64892 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 181 / Wednesday, September 20, 2023 / Notices 

PFAS associated with consumer product 

use including information about 

potentially highly exposed population 

groups, and potential adverse human 

health effects informed by toxicological 

data sources. The Commission seeks 

comment on all significant aspects of 

this issue, including but not limited to 

the following questions. 

Use or Potential Use of PFAS in 

Consumer Products 

1. Please provide information about 

the definition of PFAS, including which 

chemical substances should be 

considered a perfluoroalkyl or 

polyfluoroalkyl substance, which 

chemical substances should be excluded 

from consideration as a PFAS, and 

which PFAS are considered in 

commerce. 

2. Please identify specific PFAS 

potentially used or present in consumer 

products that are not already included 

in the contract report and related 

supporting files. For each PFAS 

chemical identified, specify relevant 

consumer product(s) and/or use 

categories. 

3. Please provide information about 

which specific PFAS the CPSC should 

prioritize in assessments of potential 

uses or presence of PFAS in consumer 

products. 

4. Please provide information about 

which specific consumer products CPSC 

should prioritize in assessments of 

potential uses or presence of PFAS. 

5. Please provide information about 

consumer products or materials used in 

consumer products that may be sources 

of PFAS. 

5a. For intentional uses of PFAS, 

please provide information on: 

Chemical identity and physical form 

(solid, liquid, gas, semi-solid); 

Functional purpose of the PFAS; and 

measurements or estimates of levels/ 

concentration of PFAS used in 

consumer products. 

5b. Where PFAS may be present in 

consumer products other than for 

intentional, functional uses (such as 

manufacturing or environmental 

contaminants), please provide 

information on sources of contaminants; 

chemical identity and physical form; 

degradation of substances or materials 

in consumer products to PFAS; and 

measurements or estimates of levels/ 

concentration of PFAS in consumer 

products other than from intentional 

uses. 

Potential Human Exposures to PFAS 

Associated With Consumer Products 

Use, Including Information About 

Potentially Highly Exposed Population 

Groups 

6. Please provide information related 

to the emission of PFAS from consumer 

products into the indoor environment. 

For example, studies or data that 

estimate emission rates or mass transfer 

parameters of PFAS chemicals from 

consumer products or materials. 

7. Please provide information related 

to the migration of PFAS from consumer 

products into saliva, gastrointestinal 

fluid, or skin. For example, studies or 

data that estimate migration rates into 

biological fluids or surfaces based on 

sustained contact time. 

8. Please provide information about 

the potential for exposure and risk from 

presence of PFAS in consumer products 

(including contact exposures from direct 

use of consumer products and mediated 

exposures such as through emission of 

PFAS from products to surfaces, indoor 

dust, or indoor air). Please provide: 

8a. Data related to specific exposure 

pathways from consumer product 

sources and associated data or estimates 

of occurrence of PFAS in environmental 

media; 

8b. Data on measurements or 

estimates of PFAS intake, uptake, 

clearance, half-life, or occurrence in 

people (biomonitoring); and 

8c. Data on the relative source 

contribution of consumer product(s) or 

ingestion of indoor dust, or inhalation of 

indoor air compared with other relevant 

sources such as ingestion of drinking 

water or ingestion of food associated 

with estimates of aggregate exposures. 

9. Please provide information about 

population groups that may use certain 

consumer products for a greater than 

average magnitude, frequency, or 

duration based on habits, practices, and 

characteristics specific to that 

population group. 

Potential Adverse Human Health Effects 

Informed by Toxicological Data 

10. Please provide reports and 

underlying data for data sources that 

could inform whether individual PFAS 

or subclasses or categories of PFAS have 

potential for adverse human health 

effects. This includes human or animal 

studies that report the relationship 

between known exposures and observed 

effects. This also includes new approach 

methodology studies such as in-vitro 

assays or in-silico predictions that 

report the relationship between known 

exposures and observed biological 

activities related to health effects. 

11. Please provide information on 

additional sources of data and other 

information that CPSC should consider 

that are not already included or 

mentioned in the contract report and 

associated data files. 

If you wish to submit confidential 

information in response to this RFI, 

please follow the instructions in the 

ADDRESSES section above. 

Alberta E. Mills, 

Secretary, Consumer Product Safety 

Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2023–20332 Filed 9–19–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6355–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army, U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers 

Notice of Funding Availability for 

Applications for Credit Assistance 

Under the Corps Water Infrastructure 

Financing Program 

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 

Department of Defense (DoD). 

ACTION: Notice of funding availability. 

