April 10, 2012

As the 2011 Intended Use Plan advertised, the Public Water Supply Section will implement the the water system efficiency requirements of NCGS § 143-355.4(b) (the 2008 Drought Bill) for the next round of DWSRF applications.  You can find the release candidate (draft for comment) version at our “Factsheets and Guidance”  page.  

The current subsidized Loan interest rate is 2.01% (until 31 March 2013).

December 6, 2011

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING AND MEETING

ACTION: The document titled "North Carolina Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Intended Use Plan - Fiscal Year 2011" is available for public review and comment.

SUMMARY: To apply for $24,698,000 in 2011 funds from the Environmental Protection Agency, the state must submit an Intended Use Plan, or IUP, to describe the use of those funds. In addition to making low-interest loans to improve public water system public health and compliance, funds will be used for non-project activities, such as technical assistance, capacity development and source water protection. The application deadline for projects in this IUP was Sept. 30, 2011. This IUP also discusses changes planned for 2012.

REVIEW MATERIALS: Interested parties may obtain a copy of the draft IUP by contacting Tammy Kaufman at (919) 715-3202. The IUP and project list are also available on the Public Water Supply Section's Web site: http://www.ncwater.org/pws/srf/Pages/federal_reports.htm

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: A public hearing is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. January 17, 2012 in the Coastal Plain Room 1107, in the Green Square Building, 217 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27603. Sign-in for those wishing to speak begins at 2 p.m. Spoken comments should be limited to three minutes. Written comments may be provided at the public hearing, mailed to Vincent Tomaino at 1634 MSC, Raleigh, NC, 27699-1634, or e-mailed to vincent.tomaino@ncdenr.gov. Written comments will be received until January 17, 2011.

Free public parking is available between 11 am and 4 pm at the Powerhouse Square Parking Deck, 513 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27603.

November 30, 2011

Visit the "Factsheets & Guidance" page to find a revised "Ready to Proceed (RTP) Criteria" Factsheet.  The materials within are to give additional guidance on the final criteria necessary for a formal offer of funding to an applicant with an eligible project application.  The document has been revised in accordance with 2011 DWSRF requirements.

September 28, 2011

In accordance with Session Law 2011-291 (House Bill 595), the Local Government Commission (LGC) will not consider issuance of debt for projects exceeding $1,000,000 until they have been reported to the newly created Joint Legislative Committee on Local Government at least 45 days beforehand.  Further information can be found in the LGC memo to local government officials, which can be found on the “Factsheets and Guidance” page.  A sample notification letter to the joint committee can be found on the “Forms” page.

July 25, 2011

Visit the "Forms" page to find a revised "NCDENR Application Appendix for Drinking Water Funding Programs".  This publication was formerly known as the "Application Supplement for DENR Funding Assistance for Drinking Water Projects".  The materials within are to give additional guidance and/or be submitted along with the "NC Water/Wastewater Common Application".

July 22, 2011

The Loans and Grants website has been revamped over the last month.  Much of the information has been updated, formatting has been revised, and a new navigation sidebar has debuted that should make it easier to find things.  It is hoped that these changes have made the site of better service to the public.

July 1, 2011

The Public Water Supply Section is now part of the Division of Water Resources.  Consequently, the Loans and Grants website has been relocated to http://www.ncwater.org/pws/srf/index.htm.

April 1, 2011

The current DWSRF Loan interest rate is 2.455% (until 31 March 2012).

February 14, 2011

Categorical exclusion updates for Public Water Supply projects are now available online.

