor changes to priority scoring, grant percentage determination and rule clarifications.

SUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COST:  None has been prepared. Any person who wishes to provide information regarding the statement of estimated regulatory costs, or to provide a proposal for a lower cost regulatory alternative must do so in writing within 21 days of this notice.

SPECIFIC AUTHORITY: 403.1835, 403.1838, 403.1838(3)(a), (b), F.S.

LAW IMPLEMENTED: 403.1838, F.S.

IF REQUESTED WITHIN 21 DAYS OF THE DATE OF THIS NOTICE A HEARING WILL BE SCHEDULED AND ANNOUNCED IN THE FLORIDA ADMINISTRATIVE WEEKLY.

Pursuant to Americans with Disabilities Act, any person requiring special accommodations to participate in this hearing is asked to advise the agency at least 5 days before the hearing by calling Robert Holmden at [phone].  If you are hearing or speech impaired, please contact the Florida Relay Service by calling [phone] (TDD) or [phone] (Voice).

THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE: Robert Holmden, Bureau of Water Facilities Funding, MS #3505, Department of Environmental Protection, 2600 Blair Stone Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400; telephone [phone]; or e-mail [e-mail]

THE FULL TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE IS:

 

SMALL COMMUNITY WASTEWATER FACILITIES GRANTS PROGRAM

 

62-505.200Definitions. For the purposes of this rule:

(1) through (14)No change.

(15)“Project costs” means construction costs plus planning, design, special studies, contingency, legal and technical services, land acquisition; and State Revolving Fund loan service fee, allowance, and interest.

(16) through (19)No change.

Specific Authority 403.1838(3)(a), (b) FS. Law Implemented 403.1835, 403.1838 FS. History - New 11-30-98, Amended 7-22-99, 01-25-07.

62-505.300General Program Information.

(1) through (3)No change.

(a)No change.

1.No change.

2.Additional information shall be requested by the Department when the data provided by the project sponsor are incomplete or unclear. Requests for inclusion remaining incomplete or unclear after the first day of the month preceding the month of the hearing September 1 shall result in a minimum priority score for the project.

(b) through (f)No change.

(4) through (5)No change.

(a) through (e)No change.

(f)Site acquisition of sewer rights-of-way, sewage treatment plant sites, and sanitary landfills, and residuals disposal areas.

(g) through (i) No change.

(6) through (8)No change.

Specific Authority 403.1838(3)(a), (b) FS. Law Implemented 403.804,403.1835, 403.1838 FS. History - New 11-30-98, Amended 7-22-99, 01-25-07 _________.

62-505.350Grant Funding.

(1)No change.

(2)If program funding from sources other than grant allocation assessments becomes available, it

(a)Sshall first be used to pay shortages in the annual grant allocation allotment.

(b)Then it shall be used to pay down grant obligations for costs incurred by project sponsors by disbursing these funds directly into the State Revolving Fund. The maximum annual grant amount limitation shall not apply to these funds.  This shall apply to all existing grants and to new grants with SRF loan components the grant portion of projects.

(3) Preconstruction grants. Preconstruction grants shall be limited to: (25.00 – Natural Logarithm of construction costs) times the construction costs divided by 1,000 plus 50% of the costs of Department-approved special studies that are needed to determine project planning parameters.

(a)For projects with a SRF loan component, the grant shall be a subsidy to the loan repayments.

(b)For projects without a SRF loan component, uUp to 50% of the preconstruction grant shall be available for disbursement after a grant agreement is signed. After all planning documentation is accepted by the Department, the remainder of the preconstruction grant shall be available for disbursement. Construction costs shall be limited to a maximum of $10,000,000 in calculating the preconstruction grant amount. All disbursement requests costs shall be for eligible invoiced expenditures.

(4)Construction grants. The amount of funds available to a project sponsor shall be determined by multiplying the construction grant percentage as determined in subsection (5) below, by the project costs. Funds shall be limited to no more than $500,000 annually and shall be limited to a maximum grant project cost amount of $10,000,000.

(a)No change.

(b)For projects without a State Revolving Fund loan component, reimbursement of costs shall be as follows:

1. When the grant percentage times the total eligible as-bid project costs is less than $10,000,000, disbursements shall be the grant percentage times the eligible invoiced project expenditures costs.

2. When the grant percentage times the total eligible as-bid project costs is greater than $10,000,000, disbursements shall be $10,000,000 divided by the total eligible as-bid costs times the eligible invoiced project expenditures costs.

