—Loan interest rates – revises the statutory references and some language to bring the code in line with the statutes which were changed the same day the last revision to ch. NR 162, Wis. Adm. Code, took effect.
—Amendments – revises the financial assistance agreement amendment process as it was previously based on availability of present value subsidy, which was removed from the statutes, and clarifies the type of financial assistance that may be provided in an amendment.
—Hardship financial assistance – removes all language regarding hardship financial assistance since the statutes sunset the program.
—Storm water projects – removes storm water language from subchapter II and creates a new subchapter III for storm water projects to clarify procedures for urban runoff projects.
—Interest rate subsidy projects – adds language to clarify using this type of assistance for a storm water project and revises the explanation of the interest rate subsidy calculation to clarify the steps taken to determine that amount of subsidy that is provided for a project.
—Priority scoring system – revises system to incorporate language currently included in the Clean Water Fund Program’s intended use plan, adds clarifying language for projects in which regionalization of wastewater treatment is taking place, provides additional explanation of the reevaluation request process, and shifts the priority when two projects on the priority list have the same score from higher population municipalities to lower population municipalities.
6. Summary of, and Comparison with, Existing or Proposed Federal Statutes and Regulations: All state programs must comply with the federal requirements for the program, as outlined in 33 USC 1251 to 1376 and 33 USC 1381 to 1388. This rule complies with the requirements of the Federal Clean Water Act. 7. If Held, Summary of Comments Received During Preliminary Comment Period
and at Public Hearing on the Statement of Scope:
8. Comparison with Similar Rules in Adjacent States: Each state implements the Clean Water Act consistently with the associated state statutes and federal requirements. Every state revolving fund program throughout the country has unique features, but all of the programs are designed to meet federal Clean Water Act requirements. Each state has a unique priority scoring system based on state priorities but consistent with federal priorities. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reviews program implementation to ensure consistency with the federal requirements.
9. Summary of Factual Data and Analytical Methodologies Used and How Any Related Findings Support the Regulatory Approach Chosen: The implementation of the Clean Water Fund Program does not include regulatory activities. Refinements to the program were established with both internal and external advisory groups with the intent of streamlining processes and clarifying criteria for program implementation.
10. Analysis and Supporting Documents Used to Determine the Effect on Small Business or in Preparation of an Economic Impact Report: These rule revisions are expected to have minimal impact on small businesses. The revisions streamline and clarify existing processes and criteria. The revisions do not contain new requirements for small businesses. The department did a section-by-section analysis of potential impacts to local governments and businesses.
11. Effect on Small Business (initial regulatory flexibility analysis): Minimal.
12. Agency Contact Person: Jeanne Cargill, Bureau of Community Financial Assistance, 101 S. Webster Street, PO Box 7921, Madison WI 53707; jeanne.cargill@wisconsin.gov; 608-436-6080. 13. Place where comments are to be submitted and deadline for submission:
Written comments may be submitted at the public hearings, by regular mail, or email to:
Jeanne Cargill
Department of Natural Resources
Environmental Loans – CF/2
P.O. Box 7921
Madison WI 53707-7921
Phone: 608-436-6080 Fax: 608-267-0496
RULE TEXT
Section 1 NR 162 is repealed and recreated to read:
SUBCHAPTER I — GENERAL
NR 162.001 Purpose. The purposes of this chapter are all of the following:
(1) Establish rules under ss. 281.58 and 281.59, Stats., to implement and administer a financial assistance program for the engineering and construction of treatment works and best management practices. (2) Establish a priority system for distributing clean water fund program financial assistance as provided in s. 281.58, Stats., and the mechanisms and methodology to be used to modify the priority scoring system. (3) Establish rules under s. 281.58 (6) (b) 8., Stats., to implement and administer interest rate subsidies for loans issued by the board of commissioners of public lands for projects to engineer and construct treatment works and best management practices with total estimated project costs of $2,000,000 or less. Note: All forms necessary for funding under this chapter are available on the Environmental Improvement Fund website at dnr.wi.gov/Aid/EIF.html and in paper form from the Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Community Financial Assistance, 101 S. Webster St., P.O. Box 7921, Madison, Wisconsin 53707–7921. The forms are also available on the Department of Natural Resources website. Some information, including most applications, is required to be submitted through the department’s online application system.
NR 162.002 Applicability. This chapter applies to all applicants for and recipients of financial assistance for the engineering and construction of treatment works and best management practices made under ss. 281.58 and 281.59, Stats. Compliance with the applicable requirements of this chapter is a prerequisite to receiving financial assistance under ss. 281.58 and 281.59, Stats. NR 162.003 Definitions. In this chapter:
(1) “Amendment” means a formal, written change to an existing legal agreement or contract executed by all parties to the original agreement or contract.
(2) “American Community Survey” or “ACS” means the nationwide survey conducted by the U.S. bureau of the census to collect demographic, social, housing, and economic data and produce 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year estimates based on population thresholds.
(3) “Applicant” means any municipality that submits to the department any of the following for financial assistance under this chapter:
(a) Intent to apply form and priority evaluation and ranking form.
(b) A financial assistance application.
(4) “Approval” means the written approval of the department.
(5) “Best management practices” or “BMPs” has the meaning given in s. NR 151.002 (4). Note: Under s. NR 151.002 (4), “Best management practices" or “BMPs" means structural or non-structural measures, practices, techniques, or devices employed to avoid or minimize soil, sediment, or pollutants carried in runoff to waters of the state.
(6) “Block group” means a subdivision of a census tract made up of a cluster of blocks having the same first digit of their 4-digit identifying numbers within the tract.