August 11, 2010

The table below is an estimation of the funding currently available through the Public Water Supply Section's loans and grants program:

Notes

July 30, 2010

2010 Application Deadline

The next application deadline for funding through the Loans and Grants Unit of NC DENR/DEH-Public Water Supply Section is September 30, 2010.  Local government and non-profit water system applicants may be eligible for either:

• State High Unit Cost Grant
• State Loan (currently at 2.22% APR)
• Federal Partial Principal Forgiveness Loan (see Section 9 of 2009 Intended Use Plan for example)
• Federal Loan (currently at 2.22% APR)

Existing Applications

Though projects listed on the Comprehensive Project Priority Lists (CPPL) for 2009 or prior years are eligible for 2010 funds, applicants are encouraged to resubmit their applications.  Projects listed on the CPPL for a year prior to 2010 will be considered for funding only after new applications should funds still be available.

New Applications and Application Form

A new application form has been developed so that one form can now be used (submitted) to each of the following agencies as part of their application for funding:

• the NC Rural Economic Development Center
• the NC Department of Commerce
• the Appalachian Regional Commission
• the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, and
• Construction Grants and Loans Section of the NC DENR / DWQ

The new North Carolina Water / Wastewater Common Application Form is attached along with the drinking water supplement covering Public Water Supply programs.  These documents can also be found, along with additional program information, at the PWS Loans and Grants Unit web page: http://www.deh.enr.state.nc.us/pws/srf/.

2010 Funding Priority

The full priority scheme, which includes bonus points as defined in 15A NCAC 01J and 01N, will be used to determine the order in which projects will be offered funding.  This may be a change for those who applied for ARRA and/or 2009 funding as bonus points had been waived in favor of speedier delivery of stimulus funds.  The Checklist for Optional Drinking Water Application Supporting Documents on pages 3 and 4 of the attached drinking water supplement to the Common Application describes the documents necessary to earn bonus points.  Some of these documents are included in the application supplement.

2009 Ready to Proceed Status

Projects that made the September 30, 2009 application deadline and appear on the Comprehensive Project Priority List (CPPL) for 2009 must achieve Ready-to-Proceed (RTP) status for bidding and construction in order to maintain eligibility for a 2009 federal Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) loan (currently at 2.22%).  This includes:

• Plan and Specification Approval
• Authorization to Construct
• Environmental Review Approval or Categorical Exclusion, and
• All necessary land rights (including easements and rights-of-way).

RTP status should be achieved by late summer.  The exact date will be established with EPA approval of the 2009 Intended Use Plan (IUP) and award of the associated cap grant.

2009 Intended Use Plan Public Hearing

A Public Hearing was held for the 2009 Intended Use Plan (IUP) on Tuesday, April 27th from 2 to 4 pm at the Parker-Lincoln building on 2728 Capital Boulevard, Raleigh, NC.  The IUP establishes:

• How much money is available through the 2009 federal Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF)
• What projects are eligible for funding and their order of priority (in the above attached CPPL) should they have Ready-to-Proceed status upon EPA approval, and
• The conditions with which 2009 DWSRF money will be awarded and disbursed.

May 6, 2010

The Comprehensive Project Priority List and Ready to Proceed Status List have been posted.

For more information on the State Revolving Fund Program, see the 1N Rules.

November 18, 2009

The Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) process has been further streamlined for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Water systems should move forward to executing contracts prior to DBE approval. See the DBE webpage for more information.

October 27, 2009

The Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) process has been streamlined. The streamlined process including flowcharts has been incorporated in the state and federal special conditions packages on the DBE webpage.

July 17, 2009

N.C Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Funding Lists for Drought-Related Emergency Loan Projects and Disadvantaged Community Programs have been posted.

June 18, 2009

The EPA will be holding a 'Buy American' webcast Monday, June 22, from 2 to 4 p.m. Click to register.

April 30, 2009

Project Ready to Proceed Status posted.

March 30, 2009

Web site Rollout and Posting of Intended Use Plans.

For the ARRA, all water systems will have an opportunity to provide supplemental information for any project in the ARRA IUP until June 3, 2009. Applicants that met the Feb. 27 application deadline and are ready-to-proceed by March 30 will be eligible for the first round of funding conducted in mid-April. The first round will distribute between 50 to 65 percent of the funds. 