3. Reimbursement for planning, special studies and engineering costs shall be based on invoiced expenditures costs. Up to seventy percent of these costs shall be available after a construction grant agreement is signed. The remainder of the expended invoiced costs may be requested after all procurement contracts are executed and the allowable amount is adjusted to reflect as-bid costs. Design-build projects shall be limited to 30% of these costs.

4. No change.

(5)Construction grant percentage. The grant percentage shall initially be based on the estimated project costs. The final grant percentage shall be based on as-bid eligible construction costs. Construction grant percentage (CGP) shall be determined using the formula:

CGP = 0.67(200-Affordability Index) times the weighted average of the Base Factors (BF) shown in Table 1, below, as determined by the following formula where CC means “construction costs”:

BF = BF1 X CC1 + . . + BFn X CCn

                            Total CC

 

Table 1.

Project Category	Base% Factor (BF)	Base Priority Score (BPS)
Eliminate certified and documented public health hazards	1.00	500
DEP-ordered upgrade/rehab of existing treatment plant that is out of compliance with permit (excludes additional capacity)	1.00	500
Eliminate excessive infiltration/inflow	1.00	500
Eliminate failing individual onsite sewerage disposal systems where greater than or equal to 10.0% failed in last three years (excludes failures due to lack of maintenance)	0.75	400
Compliance with laws requiring elimination of discharges to specific water bodies	0.75	400
Upgrade and rehab wastewater facilities	0.50	300
Additional treatment/disposal necessary to meet new regulatory requirements	0.50	300
Eliminate failing individual onsite sewerage disposal systems where less than 10.0% failed in last three years (excludes failures due to lack of maintenance)	0.50	300
Reclaimed water projects that do not eliminate a discharge that is in violation of permit requirements	0.50	300
Additional capacity for average daily flow greater than 70% of design capacity	0.25	200
Residuals management	0.25	100
Projects not otherwise categorized	0.25	100

 

(6)No change.

Specific Authority 403.1838(3)(a), (b) FS. Law Implemented 403.1835, 403.1838 FS. History - New 11-30-98, Amended 01-25-07,___________.

62-505.600 Priority List Information.

(1)No change.

(a)A priority list of grant fundable projects shall be developed by the Department after the first day of the month preceding the month of the priority list hearing September 1 for the fiscal year for which the list will be in effect. Construction projects shall be given priority over preconstruction projects for non-reserved funds.

(b)through (f)  No change.

(g)When a project sponsor has completed the requirements of subsections Rules 62-505.700(1) and (2) and .750, F.A.C., the project shall be eligible to compete for construction grant funding.

(2)Priority score determination. Eligible 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, calculated to the nearest one hundredth (0.01) one-tenth (0.1), for each project shall be the weighted average as defined in paragraph (a), below, of the applicable base priority scores shown in Table 1, multiplied by 1.2 if the pollution control is directly related to an impaired water body on the state's adopted verified list of impaired waters, multiplied by a cost-to-benefit index as defined in paragraph (b), below, and then increased for severe economic hardship as defined in paragraph (c), below, if applicable.

(a)No change.

(b)Cost-to-benefit index. The relative costs of achieving public health and water quality benefits shall be reflected in the priority score. The ratio of the total construction cost for each project to the weighted average base score (benefit) for that project shall be computed. The construction cost data used shall be expressed in units of one thousand dollars (e.g., $1,000,000 shall become $1,000 for purposes of determining the cost-to-benefit index). The benefit ratio shall be indexed at not less than 1.0000 nor greater than 1.2000. The cost-to-benefit index (multiplier) for a specific project shall be established to the nearest 0.0001 value as follows:

 

1.20 – 0.021 x Natural Logarithm of (Project Construction Cost to Benefit Ratio).

(c)No change.

(3)No change.

(a) through (d)No change.

1.No change.

2.For a construction project, documentation required under subsections 62-505.700(1) and (2), Rules 62-505.700 and .750F.A.C., shall be complete by the above date or that project shall not be considered for funding.

(e)No change.

(4) through (5)No change.

Specific Authority 403.1838(3)(a), (b) FS. Law Implemented 403.1835, 403.1838, 403.804, FS. History - New 11-30-98, Amended 01-25-07,_________.

NAME OF PERSON ORIGINATING PROPOSED RULE:  Phil Coram, Deputy Director, Division of Water Resource Management

NAME OF SUPERVISOR OR PERSON WHO APPROVED THE PROPOSED RULE: Mimi A. Drew, Deputy Secretary of Regulatory Programs and Energy

DATE PROPOSED RULE APPROVED BY AGENCY HEAD: May 16, 2007

DATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT PUBLISHED: June 1, 2007