The Delaware Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund provides low-interest loans and grants to municipalities, private organizations, nonprofit organizations and private individuals for projects that will improve water quality.

The Fund, commonly known as the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, was created by the Delaware Legislature in 1990. It is set up in accordance with the requirements of Title VI of the federal Water Pollution Control Act. It is funded with federal seed grants and matching state funds. Loan repayments provide a continuing source of funds for additional projects. The Fund is administered by the Environmental Finance Office, within the DNREC Office of the Secretary.

Funds are made available to municipalities, private organizations, nonprofit organizations and private individuals in the form of low-interest loans, as well as grants to promote water quality improvement projects. Eligible projects include but are not limited to municipal wastewater treatment projects; nonpoint source pollution abatement projects; watershed protection, restoration, and estuary management projects.

The Project Priority List

The Project Priority List is a list of proposed water quality improvement projects used by the Water Infrastructure Advisory Council to award funding each fiscal year through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund.

The List includes projects that are eligible for, and have requested, funding through the Revolving Fund each year. The list ranks proposals based on expected environmental benefit. The Water Infrastructure Advisory Council and DNREC select projects for funding based on available funds, the priority of each proposal, and its readiness to begin.

The Project Priority List is created each year and updated during the year, if needed, to ensure that all potential applicants have an opportunity to apply for funding.

The Process

The funding process starts each year in January with an invitation to eligible projects to submit Notices-of-Intent (NOIs) to apply for funding. DNREC provides information on the program to municipalities, private businesses, consulting engineering firms, non-profits, and other interested parties. It accepts NOIs and creates a draft Project Priority List based on those submissions.

The Water Infrastructure Advisory Council holds a public hearing on the draft Project Priority List and adopts a final List after public review and comment. That list is used to award funding during the fiscal year, which runs from July 1 to June 30.

A second invitation to submit Notices-of-Intent is sent out each summer, to allow the Project Priority List to be updated, if needed. The revised List is adopted by the Council using the same public review process.

Applications

After the List is adopted, those applicants whose projects are on the fundable portion of the List will be contacted to submit a loan application for funding.

Submitted projects that are ready to proceed to the planning and design phase are included in an Intended Use Plan (IUP) for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund program. Applicants with projects on the Intended Use Plan are asked to submit loan applications within four to six months for funding consideration. Submitted loan application must include a Preliminary Engineering Report and Environmental Information Document.

Related Topics:  clean water, cwsrf, dwsrf, finance, grants, infrastructure, loans, project priority list, revolving fund, srf, water pollution