— Loan interest rates – revises language related to procedures for obtaining median household income data for applicants that are not a city, town, or village.
— 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.
— Priority scoring system – adds language to provide points for watermain replacement projects that include replacement of lead service lines, removes the financial need section to allow the median household income points to be directly tied to the principal forgiveness points identified in the annual intended use plan, assigns negative points to projects of municipalities that are lacking required capacity items (such as a written emergency action plan or a private well abandonment ordinance), and removes procedures for scoring notifications and reevaluations to allow flexibility in researching what kind of process will work best for program customers and staff as the current process is inadequate.
6. Summary of, and Comparison with, Existing or Proposed Federal Statutes and Regulations: All state drinking water revolving fund programs must comply with the federal requirements of the federal program, as outlined in 42 USC 300g-1. This rule complies with the requirements of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 USC 300f to 300j-26. 7. If Held, Summary of Comments Received During Preliminary Comment Period and at Public Hearing on the Statement of Scope: A preliminary public hearing was not required for this rule.
8. Comparison with Similar Rules in Adjacent States: Each state implements the federal Safe Drinking Water Act consistently with the associated state statutes and federal requirements. Every state revolving fund program has unique features, but all of the programs are designed to meet federal Safe Drinking 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 Safe Drinking Water Loan 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): The department expects no or minimal economic impact directly related to these rule changes.
12. Agency Contact Person: Jeanne Cargill, Bureau of Community Financial Assistance, 101 S. Webster Street., PO Box 7921, Madison WI 53707-7921; 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 166 is repealed and recreated to read:
SUBCHAPTER 1 - GENERAL
NR 166.01 Purpose. The purposes of this chapter are all of the following:
(1) Establish rules under ss. 281.59 and 281.61, Stats., for the implementation and administration of a financial assistance program for the engineering and construction of public water system projects. (2) Establish a priority system for the distribution of safe drinking water loan program financial assistance as provided in s. 281.61, Stats., and the mechanisms and methodology to be used to modify the priority system. Note: All forms necessary for financial assistance under this chapter are available on the department’s website. Paper forms may be acquired at no charge from the Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Community Financial Assistance, 101 S. Webster St., P.O. Box 7921, Madison, Wisconsin 53707–7921. Most information, including applications for financial assistance, are required to be submitted through the department’s online intent to apply and application systems.
NR 166.02 Applicability. This chapter applies to all applicants for and recipients of financial assistance for the engineering and construction of public water systems made under ss. 281.59 and 281.61, Stats. Compliance with the applicable requirements of this chapter is a prerequisite to receiving financial assistance under ss. 281.59 and 281.61, Stats. NR 166.03 Definitions. In this chapter:
(1) “Action level” or “AL” has the meaning given in s. NR 809.04 (1). (2) “Amendment” means a formal, written change to an existing legal agreement or contract executed by all parties to the original agreement or contract.
(3) “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.
(4) “Applicant” means any municipality that submits to the department any of the following for financial assistance under this chapter:
(a) Intent to apply and priority evaluation and ranking form.
(b) A financial assistance application.
(5) “Approval” means the written approval of the department.
(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) “Breach of contract” means the failure of the financial assistance recipient to comply with any of the following:
(a) The terms and conditions of the financial assistance agreement.
(b) The terms and conditions of the municipal obligation resolution authorizing the issuance and sale of bonds or notes to the safe drinking water loan program.
(8) “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 provision of safe drinking water by a municipality, including trucks and other tangible assets with a single item cost of greater than $5,000.
Note: The following are examples of capital improvements: drilling a new well and constructing a well house; upgrading existing equipment or installing new, more efficient process equipment, such as pumps, or treatment equipment, such as chemical feed equipment; constructing new buildings or facilities; adding to or constructing major renovations of existing facilities; replacing aged or undersized water mains; constructing a water system crossing of a highway, railroad, or waterbody; constructing a watermain loop to eliminate one or more dead ends in the water system; constructing, upgrading, or improving an existing storage tank, including recoating the entire exterior or entire interior, or both, of a storage tank; or installing security, a supervisory control and data acquisition system, or monitoring equipment as part of a scored project. 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.
(9) “Census block” means the smallest unit for which the U.S. bureau of the census collects and tabulates population information in the decennial census and income information in the ACS.
(10) “Census designated place” means a statistical area delineated for each decennial census according to U.S. bureau of the census 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.
(11) “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.
(12) “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.
(13) “Community water system” has the meaning given in s. NR 809.04 (5).
(14) “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 water system or a new major asset for an existing water system.
(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 an entire existing water system or buying capacity in an existing water system owned by another entity.
(d) Altering, modifying, improving, upgrading, rehabilitating, or adding to existing water system facilities.
(e) Performing major repairs or replacing major components of existing facilities.
(f) Installing new piping or mechanical, electrical, or electronic equipment or facilities.
(15) “Contaminant” has the meaning given in s. NR 809.04 (13).
(16) “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 municipal water district, or of the area served by the water system if the water system serves only a portion of the place or minor civil division in which it is located.
(17) “Department” means the department of natural resources.
(18) “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.
(19) “Distribution system” means all pipes or conduits by which water is delivered to consumers except piping and fixtures inside buildings served and private service lines.
(20) “DOA” means the department of administration.
(21) “Engineering” includes any of the following:
(a) Performing preliminary planning to determine the need for or the feasibility of building or modifying a water system.
(b) Performing engineering, architectural, geotechnical, hydrogeological, environmental, archaeological, biological, fiscal, or economic investigations or studies.
(c) Preparing surveys, designs, plans, bidding documentation, working drawings, specifications, or as-built drawings.
(d) Coordinating, observing, inspecting, or supervising any of the activities under pars. (a) to (c) or under sub. (14).
(22) “Financial assistance” includes one or more of the following actions taken by the department and DOA under ss. 281.59 and 281.61, Stats.: (a) Providing a loan, principal forgiveness, a guarantee, or credit enhancement to a municipality.
(b) Refinancing a municipality’s interim debt obtained for the project.
(c) Purchasing insurance for a municipality.
(23) “Financial assistance agreement” means a written agreement between a municipality, the department, and DOA that contains the terms and conditions of the financial assistance provided under this chapter to the municipality.
(24) “Financial assistance agreement amendment” means a formal, written change to an existing financial assistance agreement executed by all parties to the original agreement.
(25) “Force account work” means engineering, construction, or other project-specific activities performed by a municipality’s paid employees or use of equipment owned by the municipality in construction of the project, or both.
(26) “Future growth” means distribution system expansion beyond the existing system and excess capacity built into facilities that exceeds standard engineering practices.
(27) “Interim debt” means a financial liability that is subject to repayment and incurred by an applicant to temporarily finance a scored project until permanent financing is obtained from the SDWLP, including liabilities in the form of lines of credit, short-term loans from the board of commissioners of public lands, bank loans, bond anticipation notes, general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, general obligation promissory notes, and certificates of indebtedness.
(28) “Interim debt costs” means the net interest, fees, and charges associated with issuing interim debt, including municipal advisor fees, attorney fees, printing costs, bond rating charges, and trustee fees.
(29) “Maintenance” means activities or procedures that are established, commonplace, or repetitious, and are performed or should be performed frequently or on a schedule to sustain the functional integrity and efficiency of existing facilities and to provide upkeep for prevention of early decline or failure, or are performed as needed in response to minor emergencies, such as watermain repair when a pipe bursts, including all of the following types of maintenance:
