281.58(8)(k)3.3. A guarantee or a purchase of insurance for a municipal obligation which will permit the municipality credit market access not otherwise available or which will reduce the interest rate on the obligation to not less than the market rate.

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)(a)(a) The type of project and the order in which it is listed under sub. (7) (b) 1. to 6.

281.58(8e)(b)(b) The impact of the project on groundwater and surface water quality.

281.58(8e)(c)(c) The impact of the project on public health.

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)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)(d)(d) Any other factor determined by the department.

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. 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), 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 design plans and specifications.

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 total amount that the department of administration projects will be available to provide financial assistance for projects under this section for a biennium, as set forth in the biennial finance plan under s. 281.59 (3) (a) 2. and as updated under s. 281.59 (3) (bm) 2., 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 September 30 of 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)(a)(a) Subject to par. (d), the department shall approve an application after all of the following occur:

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).

281.58(9m)(e)1.1. Except as provided under par. (f) and sub. (13), if a sufficient amount of financial assistance under this section is available for the municipality’s project when the department approves the application under par. (a), the department of administration shall allocate that amount to the project.

281.58(9m)(e)2.2. If a sufficient amount of financial assistance under this section is not available for the municipality’s project when the department approves the application under par. (a), the department shall place the project on a list for allocation when additional financial assistance becomes available.