Table of Contents (click on an item)

NAVIGATION

LOAN INFORMATION

Borrower

Assistance Type

Agreement History

% Funded by CWSRF

CWSRF Total from all Projects $

Effective Interest Rate

Repayment Period

Tracking #

Other #

Incremental Funding

Loan funds one or more NPS Projects

Assign Assistance to Federal Grant(s)

PROJECT INFORMATION

CW Needs Survey Number

Project Description

Wastewater Volume

Discharge Affected

Permit Information

Affected Waterbodies

Project Location

Project Improvement/Maintenance of Water Quality

Contribution to Protection or Restoration of the Waterbody and Other Uses

REPORTS

Reporting for Specific Project Types

Required versus optional fields

_______________________________________________________________

Highlight Required Fields 

To see highlighting on the required fields for NIMS, FFATA, or Grant Requirements Reporting, 

choose the reporting category from the dropdown list and click the "Highlight" button. Click "Clear 

Highlight" to remove the highlighting.

Filling in the highlighted NIMS fields completely will assist you in running accurate NIMS reports 

from the reporting file. While a field may be highlighted, it is only required if the value is applicable 

(ex: Green Project Reserve funding). 

NAVIGATION [Return to Top]

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Loan Selection

Select a loan from the Loan Selection second-tier tab under the Loan Information tab. Highlight a 

row and click the Loan and Project Details tab, or double click the row.

List Filtering

Use the available filters to narrow your loan search. To clear filters, click Clear All Filters. 

Add or Delete a Loan 

se these buttons to enter or remove loan and project records. Create a new record or delete a 

selected record from the Other Actions section of the Loan Selection tab.

Copy From Another Project 

Click on this button to bring up a pop-up window that will let you import the project data from 

another project under this loan or any other loan. This is a one-time copy. Changes to the source 

project will not be reflected in the current project after you copy in the source data. This feature 

saves time if much of the information for the current project is the same as the information for a 

project already in the system. 

[To print] the current reporting screen, key CTRL+P. Click on the “Preferences” button, then the 

“Layout” tab and select landscape under the orientation option. Click OK to print. To print a pdf 

report of the current project, click on the print icon and open the pdf file.

Save This application times out after 30 minutes of inactivity. To save the information you enter, 

click Save at the top of the loan, or navigate to any other tab within CBR.Always click the Save 

button before checking the Record Complete checkbox. Refrain from use of the Internet Explorer 

browser's Back, Forward, Refresh, and other navigation buttons. Using these or closing the 

browser without logging out can result in a loss of entered data.

Record Complete 

“SAVE first, then check to mark as complete." If this checkbox is checked, a user must uncheck 

the box to edit the record. When the project information to be entered is complete, please check 

this box. If required loan information is not entered (Borrower Name, a non-zero CWSRF 

Assistance Amount, Loan Execution Date, Interest Rate, % Funded by CWSRF, and Loan Tracking 

Number), a pop-up will appear stating which information is not entered and you will not be able to 

check off this box. In the future, more project information may be required to be able to check this 

box.

Note: This checkbox denotes that the loan and project record are complete, not that the loan or 

project itself is complete. It is a useful tool to signify and make sure all necessary loan information 

is entered.

________________________________________________________________________

ENTER LOAN INFORMATION [Return to Top]

Data entry is organized first by loan, then by details for one or more projects that are financed by 

the loan.

In the top portion of the page, enter information on individual CWSRF loans. 

Enter detailed information on individual projects financed by the loan and the environmental 

benefits of these projects in the second portion of the page, entitled ENTER PROJECT 

INFORMATION. 

Project activities financed by the same loan may differ in terms of their on-the-ground results and 

environmental impacts. Report different activities as separate projects where it makes sense to do 

so. Add multiple project records by clicking the Add a Project button.

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Borrower

When creating a new loan you must select a borrower. If the borrower already has an existing 

loan, then 1) choose a borrower from the dropdown list. These borrowers are pre-populated from 

the existing loans for your state. I f the borrower is not on the list, then 2) add a new borrower by 

following the steps listed below. 

Add/Edit/View Borrower Information

1) Add a Borrower: Adding a borrower should only occur when the borrower for the new loan is 

not listed within the borrower dropdown list. To add a borrower, choose “Add” and this will bring 

up a popup to enter the new borrower information. Click "Save and Close" when you complete 

your entries or "Cancel" to not create a new borrower. Once the new borrower is created you can 

then choose the entry from the borrower dropdown list. 

2) Edit/View a Borrower: To edit or view a borrower, click “Edit/View” and this will bring up a 

popup to edit/view the borrower information. When you are finished viewing or editing the 

borrower information, click “Close”.

Assistance Type

If CWSRF assistance does not take the form of a loan (the default entry), select one of the 

following choices from the dropdown menu:

Loan (default value)

Refinance Short-term Debt

Refinance Long-term Debt

Guarantee/Purchase Insurance

Sub-state Revolving Fund. 

AGREEMENT HISTORY 

Agreement History Summary 

Displays Initial Agreement and Current Action dates, Assistance Provided, and any Additional 

Subsidy, if provided. Data is entered on the Agreement History page by clicking the ‘Edit/View 

Agreement History’ button within the Summary.

Edit/View Agreement History (button/popup)

Popup window displays all Agreement History actions that have been added for this project(s). 

Agreement actions must be entered in chronological order. Able to Add, Edit, or Delete Agreement 

Actions from this popup. A Binding Commitment Action is not counted towards the Agreement 

Action Totals.

Agreement History Details

Accessible from the "Add Action" or "Edit Action" buttons on Agreement History

Select an Action Type

Add Action: Select the agreement action. Once an Agreement History record is created with the 

selected Action Type, the Action Type cannot be changed. Action Types must be entered in the 

following order: 1) Initial Agreement must be entered before any subsequent action (Amendment, 

Final Agreement, Other). If entering an optional Binding Commitment, the Binding Commitment 

must be entered prior to the Initial Agreement. 2) Amendment, Final Agreement, or Other actions 

may be entered in any order befitting of the actual chronological funding history of the loan.

Binding Commitment

Optional entry. An actual CWSRF binding commitment for a project is defined as the legal 

obligation by the State to a local assistance recipient that defines the terms and timing for 

assistance through the CWSRF.

If the date of a Binding Commitment and Initial Agreement are the same, only enter an Initial 

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Agreement. The Initial Agreement will serve as the Binding Commitment (see below regarding 

NIMS). 

The amount of assistance, when entered as a Binding Commitment, is not recognized in CBR for 

reporting purposes until there is an Initial Agreement entered. A Binding Commitment action will 

not display in the Agreement History Summary or on the Loan List, but can be viewed in 

Agreement History popup (list of Agreement History actions).

Reporting Binding Commitments to NIMS - When a Binding Commitments Action is entered to CBR, 

that Binding Commitment date and amount will be counted towards NIMS Binding Commitments. 

When a Binding Commitment Action is not entered, Initial Agreement will serve as the date and 

assistance amount for NIMS Binding Commitments. Thus, if the date of a Binding Commitment and 

Initial Agreement are the same, only enter an Initial Agreement. For Binding Commitment Actions 

entered, the Initial Agreement AND any subsequent Actions (Amendment, Final Agreement, or 

Other) will serve as net changes to the Binding Commitment amount reported to NIMS. When 

Binding Commitment Actions are not entered, the Initial Agreement serves as the original Binding 

Commitment, then any subsequent Actions (Amendment, Final Agreement, or Other) will serve as 

net changes to the Binding Commitment amount reported to NIMS. 

Initial Agreement

An executed CWSRF Assistance Contract/Agreement. An Initial Agreement must be entered prior to 

an Amendment, Final Agreement, or Other action. If your state considers a Binding Commitment 

and an Initial Agreement one in the same, or if Binding Commitment and Initial Agreement have 

the same date and amount, enter your first Agreement Action as an Initial Agreement. 

If the project design is not fully determined when the loan is executed or when the borrower issues 

a bond to the state CWSRF program, you can wait for the final design before updating or filling in 

the rest of the Loan and Project Details record 

Amendment

An action is considered an Amendment if it is 1) a true Amendment to the Initial Loan Agreement 

or 2) An additional/supplemental Loan Agreement funding the same project where the terms of the 

loan are not different than the Initial Agreement. (If an additional Loan Agreement is funding a 

distinct additional phase of the project, or the loan terms are different, Add a New Loan from Loan 

List and mark the record as "Incremental Funding.") 

Final Agreement

An action is considered a Final Agreement if there is a true Final Agreement associated with this 

loan. Otherwise, a Final Agreement Action is not required if the last action entered (Initial 

Agreement or Amendment) captured the final Total Amount of Assistance disbursed to the 

Borrower. 

Other 

Any other action that is not an Amendment or Final Agreement (as defined), but is a distinct 

change or update to the Loan Agreement's Assistance, Subsidy, or GPR amount (i.e. Final 

disbursed amount). Use the Notes field to document the type of agreement.

Agreement Action Date

The date of the CWSRF Initial Agreement, Amendment, Final Agreement, or Other executed 

agreement action. Actual Dates only (no future dates). Format as M/D/YYYY. 

Assistance Amount $

Actual Amount of Assistance Provided (including any Additional Subsidy and/or GPR provided). If 

the project is funded by multiple sources, only enter the amount of SRF funding. 

Subsidy

Additional principal subsidy provided. 

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Grant $

Enter the dollar amount of funding that will be provided to the borrower in the form of a grant at 

the time of disbursement. Do not double count grant amounts with negative interest subsidy or 

principal forgiven.

Negative Interest $

Enter the dollar amount of negative interest subsidy that will be provided over the entire life of the 

loan. Do not double count negative interest subsidy with grant amounts of principal forgiven. 

Principal Forgiveness $

Enter the dollar amount of principal that you plan to forgive over the entire life of the loan. Do not 

double count principal forgiven with negative interest subsidy or grant amounts. 

# of Sub-agreements 

For states providing pass-through or linked-deposit SRF loans, enter the number of loans made to 

sub-recipients by the intermediary (Borrower). 

Population Served [Return to Top]

Report CURRENT population numbers for Initial Agreement; i.e. the population that will be served 

at project completion. (NOT the potential number of people that the project could serve in 20 

years.)

In the unlikely event that a population changes during the life of the project, you may enter the 

change in population on an Amendment, Final Agreement, or Other Action. 

 For “Project,” enter the number of people that the project serves directly. (This information is 

often but not always available.) See the 

 examples for clarification.

 For “System,” enter the number of people connected to the discrete, permitted facility or 

system that the CWSRF funded project affects.

If you are reporting on a nonpoint source and cannot estimate the number of people being served 

by the project or system directly, enter 1.

Example 1: 

A project simply extends sewer lines to a neighborhood that was formerly on septic. Only report 

the population of that neighborhood as served directly in the Project field. Enter the entire 

population connected to the facility in the System field.

Example 2: 

I&I improvements throughout the system allow the treatment plant to maintain capacity for the 

newly connected neighborhood. Here, report the entire population connected to that facility as 

served directly in the Project field. Enter the entire population connected to the facility in the 

System field. Thus, in this case, please enter the entire population connected to the facility in 

both fields. 

Example 3: 

An interceptor rehab and replacement project minimizes SSO discharge. Despite the fact that the 

discharge may not involve the wastewater treatment plant, the whole system and all of its users 

are served by reducing SSO events. Enter the entire population connected to the facility in the 

Project and the System fields. 

If at all possible, convert the equivalents of ratepayer numbers to actual population. If this is not 

possible, enter the population equivalent or ratepayer numbers. Then make a note in the Project 

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Comments field. 

If this information has not been updated on the permit recently, the applicant should be able to 

provide it easily. 

Green Project Reserve (GPR)

Enter the total amounts of GPR funding for the applicable classification(s) for this project: 

Green Infrastructure $ 

 Energy Efficiency $ 

 Water Efficiency $ 

 Environmentally Innovative $ 

Total GPR Funding Entered

The total amount of dollars that you have entered for one or more classifications. The dollar 

amount reported cannot exceed the Total Assistance Amount. 

Subsidy used to fund GPRAmount of Additional Subsidy Provided used to fund this GPR 

activity 

Amount of additional subsidy provided used to fund this GPR activity. If there is additional subsidy 

provided for this project, enter the dollar amount of additional subsidy provided that is being used 

towards GPR activity. The dollar amount reported cannot exceed the total amount of Additional 

Subsidy Provided (including Grant Amount, Negative Interest, and Principal Forgiveness) and 

cannot exceed the total amount of GPR funding.

Needs Categories -CWSRF Funded Amount link to Needs Survey Categories

[Return to Top]

Select the Needs Survey category(ies) that applies to this project detail entry and then report the 

dollar amount of CWSRF assistance provided to fund this portion of the loan. As you would do for 

NIMS reporting, distribute bond issuance costs, planning costs, and other such costs among the 

project needs categories. (Feel free to note other sources of funding, or simply an all-inclusive cost 

figure, in the Agreement Notes.) This is the simplest way to describe a project. 

When project costs (CWSRF Funded Amounts) are not broken out by needs category, use one of 

the following options for reporting. Try option one if you think you can get good estimates. 

Option 1: Estimate what proportion of project costs to assign to each needs category. You may 

want to quickly call the consulting engineer for the project. 

Option 2: Assign ALL costs to the needs category that receives most of the funding. List the other 

needs categories and enter zeros for their funded amounts. 

Because costs-by-needs-category information is so useful, consider changing the borrower 

application process to request it. 

The needs categories are divided between Wastewater Treatment Works (CWA Section 212) and 

Nonpoint Source (CWA Section 319) categories.

Note: Most if not all estuary (CWA Section 320) projects actually entail 212 or 319 defined 

activities that are specified in the 320 estuary management plan. For those projects, select the 

needs categories that describe the 212 and/or 319 activities. Then, in addition to the designated 

uses and/or other uses selected, write in the project comments section an Other Use of "Estuary" 

or something similar.

Wastewater Treatment Works Categories [Return to Top]

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Category I - Secondary Treatment and best practicable wastewater treatment technology. Report 

replacement or installation of individual or community septic systems or other decentralized treatment 

approaches in Category VII-L, Individual/Decentralized Sewage Treatment.

Category II - Advanced Treatment

Category IIIA - Infiltration/inflow correction.

Category IIIB - Sewer System Rehabilitation - Replacement and/or major rehabilitation of existing sewer 

systems.

Category IVA - New Collector Sewers and appurtenances. Includes construction of a collector sewer to replace 

failing individual or decentralized sewage treatment systems with centralized treatment. Report construction 

of a collector sewer to transport wastes to a cluster septic system or other decentralized facility in Category 

VII-L, Individual/Decentralized Sewage Treatment.

Category IVB - New Interceptor sewer systems and appurtenances.

Category V - CSO Correction correction of combined sewer overflows.

Category VI - Storm Sewers (i.e., activities to plan and implement municipal storm water management 

programs pursuant to NPDES permits). Report storm sewers associated with storm water management in 

areas not covered by applicable phase I or II storm water NPDES permits in Category VII-D, Urban.

Category X - Recycled Water Distribution - Conveyance of recycled water (i.e., water reuse) from wastewater 

facility to end user (e.g., drinking water facility) and enduser equipment to use the recycled water (if publicly 

owned, e.g., public golf course and gray water system for municipal building).

Nonpoint Source Categories

Category VII-A - Agricultural Cropland nonpoint source pollution control activities related to agricultural 

activities such as plowing, pesticide spraying, irrigation, fertilizing, planting, and harvesting. Examples of 

BMPs include conservation tillage, nutrient management, and irrigation water management.

Category VII-B - Agricultural Animals nonpoint source pollution control activities related to agricultural 

activities associated with animal production, such as confined animal facilities and grazing. Examples of BMPs 

include animal waste storage facilities, animal waste nutrient management, composting facilities, and planned 

grazing. 

Category VII-C - Silviculture nonpoint source pollution control activities related to forestry activities, such as 

removal of streamside vegetation, road construction and use, timber harvesting, and mechanical preparation 

for the planting of trees. Examples of BMPs include preharvest planning, streamside buffers, road 

management, and revegetation of disturbed areas.

Category VII-D - Urban (excludes decentralized systems) nonpoint source pollution control activities related to 

new or existing development in urban or rural settings, such as erosion, sedimentation, and discharge of 

pollutants (e.g., inadequately treated wastewater, oil, grease, road salts, and toxic chemicals) into water 

resources from construction sites, roads, bridges, parking lots, and buildings. Examples of BMPs include wet 

ponds, construction site erosion and sediment controls, sand filters, and detention basin retrofit. This category 

includes only those runoff projects in communities without phase I or phase II storm water permits. This 

category does not include the rehabilitation or replacement of individual sewage disposal systems with new 

individual sewage disposal systems or other decentralized sewage disposal technologies. Report these systems 

under a separate nonpoint source category--Category VII-L, Individual/Decentralized Sewage Treatment.

Category VII-E - Ground Water - Unknown Source - nonpoint source pollution control activities related to 

ground water protection such as wellhead and recharge area protection activities. Report any activity that can 

be attributed to a specific cause of ground water pollution, such as leaking storage tanks, soil contamination in 

a brownfield, or leachate from a sanitary landfill in that more specific category.

Category VII-F - Marinas nonpoint source pollution control activities related to boating and marinas, such as 

poorly flushed waterways, boat maintenance activities, discharge of sewage from boats, and the physical 

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alteration of shoreline, wetlands, and aquatic habitat during the construction and operation of marinas. 

Examples of BMPs include pumpout systems and oil containment booms.

Category VII-G - Resource Extraction - nonpoint source pollution control activities related to mining and 

quarrying activities. Examples of BMPs include detention berms and seeding or revegetation.

Category VII-H - Brownfields nonpoint source pollution control activities related to abandoned, idle, and 

underused industrial sites. Report all pollution control activities at these sites in this category, regardless of 

the activity. Examples of BMPs include ground water monitoring wells, in situ treatment of contaminated soils 

and ground water, capping to prevent storm water infiltration, and storage tank activities at brownfields.

Category VII-I - Storage Tanks - nonpoint source pollution control activities related to tanks designed to hold 

gasoline or other petroleum products or chemicals. The tanks may be located either above or below ground 

level. Examples of BMPs include spill containment systems, in situ treatment of contaminated soils and ground 

water, and upgrade, rehabilitation, or removal of petroleum/chemical storage tanks. Report facilities or 

measures that are part of nonpoint source pollution control activities at abandoned, idle and underused 

industrial sites (brownfields) in Category VII-H, Brownfields.

Category VII-J - Sanitary Landfills - nonpoint source pollution control activities related to sanitary landfills.

Examples of BMPs include leachate collection or on-site treatment, gas collection and control, and capping and 

closure.

Category VII-K - Hydromodification - nonpoint source pollution control activities related to channelization and 

channel modification, dams, streambank and shoreline erosion, and wetland or riparian area protection or 

restoration. Examples of BMPs include conservation easements, swales or filter strips, shore erosion control, 

wetland development and restoration, and bank and channel (grade) stabilization.

Category VII-L - Individual/Decentralized Sewage Treatment - nonpoint source pollution control activities 

related to rehabilitation or replacement of individual or community sewage disposal systems. Includes 

construction of collector sewers to transport wastes to a cluster septic tank or other decentralized facilities.

Report collection sewers and expansion of existing or construction of new centralized treatment facilities that 

replace individual or community sewage disposal systems in Category IV-A, New Collector Sewers, and 

Category I, Secondary Treatment, respectively.

Planning and Design Costs

If the loan is for Planning and Design purposes, enter the amount of assistance that is being 

used. Entering a P&D amount will denote that project information may not yet be known for this 

loan. If no project information is known, disregard the rest of the project information fields.

However, if project information is known for the loan, enter as much information as possible.

WWT (§212) Costs Solving NPS (§319) Problems

If one or more Wastewater/§212 Needs Categories have been reported, enter the 

amount of §212 assistance reported that was used to solve nonpoint source pollution 

problems, such as to replace individual or community sewage disposal systems 

(decentralized systems) with centralized treatment systems. Must not exceed the 

amount of assistance reported to §212 Needs Categories.

WWT (§212) Costs Impacting Estuaries

If one or more Wastewater/§212 Needs Categories have been reported, enter the 

amount of assistance that will benefit estuaries. Must not exceed the amount of 

assistance reported to §212 Needs Categories.

NPS (§319) Costs Impacting Estuaries

If one or more Nonpoint Source/§319 Needs Categories have been reported, enter the 

amount of assistance that will benefit estuaries. Must not exceed the amount of 

assistance reported to §319 Needs Categories.

Estuary (§320) Assistance

Enter assistance provided for the development and implementation of the 28 estuary 

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conservation and management plans established under CWA, §320. Only activities 

unique to §320 are included in this category (e.g. fisheries/oyster bed/shellfish 

restocking/restoration, fish ladders, rejuvenation of submerged aquatic vegetation). 

Point source and nonpoint source pollution control activities related to development and 

implementation of estuary plans are reported under those respective categories.

LOAN INFORMATION

Based on the state’s criteria, the borrower could afford the project without the 

Additional Subsidy Provided 

Check if the borrower could afford the project without additional subsidy provided, which includes 

grants, negative interest, and principal forgiven. This box will only be enabled when the subsidy 

option is selected above. 

% Funded by CWSRF

Enter the percentage of total funding that the CWSRF, as opposed to another source of financing, 

provides for the projects financed. Use the Project Comments field to list the other sources of 

funding.

[Return to 

Top]

CWSRF Total from all Projects $

The form automatically sums the Funded Amounts you will enter in each of the project records 

under this loan. When all projects are reported, this total should equal the Assistance Amount 

$above. This should still hold true for phased projects. If this total does not match the Assistance 

Amount total, please check the needs category Funded Amounts. They should always total to be 

the same.

Loan Interest Rate

Enter the final interest rate (annualized) charged for this loan. This loan interest rate does not 

include the fee rate (reported separately). EPA will use the interest rate, repayment period, and 

market data to compute estimated borrower savings due to the CWSRF interest rate subsidy.

Enter the rate as a percentage; e.g., if the interest rate is 3.515%, enter it as 3.515, not .035. 

Note: The default for this field is a null value. Thus, if you are unsure of the interest rate, please 

leave the null value until you can acquire the correct interest rate. Please check older entries (for 

which the interest rate was/is not known) to make sure that the interest rate lists a null value. 

Leaving this field as a zero value, when the actual interest rate is not zero, will inflate subsidy 

calculations. 

Fee Rate

Enter the fee rate (annualized) charged for this loan. This fee rate is in addition to the loan 

interest rate (reported separately). EPA will use the interest rate, fee rate, repayment period, 

and market data to compute estimated borrower savings due to the CWSRF interest rate subsidy.

Enter the rate as a percentage; e.g., if the fee rate is 1.515%, enter it as 1.515, not .015. 

Note: The default for this field is a null value. Thus, if you are unsure of the fee rate, please leave 

the null value until you can acquire the correct interest rate. Please check older entries (for which 

the interest rate was/is not known) to make sure that the interest rate lists a null value. Leaving 

this field as a zero value, when the actual interest rate is not zero, will inflate subsidy calculations. 

Repayment Period

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Enter the repayment period for this loan in years. 

Tracking #

Enter the number used to track the loan in your state CWSRF system. If there is no unique state 

tracking number, please place a general number or text to identify the loan.

Other # Optional.

Enter any other number used to track this loan. 

Incremental Funding? [Return to Top]

Check the box if this loan continues funding (is an additional “phase” of funding) for a previous 

project. Then enter the funding Phase # of the current loan; i.e., this is loan X of X. Finally, 

choose the [Linked to] OriginalTracking # of the original loan from the dropdown of entered 

loans to link the financing phases in the database. If the current phase of the project has the 

Same Environmental Results information as the project(s) under the original loan, check that 

box to automatically import the project information that corresponds to the Original Tracking #.

Like the Copy From Another Project button, this is a one-time copy. Changes to the original 

project will not be reflected in the current project after you copy in the data. 

The “original loan” is the first loan for a phase of this project that is entered in the CWSRF Benefits 

System. It is recommended that the true original loan, the first one for this project, be entered 

into the system. The “original loan” should not be checked as Incremental Funding; “1” is not 

available in the Phase # dropdown. Example below.

This field is to be used to document significant changes/additions to project funding, not simply to 

document amendments that adjust the assistance amount to account for routine changes in project 

cost. The goal here is to prevent double counting of the environmental results when additional 

funding (usually a subsequent loan or a major change in the loan amount) goes to continue a 

project. Selecting Same Environmental Results will ensure that the environmental results are 

not double counted when reporting occurs for a time period (e.g. 1990-1997) that includes multiple 

phases (e.g. phase 2 in 1992 and phase 3 in 1995) of the same project.

Example for Phase 2: 

If you are entering phase 2, enter the original loan (phase “1”) as the Original Tracking #. If the 

phase “1” loan is not entered in the benefits system, still enter the new loan as phase 2, but leave 

the Original Tracking # field blank. Periodically review a list of the entered loans (download the 

data, then sort by borrower and date to make this easy) to see if phase “1” has been entered and 

should thus be entered as the Original Tracking # for phase 2.

Example for Phase 3: 

If you are entering phase 3, enter the original loan (phase “1”) as the Original Tracking #. If the 

phase “1” loan is not entered in the benefits system, but the phase 2 loan is, you can enter the 

phase 2 loan as the Original Tracking #. If neither phase “1” nor phase 2 is entered, still enter 

the new loan as phase 3, but leave the Original Tracking # field blank. Periodically review a list 

of the entered loans (sort by borrower and date to make this easy) to see if phase “1” or 2 has 

been entered and should thus be entered as the Original Tracking # for phase 3.

Loan funds one or more NPS Projects

[Return to Top]

First, check the box if the entered loan amount represents assistance to multiple nonpoint source 

projects. You can report this way when the state makes a loan to a conduit lender (bank, 

municipality, state agency, etc) that then provides assistance for multiple projects.

Note that the grouping approach still requires complete financial information. This is 

straightforward when a single loan is made to another agency that then distributes the assistance, 

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but more complicated for a linked-deposit program. For the Loan Execution Date, use the end of 

the funding period (e.g., fiscal year) or the date of the last funding agreement in that reporting 

period. Compute weighted averages for the interest rate and repayment period using the 

assistance amount to weight the numbers.

Next, you have the option to group the individual projects by 1) activity OR by 2) watershed. One 

state loan may cover nonpoint source projects in multiple needs categories, distinct activity types, 

or several watersheds; split them into appropriate groups. Report each group in a single project 

record. If the projects are groundwater-focused or have the same water quality benefits across 

multiple watersheds, grouping by activity and reporting by lat/longs may be more appropriate than 

watershed-based grouping. If the projects are given loans that are distributed by an area (e.g. a 

county or even a watershed), grouping the projects by watershed is probably the better method.

Of course, reporting can also be more specific. Each NPS project could be reported separately. This 

would be a good approach if much of the information is already entered into an existing database 

and can be uploaded easily. If information is available that shows the benefit of a single project for 

a specific waterbody or waterbodies, it would be useful to report that project separately. However, 

also keep in mind the large number of projects and (usually) smaller dollar amounts. For example, 

if you plan on reporting each NPS project separately for 3000 NPS projects that only total 

$2,000,000, these projects should probably be grouped so as not to distort the number of projects 

and dollar amounts in the database. 

When you have decided which grouping method is the better option, enter the number of NPS 

projects in the group in the # of NPS projects field in the ENTER PROJECT INFORMATION.

The form will automatically sum the number of NPS projects from all of the project records/groups 

financed by the loan and show it in the Total NPS projects display field.

1) If the individual projects are grouped by watershed... 

We can reasonably report similar projects in the same place (smaller or larger watershed) as single 

activities and thus summarize their on-the-ground results and environmental impacts. 

For each project record/group, fill out the ENTER PROJECT INFORMATION section of the form to 

reflect the overall anticipated environmental result of the multiple NPS projects in the group. Some 

fields, like facility wastewater volume, will not make sense to fill in. Other fields may be the 

same for each of the project records/groups. The hardest fields to fill in as a summary result will 

likely be those that ask about a single waterbody when you are reporting on the watershed level.

Waterbodies within a single watershed may be alternatively impaired and meeting standards and 

will often have different designated uses. Try to report inclusively. (Impaired + Meeting Standards 

z Not Applicable.) Use your best judgment when reporting the different benefits. 

To identify the watershed, enter the national hydrologic unit code (HUC) in the Waterbody ID

field. This number should have at least 8 digits – more digits (up to the 14 digit NHD reach code) 

signify a more detailed location. Note that a project record representing multiple nonpoint source 

projects should only have one watershed entered.

