7/29/2019 MN Public Facilities Authority - Technical Amendments Bill Handout

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03/01/2013

Minnesota Public Facilities Authority

Technical Amendments Bill(SF 613 / HF 819)

Clean Water Legacy Fund Programs

Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Grant Program [MS 446A.073]o TMDL process is required under the federal Clean Water Act to address impaired

waterbodies. TMDL implementation plans can result in municipalities having tomeet permit requirements to provide additional levels of treatment to reduce specificpollutant discharges.

o Current Program: The TMDL grant program provides grants for 50% of eligiblecosts up to $3,000,000 to help municipalities implement wastewater and stormwaterprojects required by a TMDL implementation plan.

o Proposed changes: Expand eligibility criteria to include all projects where municipalities are

required through their permit to implement more stringent than secondary wwtreatment limits, whether or not they are part of a TMDL implementation plan.

Includes phosphorus reduction projects, eliminating the need for aseparate phosphorus reduction program.

Includes nitrogen limits for land based treatment systems. Proposed program name change: Point Source Implementation Grants

Phosphorus Reduction Grant Program [MS 446A.074]o Current Program: The Phosphorus Reduction grant program provides 50% grants up

to $500,000 to help municipalities implement projects to meet permit requirements toreduce phosphorus discharges to 1 milligram per liter or less.

o Proposed change: Eliminate as a separate program and include phosphorus projects in the

expanded eligibility criteria for Point Source Implementation Grants programas described above.

Small Community Wastewater Treatment Program [MS 446A.075]o Minnesota has a limited number of very small communities with serious

environmental and public health problems from failing septic systems. In many ofthese communities individual private systems are not feasible or affordable due tosmall lots, poor soils, and limited financial capacity.

o The Small Community program provides technical assistance grants for siteevaluations and feasibility studies and construction loans and grants for newindividual and cluster subsurface sewage treatment systems (SSTS) that will bepublicly owned and operated.

7/29/2019 MN Public Facilities Authority - Technical Amendments Bill Handout

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03/01/2013

o Current program: Technical assistance grants up to $40,000 ($10,000 base plus $500 per

household) to hire a consulting engineer or other qualified organization.

Construction funding up to $500,000 per year for up to three years. Loans at1% interest, with 50% grants if the community has below average MHI.

o Proposed changes: Increase technical assistance grants to $60,000 and make counties eligible to

receive technical assistance funds for specific project work.

Increase maximum construction award to $2,000,000 and establish a grantformula based on per household affordability criteria similar to the WIFprogram (grant percentages will vary from 0 to 80%).

Wastewater Infrastructure Funding (WIF) Program

WIF program provides supplemental assistance funding for high cost, high prioritywastewater projects based on affordability criteria in MS 446A.072, subdivision 5a(b).

o Prior to 2005, WIF assistance was provided in the form of grants that were packagedwith 20 year Clean Water Revolving Fund loans or as a match to USDA RuralDevelopment funding.

o From 2005 to 2010 WIF statutes were changed to provide assistance in the form of0% deferred loans in order to allow PFA to provide longer term financing forconsistency with funding from USDA Rural Development. Payments on the WIFloans are deferred until after the CWRF loan is repaid. Sixteen WIF deferred loanswere made totaling $28 million.

o In 2011 WIF assistance was changed back to grants after federal changes allowedClean Water Revolving Fund loan terms up to 30 years.

The proposed initiative would allow municipalities that received deferred loans from 2005-2010 to have some or all of WIF loans to be converted to grants based on the currentaffordability criteria. Repayment of any remaining loan principal would continue within thescheduled loan term. Based on current information, the following 11 WIF loan recipientswould be eligible to have some or all of their WIF loan converted to grant.

Recipient Total Project Cost WIF Loan

Alborn Township 760,571 480,000

Alexandria LASR 5,811,079 842,770

Brooten 2,311,543 419,503

Hudson Township 3,538,741 513,315

Kandiyohi County 4,970,000 1,208,124

Madelia 4,822,400 89,587

Murray County 14,158,287 3,589,451

Richmond 8,316,162 1,051,299

Saint Hilaire 1,490,216 282,304

Sturgeon Lake 6,943,786 2,447,828

Willmar 81,516,873 7,000,000

134,639,659 17,924,181