The remaining 35 to50 percent of funds will be held for a second round of allocation.  Any project in the IUP that has submitted a complete application and is ready-to-proceed by June 3 will be eligible for any remaining ARRA funding to be distributed through a second round.  Applications for projects not already included in the IUP will not be accepted.

North Carolina will apply a cap of $3 million per applicant.  This cap is not subject to normal bypassing procedures that would allow subsequent cycles through the funding list.  This cap may be lifted if necessary in order to award funds within federal time lines.

March 27, 2009

Terms

Drinking Water State Revolving Fund monies from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will be awarded as loans, but the loans will be structured so that half of the principal will be “forgiven” and the other half of the loan will be repaid at  zero percent interest with up to a 20-year payback. The principle forgiveness means that half of each loan will not need to be repaid. The other half of the money will need to be repaid at a zero percent interest rate. If a project's actual costs are lower cost than originally projected or the scope of the project is reduced, the same 50-50 split will be maintained.

March 20, 2009

Categorical Exclusion Factsheet Addendum

If a project qualifies for multiple blanket comments per the PWS categorical exclusion factsheet, then you may combine blanket comments on one letter to PWSS per project.

Note - If your project qualifies for blanket comment for an agency, you do not have to send a letter to that agency or confirm the blanket.

March 13, 2009

Categorical exclusion updates for Public Water Supply projects are available in a Word document.

March 2, 2009

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Questions and Answers

February 23, 2009

Addendum to 13 February 2009 Posting

With regard to the 13-February-2009 update (see below), it was the PWS Section's intent that the application package would include the actual application form. This was not stated clearly. Please note that – in addition to a Preliminary Engineering Report (requirements outlined below) – the following additional information shall be submitted by applicants wishing to apply for those funds expected to be made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

• Pages 2, 3 and 4 only of the "Application for DENR Funding Assistance for Wastewater and Drinking Water Projects" form shall be provided in addition to a Preliminary Engineering Report (requirements of which are outlined below).

February 13, 2009

Addendum to 11 February 2009 Memorandum

In order to facilitate successful implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the following addendum to the Feb. 11 memo from Jessica Miles on the supplemental application deadline for DWSRF funding applies:

The application package received by February 27, 2009 needs to contain the following:

• A brief Preliminary Engineering Report including project description, alternatives analysis, cost estimate and any relationship of this project to water and energy efficiency or drought preparedness.

The remaining information that must be received no later than March 31 and should include:

• Documentation of completed Environmental Review with a CE or FONSI;
• The date and serial number for the approval of plans and specifications and the Authorization to Construct;
• Governing Board Resolution/Certification; and
• LGC 108C (note – this is needed earlier than usual to meet accelerated deadlines).

If insufficient numbers of applications are ready to proceed by the EPA award date, PWSS will consider the need for another round of applications.

February 11, 2009

Second Update to Announcement on Preparations for the Economic Recovery Stimulus Bill

Click here to read the announcement from Jessica Miles.

January 30, 2009

Update to Announcement on Preparations for the Economic Recovery Stimulus Bill

The Public Water Supply Section has been notified by EPA Region 4 that it must submit a draft Intended Use Plan (IUP) including a preliminary project list. All parties intending to submit an application for stimulus bill funding should send a letter of intent to apply no later than Wednesday, February 4th to:

Sid Harrell, Public Water Supply Section
1634 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1634 (USPS) or
2728 Capital Blvd., Raleigh, NC 27604 (physical address) or
FAX to (919) 715-4374, or
e-mail to sid.harrell@ncmail.net.

The letter/email should contain:

System name, PWSID# and Population and for each project:

• Project title
• Project description
• Proposed category (consolidation, compliance, supply or treatment capacity, or other) and
• Estimated project cost

All interested eligible applicants should become familiar with the application package and other relevant information at the State Revolving Loan Fund Web site.

