Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 13, September 23, 2024
Subpart 1.
Grant-eligible proposers.
Only local units of government are eligible to apply for grants
and receive technical assistance. A local unit of government is eligible to
apply for grants and request technical assistance if it has the
following:
A. the authority to
coordinate and enter into contracts with local, state, and federal agencies and
private organizations for the purpose of carrying out a project;
B. the authority to generate cash revenues
and in kind contributions for the local share of a project; and
C. an approved local water plan that
addresses the water of concern.
Subp.
1a.
Loan-eligible proposers.
Only local units of government that meet the requirements of
subpart
1 are eligible to apply for
loans and receive technical assistance. A local unit of government is eligible
to receive a loan if it has the following:
A. the ability to pledge its full faith and
credit to ensure repayment of a project loan;
B. the authority to generate cash revenues
for the repayment of a loan; and
C.
the authority to enter into a loan agreement with the agency.
If the local unit of government submitting the proposal does
not meet the criteria in items A to C, it must submit a resolution from at
least one local unit of government that does meet the criteria stating that the
loan-eligible local unit of government resolves to participate in the project
as a loan sponsor.
Subp.
2.
Eligible costs.
Project costs are eligible for financial assistance if they are
reasonable, necessary, and allocable to the project. The dredging of harbors,
lakes, ditches, constructed wetlands, and existing sedimentation basins; sewage
treatment system upgrades; and the use of ferric chloride, aluminum sulfate, or
other chemicals to precipitate phosphorus are eligible for loan funds but are
not eligible for grant funds. In addition, costs related to any of the
following activities are eligible for financial assistance:
A. water quality monitoring, water resource
and project area data and information collection, data and information analysis
and assessment, and related tasks;
B. fiscal and management activities including
report preparation;
C. selection,
design, layout, and installation of best management practices consistent with
the federal Water Pollution Control Act, United States Code, title 33, sections
1329 and 1330, referred to as sections 319 and 320 of the federal Clean Water
Act, as amended;
D. development,
review, and inspection of procedures for the installation, operation, and
maintenance of best management practices;
E. the costs of implementation of best
management practices for animal feedlot operations if the best management
practice installation is not related to a criminal enforcement action or a
civil enforcement action involving financial penalties;
F. development and implementation of public
education materials and activities;
G. development and implementation of official
controls;
H. acquisition of
easements and property; and
I.
other activities determined by the agency or established by federal regulation
to be necessary to carry out the project.
Subp. 3.
Ineligible costs.
Ineligible costs include any costs that are not related to the
activities in subpart
2. Costs identified under
subpart
2 are ineligible if the
related project activities are started before the grant contract has been
signed by the commissioner or before the loan contract has been signed by the
commissioner and the commissioner of management and budget. In addition, the
following costs are ineligible for financial assistance whether or not they
relate to the activities in subpart
2:
A. operation and maintenance of best
management practices;
B. activities
regulated by the Petroleum Tank Release Cleanup Act, Minnesota Statutes,
chapter 115C; the Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act,
Minnesota Statutes, chapter 115B; the Agricultural Chemical Liability Act,
Minnesota Statutes, chapter 18D; the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act, United States Code, title 42, sections 9601 to
9675; and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, United States Code, title
42, sections 6901 to 6991;
C.
activities regulated by the national pollutant discharge elimination system
permit program, parts
7001.1000 to
7001.1100, except that the
following are eligible costs:
(1) the costs
of outreach, technical assistance, and education activities concerning animal
waste management, and the costs of best management practices for animal feedlot
operations are eligible if the implementation activities are part of an
eligible watershed or groundwater project and if the best management practice
installation is not related to a criminal enforcement action or a civil
enforcement action involving financial penalties; and
(2) the costs of outreach, technical
assistance, implementation of source control and runoff control best management
practices, and education activities related to storm water control;
D. activities regulated by a
condition of a solid waste or hazardous waste permit or the agency solid waste
rules, chapter 7035; or the agency hazardous waste rules, chapter
7045;
E. activities funded by state
or federal grants or loans for publicly owned treatment works;
F. regulated practices to control spills of
pesticides, fertilizer, petroleum, and related materials from bulk storage
facilities;
G. regulated practices
to manage toxic or hazardous materials;
H. commercial operations and industrial
processes and land use and land management activities directly related to
commercial operations and industrial processes including plant yards, access
roads, drainage ponds, refuse piles, storage piles, and material product
loading areas, excluding farming operations occurring on the farm
itself;
I. active and inactive
mining activities;
J. building and
utility construction;
K. highway
and road construction;
L.
activities intended primarily for flood control; and
M. activities that violate local, state, and
federal statutes, rules, and regulations.
Subp. 4.
Eligible local share for
project grants.
Any grant- or loan-eligible project costs as described in
subparts
2 and
3 that are not funded through
a project grant are eligible as local share. At least 30 percent of the project
costs must be derived from nonstate and nonfederal sources. Project loans are
considered nonstate and nonfederal sources for the purposes of this subpart.
Costs incurred by a land occupier or project partner for the installation of
best management practices may be considered a part of the local share provided
the following conditions are met:
A.
the primary purpose of the best management practices is for protection,
enhancement, or restoration of water quality;
B. any structural best management practices
must be designed for a minimum effective life of ten years;
C. any equipment purchased for operational
best management practices must have a minimum effective life of ten years and
be maintained or replaced by the land occupier during this period of time, or
there must be a plan approved by the commissioner scheduling the phase-out of
the operational best management practices; and
D. there must be an operation and maintenance
plan for the minimum effective life of the best management practices.
Statutory Authority: MS s
103F.745;
115.10
