Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 9, September, 2024
ARKANSAS PORT, INTERMODAL, AND WATERWAY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
RULES
ARKANSAS WATERWAYS COMMISSION
Agency 0341
101 E. Capitol Avenue, Suite 370 - Little Rock, AR
72201
1.0
GENERAL
INFORMATION
The Arkansas Waterways Commission was established by Act 242 of
1967 and its powers and duties were amended by Act 414 of 1973. The
Commission's general authority is codified at Ark. Code Ann. §
15-23-201.
The Arkansas Waterways Commission is the sole state agency responsible for
developing, promoting and protecting waterborne transportation in Arkansas. The
Commission also promotes economic development for ports on the five
commercially navigable rivers of the state: the Arkansas, Mississippi,
Ouachita, Red and White Rivers.
1.1
PROGRAM NAME
These rules govern the Arkansas Port, Intermodal, and Waterway
Development Grant Program.
1.2
AUTHORIZATION
The Arkansas Port, Intermodal, and Waterway Development Grant
Program is authorized by Ark. Code Ann. § 15-23-305 and §
19-5-1253.
2.0
PROGRAM
DESCRIPTION
The Arkansas Port, Intermodal, and
Waterway Development Grant Program provides financial assistance to port
authorities and intermodal authorities for the purpose of funding port
development projects. The goals of the program are to provide public funds to
build land-side infrastructure and to dredge ports and waterways. Funding this
infrastructure will provide jobs and competitive transportation costs for
moving cargo, thereby minimizing highway congestion, improving safety, and
reducing maintenance costs related to Arkansas's highways. This program will
also allow Arkansas products to reach additional markets.
3.0
TYPE OF AWARD
3.1 The total maximum funding will be limited
to the amount of money made available to the Commission for the
program.
3.2 Grant recipients must
expend funds within one year from receiving the grant.
3.3 There is no minimum amount of funding
that may be applied for by an eligible applicant. The maximum amount that may
be applied for by an eligible applicant is the maximum amount of funds
available.
3.4 There is no maximum
of number of awards that can be received for an eligible applicant in one state
fiscal year.
3.5 Funds granted may
not exceed ninety percent (90%) of construction costs or fifty percent (50%) of
dredging costs.
4.0
ELIGIBILITY
4.1
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA4.1.1 Eligible
applicants are an Arkansas public port authority or public intermodal
authority. A port facility can include an intermodal facility and
maritime-related industrial park infrastructure development.
4.1.2 Eligible projects are construction,
improvement, capital facility rehabilitation, and expansion of a public port
facility. Dredging projects are also eligible.
4.1.3 Planning projects and feasibility
studies shall not be eligible.
4.1.4 Funds granted may not exceed ninety
percent (90%) of the cost of construction or fifty percent (50%) of dredging
costs.
4.1.5 Eligible projects may
be projects that were completed with in a year prior to the grant
application.
4.2
CONFLICT OF INTEREST4.2.1 No Director,
officer or employee of the Arkansas Waterways Commission, for purpose of
personal gain, shall have or attempt to have, directly or indirectly, any
interest in any contract or agreement of the Commission in connection with the
Arkansas Port, Intermodal, and Waterway Development Grant Program.
4.2.2 It shall not be a conflict of interest
for the Commission to permit any port, intermodal or waterway with which a
Director of the Commission is affiliated to participate in any program of the
Commission, provided that such Director shall promptly disclose the nature of
the affiliation to the Commission.
5.0
APPLICATION PROCESS
5.1 Applications for the Arkansas Port,
Intermodal, and Waterways Development Grant shall be submitted on the form
prescribed by the Commission.
5.2 A
Resolution passed by the board of the grant applicant must be enclosed with the
application. The Resolution must have the signature of the Chair of the
board.
5.3 The Commission reserves
the right to request additional information as required for
evaluation.
6.0
EVALUATION
Projects will be evaluated by the Commission, which may request
the assistance of appropriate representatives from academia, private
enterprise, or the public sector. Applications meeting the eligibility
requirements will be evaluated on the basis of the evaluation criteria outlined
below.
6.1
EVALUATION
CRITERIA6.1.1 The qualified applicant
and the associated enterprise must have the support and resources available to
ensure a reasonable probability of project success if a development grant is
awarded.
6.1.2 The proposed
development project must have commercial feasibility. The development should
provide the port, intermodal or waterway with the ability to compete more
effectively in the marketplace.
6.1.3 The proposed project must have a time
frame of no longer than one year of the year the award is given.
6.2
APPLICATION
REVIEW6.2.1 A member of the
Commission's staff shall review each application to determine that eligibility
requirements have been met.
6.2.2
The Waterways Commission will review and evaluate each eligible application in
terms of the purpose of the Arkansas Port, Intermodal, and Waterway Development
Grant Program.
7.0
GRANT AWARDS
7.1 The Arkansas Waterways Commission shall
make the final decision to select recipients of funding from the Arkansas Port,
Intermodal, and Waterway Development Grant Program. Funding decisions will be
based on information derived from the Program review.
7.2 The Arkansas Waterways Commission will
notify all applicants, selected or not, within 15 business days of the
Commission's decision.
7.3 The
Arkansas Waterways Commission will notify the state Treasurer's office and the
Treasurer's office will mail warrants for approved projects within 30 days of
the announcement of grant awards.
7.4 Grant recipients shall establish a
separate bank account for grant funds and matching funds. Before grant award is
remitted, grant recipient must demonstrate that the cash match is in this
account.
7.5 Grant recipients must
expend grant funds within one year from receiving the grant. Grant funds shall
be utilized and expended by the applicant solely and exclusively for the
payment of authorized and allowable costs and expenses of the Project for which
assistance was approved.
7.6 If all
grant funds are not utilized and expended by the applicant for the specific
Project for which such funds were furnished within one year, the grant
recipient shall return or otherwise pay or reimburse to the Commission any and
all such unused funds or any amounts of funds used and expended for
unauthorized or unallowable purposes; or the applicant may submit a request to
the Executive Director of the Arkansas Waterways Commission to use leftover
funds for another project. The Commissioners of the Arkansas Waterways
Commission shall approve or disapprove the request.
8.0
GRANT REPORTING
8.1 Grantees shall complete a quarterly
expenditure report and sign it certifying the accurate expenditure of
funds.
8.2 Grantees shall complete
a final expenditure report and sign it certifying the accurate expenditure of
funds.
8.3 Grantees must submit
final expenditure report to the Arkansas Waterways Commission within 10 days
after the end of the state fiscal year or 30 days after making the final
expenditure of the grant, whichever is earlier.
8.2 All reports shall be subject to review by
the state Legislative Audit.
9.0
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
All information submitted in applications is subject to the
provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.
