(1) NOTICE OF INTENT TO APPLY SUBMITTAL. If
required by the department, a municipality shall submit notice of its intent to
apply for financial assistance via the department's online application systems
by any applicable deadline set in the CWFP annual intended use plan under s.
NR 162.02 (1). The municipality or its designated
representatives shall complete the requirements established by the department
for gaining access to and submitting information through the department's
online application systems. The department may require the municipality to
submit through the online systems any of the following:
Note: Instructions regarding the online
application systems are available on the Environmental Improvement Fund website
at dnr.wi.gov/Aid/EIF.html.
(a) A
clear, concise, and comprehensive project description that includes the problem
or concern being addressed, the general solution proposed through a single
project, and detailed information regarding what structures are to be
constructed, what equipment is to be purchased and installed, and project
location, including detailed information for purposes of eligibility
determinations regarding storm sewer or watermain construction being done at
the same time as sanitary sewer construction on the same block of a street or
in the same intersection.
(b)
Contact information.
(c) An
estimate of the total project cost and what amount of the cost is likely to be
requested from the CWFP.
(d)
Estimated or actual dates related to the bidding and construction timeline of
the project.
(dm) Date and number
of the department approval of plans and specifications for each set of plans
and specifications associated with the project, if available at time of intent
to apply or priority evaluation and ranking information submittal.
(e) Any other information required to
complete the submission in the department's online application
systems.
(2) FACILITIES
PLAN. A municipality shall submit a facilities plan or other applicable plan to
the department for approval. The municipality shall receive approval of the
facilities plan or other applicable plan prior to submitting an application for
financial assistance under this subchapter.
(3) APPLICATION PROCEDURES. A municipality
shall apply for financial assistance in accordance with s.
281.58 (9),
Stats. All applicants must submit the required information and documentation
through the department's online application system.
Note: Directions regarding online submittal
are available on the Environmental Improvement Fund website at
https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/aid/EIF.html.
An interest rate subsidy application is a different form and must be submitted
in accordance with s.
NR 162.40.
(4) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION. The applicant
shall submit a complete application, including each of the following items, if
applicable to the project:
(a) Evidence of
compliance with sub. (2).
(b)
Construction plans and specifications submitted to the department in accordance
with chs.
NR
108 and
110 that are approvable under ch.
281, Stats. An applicant may be denied funding if the applicant does not
provide appropriately complete project plans and specifications to the
department prior to or with the application. The applicant shall submit a copy
of approvable plans and specifications with the application in addition to the
plans and specifications submitted to the department for plan review under chs.
NR
108 and
110.
(c) Completion of the required fields in and
upload of required documentation to the department's online application system,
including all of the following:
1. A clear,
concise, and comprehensive project description, including any modifications to
the project description previously provided in the online application
systems.
2. Estimated or actual
construction costs.
3.
Identification of known ineligible costs included within the total budget
provided in the online application.
4. Information regarding assistance received
or expected from another funding source.
Note: The project description may already be
included in the online application as it should transfer over to the
application if previously provided with intent to apply or priority evaluation
and ranking information. When that transfer of information is successful, the
applicant must only provide information regarding any modifications to the
project description that is already included in the application rather than
providing an additional complete project description.
Note: Under s.
NR 162.04 (2)
(om), the CWFP shall not provide any
financial assistance for a project if construction costs are not included as
part of the project costs to be funded by the CWFP, with the exception of
certain situations in which other funding sources are also participating in the
financing of the project or the project is the purchase of a package wastewater
treatment plant or solely the purchase of equipment in a phase of a multi-phase
project.
(d) Items
or information for compliance with federal regulations identified by the
department in the online application system as required for a complete
application; these items may include documentation of compliance with wage rate
laws, completed federal forms, and information regarding green project
components, cost and effectiveness of the project, or procuring American-made
products for use in the project.
(e) A copy of each executed engineering
contract and any associated existing contract amendments for planning and
design of the project if funds are requested for planning and design in the
application project budget.
(f) A
copy of each executed engineering contract and any associated contract
amendments for construction management if funds are requested for construction
management in the application project budget and the contract or amendment is
available at the time of application submittal.
(g) A copy of each executed non-engineering
professional services contract related to the project and any associated
amendments if funds are requested in the application project budget for
services included in the contract and the contract or amendment is available at
the time of application submittal.
(h) A proposed or an executed intermunicipal
agreement for each municipality served by the project when 2 or more
municipalities utilize shared or interconnected wastewater treatment works.
This paragraph does not apply to a metropolitan sewerage district in which all
municipalities being served have been annexed into the sewerage district or to
a situation in which the intermunicipal exception established in sub. (5) has
been met. This paragraph does apply to biosolids or other treatment facilities
when the applicant has ownership in the facility or has purchased capacity in
the facility. Prior to receiving financial assistance, the applicant shall
ensure that each required intermunicipal agreement does all of the following
that are applicable to the project:
1.
Identify ownership for each individual portion of the wastewater treatment
works, including wastewater treatment plants, interceptors, sewage collection
systems, lift stations, biosolids facilities, and privately-owned treatment
works.
2. Establish the term of the
intermunicipal agreement unless it is effective in perpetuity. If the
intermunicipal agreement is new or being negotiated specifically for the
project for which financial assistance is being requested, the term shall be
for at least the term of the loan. If there is an existing intermunicipal
agreement in place that meets the requirements of this paragraph but expires
during the term of the loan, the municipality shall renegotiate or extend the
existing agreement prior to the end of its term and maintain the intermunicipal
agreement throughout the term of the loan.
3. Demonstrate the basis for generating
revenue for operation, maintenance, and replacement costs based on actual use
or another equitable method, and state the parties that are responsible for
paying these charges.
4. Indicate
the method for generating revenue for capital costs and indicate who is
responsible for payment.
5.
Indicate that the owner of the regional facility shall accept the applicant's
wastewater and identify the boundary from which the applicant's discharge
originates.
(i) Financial
information required by DOA to be used in determining the affordability of the
proposed project, the financial capability of the municipality, and the
adequacy of the pledge of revenues to repay the obligation securing the
proposed financial assistance.
(j)
A copy of the existing user charge system and sewer use ordinance, and
information regarding the proposed user charge system and sewer use ordinance
if they are new or if the existing user charge system or sewer use ordinance
will be revised for the CWFP project.
(k) Any existing or proposed contracts with
users of the wastewater treatment works.
(L) Documentation applicable to U.S. internal
revenue service tax information as indicated in the department's online
application system.
(m) A
resolution declaring intent to reimburse municipal accounts with financial
assistance proceeds that meets the requirements established in U.S. treasury
reimbursement regulations 26
CFR 1.150-2.
(n) A copy of the debt instrument of any
interim debt to be refinanced with CWFP financial assistance.
(o) A completed design life calculation
worksheet if the applicant at the time of application requests or is interested
in a loan term that is greater than 20 years. All of the following apply to
applicants requesting a loan term greater than 20 years:
1. An applicant requesting a loan term
greater than 20 years shall pledge system revenues to secure the CWFP
loan.
2. A loan term greater than
20 years is not available for projects for which the applicant pledges general
obligation bonds to secure the loan.
Note: The design life calculation worksheet is
an excel spreadsheet that is available on the department's website at
https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/aid/documents/EIF/Forms/forms.html#cwform.
(5) INTERMUNICIPAL
EXCEPTION. The department may waive the requirement of an intermunicipal
agreement if an order under s.
281.43 (1),
Stats., has been issued, or if the department has obtained executed
intermunicipal agreements for subscribing municipalities and the receiving
municipality whose annual debt payments, design flow capacities, design
suspended solids capacities, and wastewater projects' design biochemical oxygen
demand (BOD) capacities total at least 90 percent of the total for the regional
treatment works or BMP.
(6)
APPLICATION SUBMITTAL DEADLINE. In fiscal years for which the department sets
an application submittal deadline for all or a specific type of funding, the
applicant shall submit the items and information required in the department's
online application system by the application submittal deadline in order to be
considered eligible to obtain financial assistance from funds available during
the funding cycle for which the deadline is set. The department may set
application submittal deadlines in the intended use plan.
(7) APPLICATION ACCEPTANCE. The department
shall accept an application as complete after all of the following occur:
(a) The department determines that it
received all the applicable items and information required under sub. (4) for
the scored project. The department may consider a submitted application
complete for purposes of acceptability if the application is otherwise complete
but a wrong document was uploaded to the department's online application
system, the proper document existed at the time of application submittal, and
the applicant uploads the proper document to the system within a timeframe
specified by the department.
(b)
The department receives a certification worksheet documenting DOA's initial
determination that there is a reasonable likelihood the municipality will be
financially capable of repaying a loan from the CWFP.
(8) PROJECTS FUNDED JOINTLY WITH OTHER
AGENCIES. If a project is receiving funding from another state or federal
agency, and the department is unable to obtain the same type of documentation
typically submitted for a specific project requirement due to differences
between agencies in items or procedures, including a project that is let with a
group of projects by the Wisconsin department of transportation or a project
for which the contents of a contract includes language specific to another
agency, the department may determine what documentation is appropriate to
satisfy the application requirements.
(9) DEADLINE FOR SIGNING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
AGREEMENT. The department shall set in the CWFP annual intended use plan a
deadline for signing a financial assistance agreement. An applicant shall sign
the financial assistance agreement within the timeframe set by the department.
An applicant shall time its submittal of the application accordingly. If a
financial assistance agreement is not signed within the established timeframe,
the applicant's project shall lose its CWFP allocated subsidy.