SUMMARY: The Corps Water 

Infrastructure Financing Program 

(CWIFP) is the U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers’ (Corps) new credit assistance 

program for non-federal dam safety 

projects. Through the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act of 2021, the 

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, 

and the Consolidated Appropriations 

Act of 2022, CWIFP has been provided 

$81 million in budget authority. The 

purpose of this Notice of Funding 

Availability (NOFA) is to solicit 

preliminary applications from 

prospective borrowers seeking credit 

assistance from the Corps under CWIFP. 

The Corps will evaluate and select 

projects using selection criteria as 

further described in this NOFA. 

DATES: The preliminary application 

submittal period begins today and ends 

at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on 

December 19, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: Prospective borrowers 

should submit all preliminary 

applications (OMB Control Number 

0710–0026) electronically via the Corps 

online application portal, located at: 

https://CWIFPapp.usace.army.mil. After 

registering within the application portal, 

prospective borrowers will be able to 

securely provide all required 

information for the preliminary 

application. If a prospective borrower 

has any questions or needs assistance, 

they should contact CWIFP@

usace.army.mil. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Nathan Campbell at 651–219–2963 or by 


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1https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/ 

prelim@title33/chapter52&edition=prelim. 

2https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/ 

2023/05/22/2023-10520/credit-assistance-andrelated-fees-for-water-resources-infrastructureprojects. 

email at nathan.j.campbell@

usace.army.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

NOFA discusses threshold and selection 

criteria for the funding announced by 

this NOFA, explains factors for 

budgetary screening criteria, and 

outlines the process that prospective 

borrowers should follow to be 

considered for credit assistance made 

available for this funding round. 

For a project to be considered during 

a selection round, CWIFP application 

materials must be submitted via the 

online application portal prior to the 

corresponding deadline listed in the 

Dates section. Section V. Preliminary 

Applications and Applications of this 

NOFA provides additional details on 

the preliminary application’s content. 

CWIFP has recently held webinars to 

give interested parties the opportunity 

to ask CWIFP staff questions about the 

preliminary application and the 

program. A video recording and copy of 

the webinar, as well as the schedule and 

registration instructions for any future 

webinars, can be found on the CWIFP 

website: http://www.usace.army.mil/ 

CWIFP. 

Prospective borrowers with questions 

about the program or who have interest 

in meeting with the CWIFP staff may 

send a request to CWIFP@

usace.army.mil. The Corps intends to 

meet with all prospective borrowers 

interested in discussing the program, 

but only prior to submission of a request 

under this NOFA. 

Table of Contents 

I. Background

II. Program Funding

III. Eligibility Requirements

IV. Types of Credit Assistance

V. Preliminary Applications and

Applications

VI. Fees

VII. Selection Criteria

I. Background

Congress enacted the Water

Infrastructure Finance and Innovation 

Act (WIFIA) statute as part of the Water 

Resources Reform and Development Act 

of 2014 (WRRDA). Codified in Chapter 

52 of Title 33, U.S. Code (Sections 

3901–3914), the WIFIA statute 

authorizes a federal credit program for 

water infrastructure projects to be 

administered by the Corps. The WIFIA 

statute authorizes the Corps to provide 

federal credit assistance in the form of 

secured (direct) loans or loan guarantees 

for eligible water infrastructure projects. 

CWIFP has been developed to 

accelerate non-federal investments in 

water resources infrastructure by 

providing credit assistance to 

creditworthy borrowers. CWIFP 

facilitates local investment in nonfederal dam safety projects that enhance 

community resilience to flooding, 

promotes economic prosperity, and 

improves environmental quality. 

II. Program Funding

Congress appropriated $81 million in

funding to cover the subsidy cost of 

providing WIFIA credit assistance. The 

subsidy is the estimated present value of 

the cash flows to and from the 

Government, adjusted for deviations 

such as defaults, prepayments, and 

other factors. 

III. Eligibility Requirements

The WIFIA statute (33 U.S.C. Ch. 52) 1

and CWIFP implementing rules (33 CFR 

386) 2 set forth eligibility requirements

for prospective borrowers, projects, and

project costs.

A. Eligible Entities Who May Apply

Prospective borrowers must be one of

the following in order to be eligible for 

CWIFP credit assistance: 

(i) A corporation;

(ii) A partnership;

(iii) A joint venture;

(iv) A trust;

(v) A State, or local governmental

entity, agency, or instrumentality; 

(vi) A Tribal government or

consortium of Tribal governments; or

(vii) A state infrastructure financing

authority. 

B. Project Eligibility

Funding appropriated by Congress

and made available under this NOFA is 

limited to safety projects to maintain, 

upgrade, and repair dams identified in 

the National Inventory of Dams (https:// 

nid.sec.usace.army.mil/) with a primary 

owner type of State, Tribal government, 

local government, public utility, or 

private (referred to here after as ‘‘nonFederal dams’’). 

Dam removals are eligible to receive 

CWIFP credit assistance. Requests may 

also be made for a combination of 

projects described above, provided that 

a single application is submitted for the 

combination of projects and that the 

requested credit assistance is secured by 

a common security pledge. 

C. Eligible Costs

As defined under 33 U.S.C. 3906

eligible project costs are costs associated 

with the following activities: 

(i) Development-phase activities,

including planning, feasibility analysis 

(including any related analysis 

necessary to carry out an eligible 

project), revenue forecasting, 

environmental review, permitting, 

preliminary engineering and design 

work, and other pre-construction 

activities. 

(ii) Construction, reconstruction,

rehabilitation, and replacement 

activities. 

(iii) Acquisition of real property or an

interest in real property (including 

water rights, land relating to the project, 

and improvements to land), 

environmental mitigation, construction 

contingencies, and acquisition of 

equipment; and 

(iv) Capitalized interest necessary to

meet market requirements, reasonably 

required reserve funds, capital issuance 

expenses, and other carrying costs 

during construction. 

Fees charged by the Corps to the 

borrower in connection with obtaining 

CWIFP credit assistance may be 

considered as part of eligible project 

costs as permitted under 33 U.S.C. 

3908(b)(7). 

Proceeds from the CWIFP credit 

assistance shall not be utilized to 

provide cash contributions to the Corps 

for project-related costs, except for such 

fees described in Section VI Fees. 

D. Threshold Requirements

(i) To be eligible to receive Federal

credit assistance under this part, a 

project shall meet the following 

threshold criteria: 

a. The project and obligor shall be

creditworthy; the Corps will assess the 

financing plan to ensure that the project 

and borrower are creditworthy. 

Considerations will include relevant 

factors such as the dedicated revenue 

sources that will secure or fund the 

project obligations; the financial 

assumptions upon which the project is 

based; and the financial soundness and 

credit history of the obligor. 

b. The project sponsor shall submit a

project application to the Secretary; 

c. A project shall have eligible project

costs that are reasonably anticipated to 

equal or exceed $20 million; 

d. Project financing shall be

repayable, in whole or in part, from 

State or local taxes, user fees, or other 

dedicated revenue sources that also 

secure the senior project obligations of 

the project; shall include a rate 

covenant, coverage requirement, or 

similar security feature supporting the 

project obligations; and may have a lien 

on revenues subject to any lien securing 

project obligations; 


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3https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW116publ260/pdf/PLAW-116publ260.pdf. 

4https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW116publ94/pdf/PLAW-116publ94.pdf. 

5https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/ 

2020/06/30/2020-13889/water-infrastructurefinance-and-innovation-act-program-wifia-criteriapursuant-to-the-further. 

e. In the case of a project that is

undertaken by an entity that is not a 

State or local government or an agency 

or instrumentality of a State or local 

government, or a Tribal government or 

consortium of Tribal governments, the 

project that the entity is undertaking 

shall be publicly sponsored; 

f. The applicant shall have developed

an operations and maintenance plan 

that identifies adequate revenues to 

operate, maintain, and repair the project 

during its useful life; and 

g. Be a non-federal dam safety project,

including dam removal, and be for flood 

damage reduction, hurricane and storm 

damage reduction, environmental 

restoration, coastal or inland harbor 

navigation improvement, or inland and 

intracoastal waterways navigation 

improvement that the Secretary 

determines is technically sound, 

economically justified, and 

environmentally acceptable. 

E. Federal Requirements

All projects receiving credit assistance

under this part shall comply with all 

applicable laws and regulations, 

including but not limited to the 

following: 

(i) Environmental authorities:

a. The National Environmental Policy

Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; 

b. Archeological and Historic

Preservation Act, 16 U.S.C. 469–469c; 

c. Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7401 et

seq.; 

d. Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et

seq.; 

e. Coastal Barrier Resources Act, 16

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.; 

f. Coastal Zone Management Act, 16

U.S.C. 1451 et seq.; 

g. Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C.

1531 et seq.; 

h. Federal Actions to Address

Environmental Justice in Minority 

Populations and Low Income 

Populations, Executive Order 12898, 59 

FR 7629, February 16, 1994; 

i. Floodplain Management, Executive

Order 11988, as amended by Executive 

Order 13690; 

j. Protection of Wetlands, Executive

Order 11990, 3 CFR, 1977 Comp., p. 

