Clean Water Engineering Reports Grant - PUB2485

Purpose

This funding assists small communities with engineering costs to plan for wastewater treatment and collection systems improvements related to the following reasons:

• New permit requirements
• Inflow and infiltration
• Improvements to eliminate wet weather discharges from peak flow clarifier and/or basins
• Capacity and hydraulic improvements at the wastewater treatment plant to address a reasonably anticipated increase in users or connections (rather than for excessive inflow and infiltration or speculative growth)
• Wastewater treatment and/or collection systems that have reached or exceeded their useful life expectancy

Funding comes from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund capitalization grant’s additional subsidization allocation.

Eligible applicants

The grant is available for municipalities, counties, public sewer or water districts, political subdivisions or instrumentalities of the state serving a population of equal to or less than 10,000 that operate a wastewater treatment facility that either is or should be permitted by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources or a satellite wastewater collection system.

In order to be eligible, the applicant must:

1. Submit a complete application
2. Have no outstanding fees due to the department
3. Not already have an engineering report for the same issues
4. Agree to make a good faith effort to pursue recommendations contained in the approved engineering report

Description

Eligible systems may receive an 80% grant with a 20% recipient match, not to exceed a maximum grant amount of $50,000.

Eligible systems that meet the definition of a disadvantaged community may receive up to 100% of the costs for engineering report services, not to exceed a maximum grant amount of $62,500. The department defines a disadvantaged community as one that has a population of 3,300 or less, whose median household income is at or below 75% of the state average, and whose user rates are at or above 2% of the median household income, based on the most recent decennial census or an income survey overseen by a state or federal agency.

Grant Timeframe

Early application and communication with the department on each project step are imperative to ensure the project meets all state and federal funding requirements. Engineering report projects that the applicant already started or previously completed are not eligible for funding through this program.

Once awarded the grant, the recipient has 18 months to complete the final engineering report. The recipient must submit the complete draft engineering report to the department for review and acceptance no later than 90 days before the end of the grant budget period. The department will hold the final 10% of the grant funds for cost reimbursement until the report has been accepted by the department.

Grant funds provide reimbursement of eligible planning expenses incurred during the project’s budget period. Therefore, recipients must wait for notice from the department in the form of a signed grant agreement to initiate work under this grant in order to ensure all costs incurred are reimbursable. Conversely, the department will not make grant payments after budget period expiration without an official grant amendment.

Cost Eligibility

Eligible costs are those that are directly incurred in developing the facility plan. This includes the cost of engineering services, environmental investigations and other services incurred preparing the engineering report. For additional information, review Appendix 6 of the most current Intended Use Plan, which is available on the department's State Revolving Fund Plans and Reports webpage.

How to apply

The department accepts applications throughout the year until funds are obligated. The Clean Water Engineering Report Grant Application MO 780-2217 is available on the department's website.

Selection Process

The department prioritizes applications based on a first-come, first-served basis as long as funds remain available.

Legal Authority

40 CFR Part 35 and section 644.123, RSMo.