Stimulus Funding
As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), congress awarded approximately $20,000,000 to be used to fund drinking water projects in New Mexico. 16% of these funds will be used for administrative purposes with the remainder used to fund projects.
Critical facts about the stimulus funding:
- For projects to be eligible for stimulus money, they must be "shovel ready". This means that by February 17, 2010, construction contracts for projects must be in place. The practical interpretation of this is as follows: 1) if a Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) is required, it must be completed by the end of June 2009; 2) An Environmental Review must be completed or the project must receive a categorical exclusion by the end of October 2009; and 3) Engineering plans & specs must be completed by the end of December 2009 for simple projects and by the end of September 2009 for complex projects.
- The stimulus funding targets 20% of the funding for Green Infrastructure projects. The current interpretation of this in New Mexico is projects that conserve water (e.g. installing meters in an un-metered system, funding a rebate program to replace high water consumption fixtures and appliances or installing leak detection equipment) or energy efficiency (e.g. the utilization of renewable energy to meet some of the energy demand of a water system).
- The stimulus funding targets at least 50% of the fund for "additional subsidization". This may take the form of principle forgiveness or negative interest loans. Which class of projects will be eligible for subsidization has not yet been determined.
- Projects will be ranked based on a ranking system that is being developed at this time. Ranking criteria includes consideration of the impact on Safe Drinking Water Compliance, environmental impact, regionalization, system population.
| The Drinking Water Bureau is no longer accepting projects for DWSRF stimulus funding. DWB is working with the New Mexico Finance Authority and EPA to select projects for stimulus funding. |
The draft INTENDED USE PLAN (IUP) for the DWSRF Stimulus grant is avaialble for review. The IUP describes how the funds will be spent. The draft COMPREHENSIVE PRIORITY LIST of proposed projects and the draft FUNDABLE PRIORITY LIST can also be viewed. The GREEN PROJECT FUNDABLE list can now be viewed.
There was a public meeting on April 10, 2009 at 1:00 pm in the Runnels Building Auditorium in Santa Fe to discuss the SFY10 Drinking Water State Revolving Fund stimulus Intended Use Plan (IUP). You may view the FLYER for the meeting. A SECOND PUBLIC MEETING was held on April 13, 2009 at 2:00 pm in the NMED District I Office, 5500 San Antonio NE, Albuquerque.
For more information on the ARRA, please go to the federal web site for ARRA, www.Recovery.gov.
For additional information on using ARRA funds for water projects in New Mexico, please contact Rob Pine at (505) 476-8642 or Andy Edmondson at (505) 476-8631.