121, as amended by Executive Order 

12608, 3 CFR, 1987 Comp., p. 245 

k. Farmland Protection Policy Act, 7

U.S.C. 4201 et seq.; 

l. Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act,

16 U.S.C. 661–666c, as amended; 

m. Magnuson-Stevens Fishery

Conservation and Management Act, 16 

U.S.C. 1801 et seq.; 

n. National Historic Preservation Act,

54 U.S.C. 300101 et seq.; 

o. Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 U.S.C.

300f et seq.; and 

p. Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, 16

U.S.C. 1271 et seq. 

(ii) Economic and miscellaneous

authorities: 

a. Debarment and Suspension,

Executive Order 12549, 51 FR 6370, 

February 21, 1986; 

b. New Restrictions on Lobbying, 31

U.S.C. 1352; 

c. Prohibitions relating to violations of

the Clean Water Act or Clean Air Act 

with respect to Federal contracts, grants, 

or loans under 42 U.S.C. 7606 and 33 

U.S.C. 1368, and Executive Order 

11738, 3 CFR, 1971–1975 Comp., p. 799; 

and 

d. The Uniform Relocation Assistance

and Real Property Acquisition Policies 

Act of 1970, 42 U.S.C. 4601 et seq. 

(iii) Civil Rights, Nondiscrimination,

Equal Employment Opportunity 

Authorities: 

a. Age Discrimination Act, 42 U.S.C.

6101 et seq.; 

b. Equal Employment Opportunity,

Executive Order 11246, 30 FR 12319, 

September 28, 1965; 

c. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation

Act, 29 U.S.C. 794, supplemented by 

Executive Orders 11914, 3 CFR, 1976 

Comp., p. 117, and 11250, 3 CFR, 1964– 

1965 Comp., p. 351; and 

d. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of

1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq. 

(iv) Budgetary Screening Criteria:

To comply with Water Infrastructure

Finance and Innovation Program 

Account heading in the Energy and 

Water Development and Related 

Agencies Appropriations Act, 2021 

(Pub. L. 116–260 3), a project seeking 

CWIFP financing will be assessed using 

two initial screening questions and 

sixteen scoring factors. These questions 

will help the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) and the Army Corps of 

Engineers certify compliance with 

budgetary scoring rules for lending to 

non-Federal entities, a process that will 

be conducted in parallel to the Corps’ 

pre-application evaluation process 

outlined in this NOFA. As articulated in 

Public Law 116–260, only projects that 

are certified in advance in writing by 

the Director of OMB and the Secretary 

of the Army as complying with these 

criteria are eligible to receive CWIFP 

credit assistance. For example, a project 

authorized by an Act of Congress to be 

built by the Army Corps of Engineers of 

the Bureau of Reclamation is ineligible 

for WIFIA financing. However, a project 

that may connect to, or be tangentially 

related, to such a project, may be 

eligible depending on the factual 

circumstances. Furthermore, a project at 

a local municipal dam might not be 

deemed ineligible simply because it was 

originally built by the Army Corps of 

Engineers or Bureau of Reclamation. 

Such questions will need to be resolved 

on a case-by-case basis. The questions 

may be found in Federal Register 

publication: Water Infrastructure 

Finance and Innovation Act Program 

(WIFIA) Criteria Pursuant to Public Law 

116–94 4 85 FR 39189,5 June 30, 2020. 

The Corps encourages prospective 

borrowers to review the screening 

criteria and provide sufficient 

information in the preliminary 

application to facilitate OMB and Army 

review of the prospective project 

considering the screening criteria. 

IV. Types of Credit Assistance and

Maximum Credit Assistance

Two types of credit instruments are 

permitted under the WIFIA statue: 

secured (direct) loans and loan 

guarantees. General rules concerning the 

terms governing these credit 

instruments appear at 33 U.S.C. 3908 

and 3909. The maximum amount of 

CWIFP credit assistance to a project is 

49 percent of eligible project costs or up 

to 80 percent for projects serving 

economically disadvantaged 

communities. 

V. Preliminary Applications and

Applications

This section primarily describes the 

preliminary application. 

A. Preliminary Application

Prospective borrowers seeking CWIFP

credit assistance must submit a 

preliminary application describing the 

project fundamentals and addressing the 

CWIFP selection criteria. 

In the preliminary application, 

prospective borrowers provide CWIFP 

with enough information to do the 

following: 

(i) Validate the eligibility of the

prospective borrower and the proposed 

project, 

(ii) Perform a preliminary

creditworthiness assessment, 

(iii) Perform a preliminary technical

feasibility analysis, and 

(iv) Evaluate the project against the

selection criteria defined in Section VII 

of this NOFA. 

Prospective borrowers should 

complete the preliminary application 

electronically via the Corps online 

application portal, located at https:// 


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CWIFPapp.usace.army.mil. The Corps 

will notify prospective borrowers via 

email that their preliminary application 

has been received via the online 

application portal. 

Prospective borrowers can access 

additional information about the online 

platform on the CWIFP website: http:// 

www.usace.army.mil/CWIFP. 

All submitted application materials 

should stand alone, and additional 

research by CWIFP will only be 

conducted in extenuating 

circumstances. 

The preliminary application contains 

the following six (6) sections: 

1. Prospective Borrower Information

In this section of the preliminary

application, the prospective borrower 

describes the entity seeking CWIFP 

assistance, including its legal name, 

address, website, employer 

identification number (EIN), unique 

entity ID number created in SAM.gov, 

verification of active registration in 

System for Award Management (SAM) 

number, and a brief summary of 

organizational structure. 

The prospective borrower must 

provide a description of the legal 

authority used to carry out the project 

and to receive and pledge the revenue 

stream proposed as their source of 

repayment. Prospective borrowers must 

also identify the statutory types under 

which the project and loan obligor can 

be categorized. In the case of a project 

that is undertaken by an entity that is 

not a Tribal government or consortium 

of Tribal governments, or a State or local 

government or an agency or 

instrumentality of a State or local 

government, the project that the entity 

is undertaking must be publicly 

sponsored. Public sponsorship means 

that the prospective borrower can 

demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the 

Corps, that it has consulted with the 

affected Tribal, State, or local 

government in which the project is 

located, or is otherwise affected by the 

project, and that such government 

supports the proposed project. A 

prospective borrower can show support 

by including a certified letter signed by 

the approving Tribal, State, or 

municipal department or similar 

agency; governor, mayor or other similar 

designated authority; statute or local 

ordinance, or any other means by which 

government approval can be evidenced. 

At the end of this section, prospective 

borrowers will be asked to provide 

anticipated dates for (1) the completion 

of a full application (in the event they 

were invited to apply after review of 

their preliminary application, and (2) 

loan closure (in the event the full 

application was approved). 

2. Project Plan

In this section of the preliminary

application, the prospective borrower 

provides a general description of the 

project and its purpose, location, the 

localities and population served, 

environmental impacts, delivery 

method, project completion schedule, 

eligible costs, and the requested loan 

amount. 

The prospective borrower must 

specify whether the project has been 

federally authorized by Congress and 

whether the project team has previously 

consulted with any Corps Districts and/ 

or Divisions. If so, the prospective 

borrower must specify the Corps point 

of contact(s). Consistent with FR 39189, 

a project authorized by an Act of 

Congress to be built by the Army Corps 

of Engineers or Bureau of Reclamation 

is ineligible for WIFIA financing. 

However, a project that may connect to, 

or be tangentially related to, such a 

project, may be eligible depending on 

the factual circumstances (e.g., a project 

to upgrade a water distribution system 

that is connected to an Army Corps of 

Engineers or Bureau of Reclamation 

constructed water source may be 

eligible for WIFIA financing in some 

circumstances). Furthermore, a project 

at a local municipal facility might not be 

deemed ineligible simply because it was 

originally built by the Army Corps of 

Engineers or Bureau of Reclamation. 

Such questions will need to be resolved 

on a case-by-case basis. 

The prospective borrower should 

summarize other relevant information 

that could affect the development of the 

project, such as community outreach, 

environmental review, permits, 

operations and maintenance agreement 

plan, and other approvals or issues that 

are integral to the project’s 

development. 

The prospective borrower also should 

provide the following as attachments: 

(1) A map of the project location, and

(2) all applicable technical reports for

each project, addressing the project(s)

scope, cost, schedule, contingency

plans, and status of project design

(including consideration for cost

overruns).

3. Financing Plan

In this section of the preliminary

application, the prospective borrower 

indicates the amount and terms of the 

requested CWIFP credit assistance, 

including the assumed disbursement 

period and repayment term of the loan, 

the anticipated amortization structure, 

and whether interest is expected to 

capitalize during construction. 

In addition, the prospective borrower 

should detail the proposed sources and 

uses of funds for the project. The 

discussion of proposed financing should 

identify the source(s) of revenue or 

other security that would be pledged to 

the CWIFP assistance. As part of the 

description of its financial condition, 

the prospective borrower should 

include its year-end audited financial 

statements for the past two years, as 

available, or comprehensive financial 

reports, as applicable. 

Additionally, the prospective 

borrower must describe the credit 

characteristics of the proposed credit 

assistance, how the CWIFP assistance 

will receive an investment grade rating, 

as well as the anticipated rating on the 

CWIFP assistance. Whenever possible, 

the prospective borrower should 

include existing credit ratings on the 

proposed source of repayment. 

The prospective borrower should also 

include a summary financial pro forma, 

presented in a formula-based Microsoft 

Excel document, which presents key 

revenue, expense, and debt repayment 

assumptions for the revenue pledged to 

repay the CWIFP loan for the tenor of 

the proposed credit assistance. The 

financial pro forma should include all 

the following items: 

• Sources of revenue

• Operation & Maintenance expenses

• Dedicated source(s) of repayment

• Capital expenditures

• Debt service payments and reserve

transfers by funding source (including

the CWIFP credit assistance)

• Debt balances by funding source

• Projected debt service coverage ratios

for total existing debt and the CWIFP

debt

4. Selection Criteria

In this section of the preliminary

application, the prospective borrower 

describes the potential policy benefits 

achieved using CWIFP assistance with 

respect to each of the CWIFP selection 

criteria. These criteria are described in 

Section VII. Selection Criteria of this 

NOFA. 

5. Contact Information

In this section of the preliminary

application, the prospective borrower 

identifies primary and secondary points 

of contact with whom CWIFP should 

communicate regarding the preliminary 

application. To complete the Corps’ 

evaluation, CWIFP staff may contact a 

prospective borrower regarding specific 

information in the preliminary 

application. 


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6. Federal Requirements and 

Certification 

In this section of the preliminary 

application, the prospective borrower 

certifies that it will abide by all 

applicable laws and regulations, 

including NEPA, the American Iron and 

Steel requirements, the Build America, 

Buy America Act, and Federal labor 

standards, among others, if selected to 

receive funding. The prospective 

borrower also certifies that the 

information provided in the preliminary 

application is true, to the best of the 

prospective borrower’s knowledge and 

belief after due inquiry, and that the 

prospective borrower has not omitted 

any material facts. 

B. Application 

After the Corps concludes its 

evaluation of the preliminary 

application, prospective borrowers will 

be invited to apply based on the scoring 

of the selection criteria and preliminary 

evaluation of creditworthiness and 

feasibility, while taking into 

consideration geographic and project 

type diversity. 

The purpose of the Corps’ preliminary 

application review is to pre-screen 

prospective borrowers to the extent 

practicable. An invitation to apply for 

CWIFP credit assistance does not 

guarantee the Corps’ approval or 

represent an obligation by the Corps to 

enter into a credit agreement, which 

remains subject to a project’s continued 

eligibility, including creditworthiness, 

the successful negotiation of terms 

acceptable to the Corps, and the 

availability of funds at the time at which 

all necessary recommendations and 

evaluations have been completed. 

Detailed informational needs for the 

application are listed in the application 

form (OMB Control Number 0710– 

0026). 

Final and completed applications 

should be received by CWIFP within 

365 days of the invitation to apply, but 

the Corps may extend the deadline on 

a case-by-case basis if the project 

schedule in the preliminary application 

or other applicable factors signal that 

additional time might be needed. 

VI. Fees 

There is no fee to submit a 

preliminary application. 

For projects invited to apply for credit 

assistance, the Corps incurs both 

internal administrative costs (staffing, 

program support contracts, etc.) as well 

as costs associated with conducting 

engineering reviews and retaining 

expert firms, including financial and 

legal services in the field of municipal 

and project finance, to assist in the 

underwriting of the federal credit 

instrument. 

As a result, each invited applicant 

will be required to submit, concurrent 

with its application, an application fee 

of $25,000, this application fee will be 

waived for public entities serving small 

communities or economically 

disadvantaged communities. 

Applications will not be evaluated until 

the application fee is paid, if applicable. 

This fee will be credited toward final 

payment of a Transaction Processing 

Fee, which is used to pay the remaining 

portion of the Corps’ cost of processing 

the application for credit assistance. In 

the event a final credit agreement is not 

executed, the borrower will be required 

to reimburse the Corps for the costs 

incurred. 

As noted above, the Corps will only 

invite projects to apply if it anticipates 

a high probability of proceeding to 

closing. 

VII. Selection Criteria 

Prior to consideration under the 

Selection Criteria, a project must first 

satisfy all of the threshold criteria (also 

outlined in Section III(D)): 

a. The project and obligor shall be 

creditworthy; the Corps will assess the 

financing plan to ensure that the project 

and borrower are creditworthy. 