(7) “Board of commissioners of public lands” or “BCPL” means the organization comprised of the secretary of state, the state treasurer, and the attorney general that operates under the authority of ch. 24, Stats.
Note: The BCPL is also known as state trust funds.
(8) “Breach of contract” means the failure of the municipality to comply with any of the following:
(a) The terms and conditions of the financial assistance agreement or interest rate subsidy agreement.
(b) The terms and conditions of the municipal resolution authorizing the issuance and sale of bonds or notes to the clean water fund program.
(9) “Capital improvement” means construction resulting in improvements to real property or depreciable property, or both, and adding to the value or useful life of these assets, including structural improvements, or improvements that enhance usefulness or productivity. “Capital improvement” includes capital assets that are not structural but are necessary for water quality protection or improvement, such as trucks, street sweepers, land for buffer areas, and other tangible assets with a single item cost of greater than $5,000.
Note: The following are examples of capital improvements: constructing permeable pavement or an infiltration pond to control runoff; constructing an entirely new treatment works, or new clarifiers, aeration tanks, or other major components of an existing treatment works or BMP; upgrading existing equipment or installing new, more efficient process equipment, such as equipment for pumping, dewatering, aeration, scraping, skimming, or disinfection; constructing new process, administration, and storage buildings; adding to or constructing major renovations of existing facilities; replacing or rehabilitating aged or undersized sanitary sewer pipes; replacing a roof on a treatment plant building; constructing a new lift station or upgrading an existing lift station; installing security, a supervisory control and data acquisition system, or monitoring equipment as part of a scored project; or purchasing an existing treatment facility, land on which a treatment facility will be constructed, land for buffer areas, agricultural or industrial land taken out of production in order to improve water quality in the area, or necessary mobile assets, such as a street sweeper. Replacing an old pump with a new pump that is the same size and efficiency as the old pump is not considered a capital improvement; rather, it is maintenance.
(10) “Census block” means the smallest unit for which the U.S. census bureau collects and tabulates population information in the decennial census and income information in the ACS.
(11) “Census designated place” means a statistical area delineated for each decennial census according to U.S. census bureau guidelines for the purpose of presenting census data and ACS data for a concentration of population, housing, and commercial structures that is locally identifiable by name, but is not within an incorporated place.
(12) “Census tract” means a small, relatively permanent statistical subdivision of a county used in the decennial census and the ACS, delineated for the purpose of presenting data, typically following visible features or governmental boundaries or both, including approximately 4,000 inhabitants, and designed to be a relatively homogeneous unit with respect to population characteristics, economic status, and living conditions.
(13) “Change order” means an action that specifies and justifies a change to a construction contract that alters the time of completion or the total price, or both.
(14) “Clean water fund program” or “CWFP” means the program established under ss. 25.43, 281.58, and 281.59, Stats., for the purpose of providing financial assistance to municipalities for the planning, design, and construction of treatment works and BMPs. (15) “Compliance maintenance” means the program established and regulated under ch. NR 208, intended to prevent a permittee under ch. 283, Stats., from exceeding an effluent limitation contained in a permit issued under ch. 283, Stats. (16) “Construction” means a set of actions taken to make a capital improvement, including any of the following actions:
(a) Building, erecting, extending, or assembling a treatment works or BMP or a new major asset for an existing treatment works or BMP.
(b) Preparing a construction site or sites of a scored project for work activities, including grading, staking, digging, and demolition or abandonment of existing structures.
(c) Purchasing a package wastewater treatment system or capacity in an existing treatment works.
(d) Altering, modifying, improving, upgrading, rehabilitating, or adding to existing treatment works facilities or BMPs.
(e) Performing major repairs or replacing major components of existing facilities.
(f) Installing new piping or mechanical, electrical, or electronic equipment or facilities.
(g) Remediation of illicit discharges to an MS4 or runoff treatment works.
(17) “Custom tabulation” means a special tabulation of income data from the ACS microdata files that is performed by the U.S. bureau of the census, is not part of the standard ACS data tabulations, and results in generation of a median household income for an area designated by the applicant as the boundaries of a town sanitary district, public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district, or metropolitan sewerage district, or of the area served by the treatment works if the treatment works serves only a portion of the place or minor civil division in which it is located.
(18) “Department” means the department of natural resources.
(19) “Design flow” means the average annual flow or average daily flow specified in an approved facilities plan or approved plans and specifications, the flow specified in a WPDES permit, or the flow required to meet performance standards.
(20) “Disadvantaged business enterprise” or “DBE” means a business entity certified as disadvantaged under the U.S. department of transportation unified certification program or other program approved by the U.S. environmental protection agency to certify disadvantaged businesses.
(21) “Discharge” has the meaning given in s. 283.01 (4), Stats. Note: Under s. 283.01 (4), Stats., “discharge,” when used without qualification, includes a discharge of any pollutant. Under s. 283.01 (5), Stats., “discharge of pollutant” or “discharge of pollutants” means any addition of any pollutant to the waters of this state from any point source. (22) “DOA” means the department of administration.
(23) “Effluent limitation” has the meaning given in s. 283.01 (6), Stats. Note: Under s. 283.01 (6), Stats., “effluent limitation” means any restriction established by the department, including schedules of compliance, on quantities, rates, and concentrations of chemical, physical, biological, and other constituents that are discharged from point sources into waters of this state. Flow rates and flow volumes are considered to be physical constituents restricted by WPDES permits. (24) “Engineering” includes all of the following:
