Rural Utilities Service February 10, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announces its Household Water Well System Grant Program (HWWS) application window for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015. RUS will make grants to qualified private non-profit organizations to establish lending programs for homeowners to borrow up to $11,000 to construct or repair household water wells for an existing home. The HWWS Grant Program is authorized under 7 U.S.C. 1926e. Regulations may be found at 7 CFR part 1776. Of particular note this year, the RUS will assign administrative discretion points to applications that: 1. Direct loans to rural areas where according to the American Community Survey data by census tracts show that at least 20 percent of the population is living in poverty. This emphasis will support Rural Development's goal of providing 20 percent of its funding by 2016 to these areas of need. 2. Direct loans to areas which lack running water, flush toilets, and modern sewage disposal systems, and areas which have open sewers and high rates of disease caused by poor sanitation, in particular, colonias or Substantially Underserved Trust Areas. 3. Direct loans to areas stricken by drought. RUS will publish on its Web site at https://www.rurdev.usda.gov/UWP- individualwellsystems.htm the amount of funding received in the final FY2015 Appropriations Act. Successful applications will be selected by the Agency for funding and subsequently awarded to the extent that funding may ultimately be made available to the Agency through appropriations.