Considerations will include relevant 

factors such as the dedicated revenue 

sources that will secure or fund the 

project obligations; the financial 

assumptions upon which the project is 

based; and the financial soundness and 

credit history of the obligor. 

b. The project sponsor shall submit a 

project application to the Secretary; 

c. A project shall have eligible project 

costs that are reasonably anticipated to 

equal or exceed $20 million; 

d. Project financing shall be 

repayable, in whole or in part, from 

State or local taxes, user fees, or other 

dedicated revenue sources that also 

secure the senior project obligations of 

the project; shall include a rate 

covenant, coverage requirement, or 

similar security feature supporting the 

project obligations; and may have a lien 

on revenues subject to any lien securing 

project obligations; 

e. In the case of a project that is 

undertaken by an entity that is not a 

State or local government or an agency 

or instrumentality of a State or local 

government, or a Tribal government or 

consortium of Tribal governments, the 

project that the entity is undertaking 

shall be publicly sponsored; 

f. The applicant shall have developed 

an operations and maintenance plan 

that identifies adequate revenues to 

operate, maintain, and repair the project 

during its useful life; and 

g. Be a non-federal dam safety project, 

including dam removal, and be for flood 

damage reduction, hurricane and storm 

damage reduction, environmental 

restoration, coastal or inland harbor 

navigation improvement, or inland and 

intracoastal waterways navigation 

improvement that the Secretary 

determines is technically sound, 

economically justified, and 

environmentally acceptable. 

CWIFP Priorities 

This section specifies the process that 

the Corps will use to evaluate 

preliminary applications, (only after 

satisfaction of the threshold criteria as 

described in the section above are met) 

and select projects to apply for CWIFP 

credit assistance. 

There are 14 total CWIFP selection 

criteria that will be considered with this 

NOFA. 12 are identified in the 

implementation rules (33 CFR 386 

Section O); criterion (L) was added to 

ensure compliance with FR 39189 and 

criterion (N) was added to reflect proper 

consideration for dam removal projects 

in the selection process. The following 

criteria contain weights that combine to 

make up a total score out of 100 points: 

(A), (C), (D), (E), (F), (G), (H), (I), (J), (K), 

and (N). Overall scores will help inform 

the selection committee’s deliberations 

within the overall program framework. 

Criterion (B), Extent of Public or Private 

Financing, is not assigned a selection 

criteria weight as it is considered part of 

the threshold criteria. Criterion (L), 

Project is Non-Federally Owned, 

Operated or Maintained, is not assigned 

a weight as it is considered part of the 

threshold criteria. Criterion (M), 

Amount of Budget Authority, is 

evaluated in the context of an entire 

cohort or NOFA round given the 

amount of funding available, thus is not 

provided a weight. 

(A) 40 points: The extent to which the 

project is nationally or regionally 

significant, with respect to the 

generation of economic and public 

benefits, such as—(i) the reduction of 

flood risk; (ii) the improvement of water 

quality and quantity, including aquifer 

recharge; (iii) the protection of drinking 

water, including source water 

protection; (iv) the support of domestic 

or international commerce; and (v) the 

restoration of aquatic ecosystem 

structures. 

The Corps will assess the risk 

associated with the dam by considering 

the consequences (e.g., the extent of the 

loss of life, economic losses, and 

damage to important environmental 

resources or cultural sites) and the 


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likelihood of dam failure as defined 

below; projects at higher risk will 

receive a greater score: 

Low risk: low or significant hazard 

potential combined with a low 

likelihood of failure; or low hazard 

potential combined with a medium 

likelihood of failure. 

Moderate Risk: low hazard potential 

combined with a high likelihood of 

failure; or significant hazard potential 

combined with medium likelihood of 

failure; or high hazard potential 

combined with a Low likelihood of 

failure. 

High Risk: high or significant hazard 

potential combined with a high 

likelihood of failure; or high hazard 

potential combined with a medium 

likelihood of failure. 

(B) 0 points: The extent to which the 

project financing plan includes public 

or private financing in addition to 

WIFIA credit assistance. The Corps will 

assess this as a threshold criterion for 

creditworthiness and will assess the 

financing plan to ensure that the project 

and borrower are creditworthy. 

Considerations will include relevant 

factors such as the dedicated revenue 

sources that will secure or fund the 

project obligations; the financial 

assumptions upon which the project is 

based; and the financial soundness and 

credit history of the obligor. 

(C) 5 points: The likelihood that 

WIFIA credit assistance would enable 

the project to proceed at an earlier date 

than the project would otherwise be 

able to proceed 

(D) 1 point: The extent to which the 

project uses new or innovative 

approaches. 

(E) 10 points: The extent to which the 

project—(i) protects against extreme 

weather events, such as floods or 

hurricanes; or (ii) helps maintain or 

protect the environment. The Corps will 

assess the risk associated with the dam 

and how the proposed project 

minimizes that risk by considering the 

ability of the dam to pass the Inflow 

Design Flood (IDF) which is used as a 

proxy to evaluate the probability of an 

event occurring (i.e., dams not able to 

pass the IDF are more likely to have 

failures). The scoring will favor those 

projects that are increasing their 

capacity to successfully pass the IDF, 

which includes dam removal. 

(F) 1 point: The extent to which a 

project serves regions with significant 

clean energy exploration, development, 

or production areas. 

(G) 5 points: The extent to which a 

project serves regions with significant 

water resource challenges, including the 

need to address—(i) water quality 

concerns in areas of regional, national, 

or international significance; (ii) water 

quantity concerns related to 

groundwater, surface water, or other 

water sources; (iii) significant flood risk; 

(iv) water resource challenges identified 

in existing regional, State, or multistate 

agreements; or (v) water resources with 

exceptional recreational value or 

ecological importance. 

(H) 1 point: The extent to which the 

project addresses identified municipal, 

State, or regional priorities. 

(I) 5 points: The readiness of the 

project to proceed toward development, 

including a demonstration by the 

obligor that there is a reasonable 

expectation that the contracting process 

for construction of the project can 

commence by not later than 90 days 

after the date on which a Federal credit 

instrument is obligated for the project 

under WIFIA. 

(J) 1 point: The extent to which WIFIA 

credit assistance reduces the overall 

Federal contributions to the project. As 

noted above, a project is not eligible to 

receive CWIFP credit assistance if it is 

a congressionally authorized federal 

project authorized by an Act of Congress 

to be built by the Army Corps of 

Engineers or the Bureau of Reclamation. 

(K) 17 points: The extent to which the 

project serves economically 

disadvantaged communities and spurs 

economic opportunity for, and 

minimally adversely impacts, 

disadvantaged communities and their 

populations, which meet at least one of 

the following criteria: (i) low-income 

(the area has a per capita income of 80 

percent or less of the national average), 

(ii) unemployment rate above national 

average (the area has an unemployment 

rate that is, for the most recent 24- 

month period for which data are 

available, at least 1 percent greater than 

the national average unemployment 

rate), (iii) Indian country as defined in 

18 U.S.C. 1151 or in the proximity of an 

Alaska Native Village, (iv) U.S. 

Territories, or (v) identified as 

disadvantaged by the Climate and 

Economic Justice Screening Tool 

(developed by the Council on 

Environmental Quality and currently 

available at https://screeningtool.

geoplatform.gov). 

(L) 0 points: The project is nonfederally owned, operated or 

maintained. This criterion, which is 

being treated as a threshold criterion, 

was added for the purposes of this 

NOFA to be consistent with FR 39189. 

FR 39189 indicates that a project 

authorized by an Act of Congress to be 

built by the Army Corps of Engineers or 

Bureau of Reclamation is ineligible for 

WIFIA financing. However, a project 

that may connect to, or be tangentially 

related to, such a project, may be 

eligible depending on the factual 

circumstances (e.g., a project to upgrade 

a water distribution system that is 

connected to an Army Corps of 

Engineers or Bureau of Reclamation 

constructed water source may be 

eligible for WIFIA financing in some 

circumstances). Furthermore, a project 

at a local municipal facility might not be 

deemed ineligible simply because it was 

originally built by the Army Corps of 

Engineers or Bureau of Reclamation. 

Such questions will need to be resolved 

on a case-by-case basis. 

(M): 0 points: The amount of budget 

authority required to fund the Federal 

credit instrument made available under 

this chapter. Note: Corps will use this to 

verify that there will be sufficient 

budget authority to invite an applicant 

to apply for credit assistance. 

(N) 14 points: The project is for dam 

removal. This selection criterion was 

added for the purposes of this NOFA to 

ensure proper consideration for dam 

removal projects in the selection 

process. 

In addition to the selection criteria 

score, the Corps is required by 33 U.S.C. 

3902(a) to ‘‘ensure a diversity of project 

types and geographical locations.’’ 

Following analysis by the Corps staff, 

a final score is calculated for each 

project. Projects will be selected in 

order of score, subject to the 

requirement to ensure a diversity of 

project types and geographical 

locations. 

(Authority: 33 U.S.C. 3901–3914, 33 CFR 

386) 

Michael L. Connor, 

Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works). 

[FR Doc. 2023–20286 Filed 9–19–23; 8:45 am] 

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Notice of Availability of Interim 

Guidance on Packaging, 

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Short-Term and Long-Term Storage of 

Elemental Mercury 

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ACTION: Notice of availability of 

guidance. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

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notice of interim guidance U.S. 

Department of Energy Interim Guidance 

on Packaging, Transportation, Receipt, 

Management, Short-Term and LongTerm Storage of Elemental Mercury. The 


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