It is anticipated that the application process will be streamlined by not requiring certain information, using one resolution for multiple water and wastewater projects, etc. The complete application will be due no later than 30 days after Congress authorizes funding, but timing constraints in the bill may require the deadline to be sooner.

Monitor the above Web site for News.

December 19, 2008

Announcement of Supplemental Application period for Drinking Water State Revolving Fund in Response to Expected National Economic Recovery Funding

In anticipation of additional funding being provided to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund as part of a national economic recovery funding package expected to pass congress in January, the Public Water Supply Section is announcing acceptance of supplemental applications during this loan cycle for funding of projects that are or can be ‘shovel ready’ within approximately six months of federal enactment of the ERF bill.

These projects will be added to the funding priority needs list. The purpose of the ERF bill and the procedures under development by PWSS to implement it is to move money into actual construction as quickly as possible. The following information describes deadlines and procedures expected to be followed; although, final details will need to be resolved after the conditions in the bill are known.

The interest rate for projects funded with money from the stimulus bill is expected to be 0.0% and a term of up to 20 years as set by the Local Government Commission. The deadline for supplemental applications will be Feb. 20, 2009, or 30 days after bill passage, whichever is later. In order to expedite moving money into projects, it is expected that project review will only consider project/applicant eligibility, the public health and compliance category, the date of application submittal and readiness to proceed. Bonus points are not expected to be evaluated.

Supplemental applications will be ranked by first by priority category, then application receipt date, and then by readiness to proceed date.  All supplemental applications received by Feb. 20 will be ranked below applications that were received by the original Sept. 30, 2008 deadline. On the day of the state award from EPA, PWSS will commit funding in ranked priority order to each project that is ready to proceed based on completed and approved design and environmental review. All 0.0% ERF bill money will be awarded first, and then funding through the historical DWSRF process at standard interest rates will be offered to remaining projects.  

Additional information will be available on the Public Water Supply Web site at under Loans and Grants as soon as it is available.

April 11, 2008

New interest rates on loans are as follows:

April 4, 2007

Visit the "Forms" page to find a revised "Part B".  This change has made the "Cash Flow Projection Form (CFP-1)" obsolete.

March 7, 2007

Visit the "Forms" page to find a revised checklist for projects applying under the 15A NCAC 01J rules (i.e., High Unit Cost, or 'HUC' Grant projects.  You can also find a DRAFT of the "Application Package" revised to be consistent with recent changes in statute and rule.

March 1, 2007

The Construction Grants & Loans Section of DWQ has assumed all duties related to reimbursement for drinking water projects.

To receive disbursements for the referenced project, please follow the established procedures of our sister agency, the Division of Water Quality, Construction Grants and Loans Section.  Submit two copies of the payment request package to one of the following addresses: 

Each package should contain the following items, as applicable:

1. Reimbursement request form with original signature.  You can download the form at the following link:  http://www.nccgl.net/fap/reimbursements/index.html
2. Contractor’s monthly pay estimates (Application for Payment) for construction and matching Sales Tax Certificates,
3. Invoices or other supporting documents for work and purchases completed (applicable for example to engineering, administrative or equipment),
4. Documentation of cost for Force Account work,
5. For land acquisition and/or relocation, the following:
1. Statement of Just Compensation for land acquisition
2. copy of offer to purchase

Note that only purchases from a willing seller are eligible for DWSRF reimbursement.
 

