281.58(8e)
(8e) Priority. The department shall establish a priority list in accordance with
33 USC 1381 to
1387 which ranks each project. The ranking on the priority list shall be based on all of the following:
281.58(8e)(b)
(b) The impact of the project on groundwater and surface water quality.
281.58(8e)(cm)
(cm) A factor that gives higher priority than would otherwise be given to a project to serve more than one municipality if all of the following apply:
281.58(8e)(cm)1.
1. Each municipality to be served by the project has a population of 2,500 or less.
281.58(8e)(cm)2.
2. At least one of the municipalities to be served by the project has a wastewater treatment system that is unusable because of failures of the system.
281.58(8e)(cm)3.
3. The municipalities to be served by the project are submitting an application for a new joint treatment work.
281.58(8e)(cm)4.
4. At least one of the municipalities to be served by the treatment work has been ordered to upgrade a current system.
281.58(8m)(a)(a) A municipality shall submit notice to the department of its intent to apply for financial assistance under this section and
s. 281.59. A municipality shall submit the notice at least 6 months before the beginning of the fiscal year in which it will request to receive financial assistance. The notice shall be in a form prescribed by the department and the department of administration.
281.58(8m)(c)
(c) The department may waive
par. (a) upon the written request of a municipality.
281.58(8s)
(8s) Facility plan. A municipality seeking financial assistance for a project under this section shall complete a facility plan as required by the department by rule.
281.58(9)(a)(a) After the department approves a municipality's facility plan submitted under
sub. (8s), the municipality shall submit an application for participation to the department. The application shall be in such form and include such information as the department and the department of administration prescribe and shall include design plans and specifications that are approvable by the department under this chapter. The department shall review applications for participation in the clean water fund program. The department shall determine which applications meet the eligibility requirements and criteria under
subs. (6),
(7),
(8),
(8m) and
(13).
281.58(9)(ae)
(ae) A municipality that submits an application under
par. (a) without design plans and specifications may obtain an initial determination of financial eligibility from the department of administration. The department of natural resources may not approve a municipality's application until the municipality submits approvable design plans and specifications.
281.58(9)(am)
(am) A municipality may not submit more than one application under
par. (a) for any single project in any 12-month period except that this paragraph does not apply to applications for financial assistance for additional costs of an approved project.
281.58(9)(b)
(b) A municipality seeking financial assistance for a project under the clean water fund program shall complete an environmental analysis sequence as required by the department by rule.
281.58(9)(c)
(c) If a municipality is serviced by more than one sewerage district for wastewater pollution abatement, each service area of the municipality shall be considered a separate municipality for purposes of obtaining financial assistance under the clean water fund program.
281.58(9)(d)
(d) The department of administration and the department jointly may charge and collect service fees, established by rule, which shall cover the estimated costs of reviewing and acting upon the application and servicing the financial assistance agreement. No service fee established by rule under this paragraph may be charged to or collected from an applicant for financial assistance under
s. 281.59 (13).
281.58(9)(e)
(e) If the department of natural resources and the department of administration determine that the governor's recommendation, as set forth in the executive budget bill, for the amount under
s. 281.59 (3e) (b), the amount available under
s. 20.866 (2) (tc), or the amount available under
s. 281.59 (4) (f) for a biennium is insufficient to provide funding for all projects for which applications will be approved during that biennium, the department shall inform municipalities that, if the governor's recommendations are approved, clean water fund program assistance during a fiscal year of that biennium will be available only to municipalities that submit financial assistance applications by the June 30 preceding that fiscal year.
281.58(9)(f)
(f) The fees collected under
par. (d) shall be credited to the environmental improvement fund.
281.58(9m)
(9m) Acceptance of application; allocation of funding. 281.58(9m)(a)(a) Subject to
pars. (c) and
(d), the department shall approve an application after all of the following occur:
281.58(9m)(a)1.
1. The department determines that the project meets the eligibility requirements and criteria under
subs. (7),
(8),
(8m) and
(8s).
281.58(9m)(c)
(c) The department may approve an application under
par. (a) in a year only after the amount under
s. 281.59 (3e) (b) for the biennium in which that year falls has been approved by the legislature under
s. 281.59 (3e) (b).
281.58(9m)(d)
(d) The department may not approve an application under
par. (a) for a project that is not on the priority list under
sub. (8e).