Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Virginia Department of Health
Board
State Board of Health

General Notice
Notice of Public Comment Period on the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) Funds through Virginia's DWSRF Program
Date Posted: 5/8/2009
Expiration Date: 6/8/2009
Submitted to Registrar for publication: YES
No comment forum defined for this notice.
Introduction – ARRA Funds
 
Section 1452(b)(1) of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments (SDWA) of 1996 (P.L.104-182), establishes the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program through a capitalization grant and requires the Commonwealth of Virginia develop an Intended Use Plan (IUP). This IUP proposes the utilization of Safe Drinking Water Act State Revolving Funds and provides a draft list of projects targeted for financial assistance though this program. This draft IUP and the list of projects are made available to the public for review and comment at:
 
www.vdh.virginia.gov/drinkingwater/financial/economicstimulusfunds.htm.
 
In accordance with the federal SDWA of 1996 the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) Office of Drinking Water (ODW) is making application for a federal funding capitalization grant for the DWSRF program under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.
 
The ARRA grant application consists of the IUP, the Project Priority List and the Comprehensive Project List. The Virginia Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Program - Program Design Manual, dated January 12, 2009, is part of the IUP and outlines the Program’s overall goal, the set-aside and construction aspects of the Program, entities eligible for funding, interest rates and terms, and criteria used to establish a Project Priority List.
 
In compliance with the requirement in SDWA § 1452(b)(1), the ARRA IUP (in draft form) is being made available to the public for review and comment.
 
The annual 2010 DWSRF list will be developed and made public at a later date.
 
Available Funding
 
The federal allotment to Virginia from the federal ARRA stimulus package for Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Program projects is $20,761,000. According to the federal requirements for acceptance of these funds, a minimum of 50% of the funds must be distributed as principal forgiveness loans, and additional 20% of the funds should be utilized for projects that include green infrastructure, water efficiency, energy efficiency, or other environmental innovative activities.
 
ARRA Project Solicitation
 
On January 12, 2009 the Virginia Department of Health issued a request for applications for Source Water Initiatives, Construction Funds, and Set-aside tasks. This request included solicitation for projects to be considered for construction funding under the ARRA. The VDH accepted applications through March 27, 2009. The VDH – Office of Drinking Water received two hundred fifty-five (255) applications requesting $416,636,360. A listing of the applications received by VDH is included in the IUP as Attachment A.
 
The applications were evaluated using the EPA-approved criteria used for DWSRF applications. The ARRA guidance includes an additional requirement for “readiness to proceed” and this was also used during the project evaluation.
 
The criteria used for the ARRA evaluation included: acute, chronic and public health risk of the applying project, the cost of the public water to the users relative to the state average, the mean household income of the affected public, the impact on regionalization of the waterworks, additional funding utilized for the project, the cost of the project per connection, and readiness to proceed.
 
The prioritization of the projects is based on scores from these criteria, weighted to the public health criteria. A draft list of the projects to receive ARRA funds is included in the IUP as Attachment B.
 
The Department of Health is presenting this draft list of ARRA projects for public review and comment. On May 20, 2009 at 9:00 a.m., a public meeting to solicit comments on the IUP and the draft list of projects for funding will be held at:
 
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality - Piedmont Regional Office
4949-A Cox Road
Glen Allen, VA 23060
 
For directions, call (804) 864-7500 or go to: www.deq.state.va.us/regions/piedmont.html
 
Public Comment
 
The public comment and review period will end June 8, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. Written comments or questions should be directed to:
 
Mr. Steven D. Pellei, P.E.
Virginia Department of Health
Office of Drinking Water
 James Madison Building, Room 622
 Richmond, Virginia 23219
 ATTN: ARRA Public Comment

Contact Information
Name / Title: S. D. Pellei 
Address: VDH
109 Governor St.
Richmond, 23219
Email Address: steven.pellei@vdh.virginia.gov
Telephone: (804)864-7500    FAX: (804)864-7521    TDD: ()-