6. Any additional supporting documentation.

Note the following additional requirements:

1. The Local Government Commission (LGC) cannot create the debt instrument until the Applicant has executed the Offer and Acceptance (Part A and B) and PWSS has approved the execution of contract documents.  DWQ cannot process loan payments until the applicant has delivered the executed debt instrument to LGC.
2. DWQ cannot process payment requests for items until PWSS has approved them for funding:
1. DWQ will approve no payment for invoices above the approved budget amounts without a revised Part B or change order.
2. DWQ cannot pay design costs until PWSS approves the Design Contract.
3. DWQ cannot pay for engineering services for the project until PWSS approves the A/E agreement.
4. PWQ will approve no payment for quantities in excess of the bid estimate amounts (for unit price contracts) without prior PWSS approval of the change order.
5. All Force Account work needs prior PWSS review and approval.
3. DWQ will pay no more than 90% of amount funded until all sources of sales tax have been submitted.
4. The Applicant must submit closing costs to DWQ before submitting second request for payment, and no more than 10 calendar days after receipt of proceeds from first request for reimbursement.
5. The Applicant must submit a capital project ordinance for the project before submitting second request for payment.

Submit all change orders to both the PWSS review engineer  and to the appropriate PWSS Regional Office Supervisor.  You can find the appropriate Regional Office here.

September 18, 2006

The USEPA has accepted the revised State Environmental Review Procedures (SERP).  Applicants will notice that the minimum criteria for a categorical exclusion from substantive environmental review (Categorical Exclusion, or CE) under the DWSRF loan program are now identical to those under the state funding programs.  However, the DWSRF program still has additional procedural steps (e.g., required comment letters).

June 23, 2006

The revised "Owner's Compliance Package (State) {OCP-S}" and the "DWSRF Special Conditions Package {DWSRF SCP}", both version 3, can be downloaded from the DBE page

Reminder, if you are interested in receiving your reimbursements by electronic funds transfer, see this link.

May 22, 2006

Public Water Supply has decided to evaluate applications eligible for the Spring 2006 round (applications received before March 30, 2006 and not yet reviewed twice) according to the policy outlined in this memo.

April 12, 2006

New interest rates on loans are as follows:

January 23, 2006

Revised the "Cash Flow Projection Form (CFP-1)" to be used for multiple years.

June 6, 2005

New interest rates on loans are as follows:

March 8, 2005

The 2004 DWSRF IUP and attachments are available for review here.

April 20, 2004

Public Water Supply proposes to revise the DWSRF 1N rules, as discussed in this Notice of Public Hearing.

April 8, 2004

New interest rates on loans are as follows:

August 15, 2003

PWS has released its funding decisions for the Spring 2003 (deadline 31 March 2003) review round for High Unit Cost Grants and State Low Interest Loans.  You can see the results on the bond awards page.

August 6, 2003

PWS has revised its "Policy for using sampling of individually owned wells to establish public health priority points." The policy is explained in a policy document that formalizes the stringent procedures PWS has been implementing piecemeal over the past few years.

This policy will be effective for any applications reviewed after August 6, 2003 - including the September 30 DWSRF Deadline.

February 6, 2003

New Application Forms

PWS and DWQ (Construction Loans and Grants) have collaborated to produce a new application package with significantly improved instructions.  Find the new application package under the Other Forms page.

December 11, 2002

Flat Rates No Longer Qualify as Incentive Rates

To encourage rates that promote water conservation, Public Water Supply (PWS) awards priority points for "incentive rate structure" under 15A NCAC 1N .0606(2)(c), 1L .0801(d), and 1J .0402(d).

Traditionally, for most systems, the marginal rate on water has decreased as the customer used more water. However, most systems now have flat or increasing block rates. 

As of January 1, 2003, only INCREASING block rates will earn priority points for "incentive rate structure] under 15A NCAC 1N .0606(2)(c), 1L .0801(d), and 1J .0402(d).

Grant / Loan Review Period Deadline March 31, 2003

Public Water Supply (PWS) will accept applications for the Grant and Loan program under 1J rules.The deadline for applications will be March 31, 2003. 

PWS expects approximately $2M to be available in High Unit Cost Grants.

PWS expects approximately $6M to be available as low interest state-financed loans.This revolving loan program is distinct from the "Drinking Water State Revolving Fund " (DWSRF) Loan Program.This revolving loan program is subject only to state rules and is NOT subject to Federal environmental (NEPA) or DBE review.