[Return to Top]

2) If the individual projects are grouped by activity...

If the projects are groundwater-focused or have the same water quality benefits across multiple 

watersheds, lat/long reporting may be more appropriate than watershed-based grouping.This may 

be the method if latitude/longitude data is known for each individual project. This option should 

not interfere with summary reporting of on-the-ground results and environmental impacts. Make 

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sure that (a) the projects represent a similar activity (e.g., animal waste storage facilities or drip 

irrigation equipment), thus having a similar impact on water quality and that (b) the projects’

impacts on water quality and designated uses are similar across all of the watersheds where they 

occur.

As with projects grouped by watershed, for each project record/group, fill out the ENTER PROJECT 

INFORMATION section of the form to reflect the overall anticipated environmental result of the 

multiple NPS projects in the group. Some fields, like facility wastewater volume , will not make 

sense to fill in. Other fields may be the same for each of the project records/groups. The hardest 

fields to fill in as a summary result will likely be those that ask about a single waterbody when you 

are reporting on the activity level for many waterbodies. Waterbodies within these 

multiple projects may be alternatively impaired and meeting standards and will often have different 

designated uses. Try to report inclusively. (Impaired + Meeting Standards z Not Applicable.)

When you group by activity, you take the option to enter latitude/longitude numbers for 

individual nonpoint source projects within the project record/group. The "Project Locations" pop-up 

allows for entry of multiple decimal degree lat/long pairs, each with a label. Thus the database 

can store precise locations for projects scattered across a large watershed. Lat/longs can place 

CWSRF projects in political subdivisions, groundwater recharge areas, etc. See Latitude, 

Longitude, and Radius below for additional detail.

Example: 

A loan to the state agriculture agency is used to give ranchers low-interest loans to reduce runoff.

Of 75 projects financed one year, 30 of the farms are in the Red River watershed, 10 are in the 

Young River watershed, and 35 are in the Big Gulp Creek watershed. Group the projects into three 

project records under the single loan record, one for each watershed. Enter the 8-digit HUC for the 

appropriate watershed in the Waterbody ID field of each project record. If available, enter the 

lat/long pairs for the individual projects.

Choose VII-B Agricultural Animals as the needs category for all three project records/groups. The 

project description will likely be the same, too. Facility name, population, wastewater volume 

treated, and permit information may not be applicable. (Note: if any of the project 

improvement/maintenance fields are not applicable, please choose "not applicable." Do not leave 

the field empty.) Also, be sure to choose the discharge affected information and the 

designated/other uses. Choose all that apply. Furthermore, does the watershed or parts of it have 

a TMDL and what uses do these projects help to protect and/or restore?

Hardship Assistance 

Check if hardship assistance is provided for this loan. 

ARRA Funding/ARRA Project Information 

Check if ARRA funding is provided for this loan. Press the ARRA Project Information button to 

access this loan’s ARRA data entry page. 

IUP Year 

Enter the Intended Use Plan (IUP) year for this loan. 

[Return to Top]

GRANT REQUIREMENTS must be met for all Federal Grants with appropriation year 2010 and 

later. Grant Requirements must only be fulfilled by projects with executed SRF loan agreements

that include Additional Subsidy, Green Project Reserve (GPR), or both. Grant Requirements follow 

an equivalency approach; therefore Additional Subsidy and/or GPR are eligible to fulfill any Federal 

Grant’s Grant Requirements, regardless of actual SRF funding source for the project. (Ex: A loan 

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with Subsidy and GPR that is funded with a blend of recycled SRF funds and 2012 Federal Grant 

funds is eligible to meet any grant’s Grant Requirements, not just the 2012 grant.)

Fundamental Reporting Change: Total Assistance of a project used to be assigned, translating 

into an Additional Subsidy and GPR assignment on Grant Requirements reports. You will now be 

assigning the actual amounts of Subsidy and GPR to meet Grant Requirements. The amounts you 

assign will be the actual amounts displayed on Grant Requirements reports.

How to assign Additional Subsidy and/or GPR to meet Grant Requirements:

- Assignment Selection dropdown will enable once Additional Subsidy and/or GPR is added to the 

loan record.

-Assignment Selection 1: Assign all Subsidy and/or all GPR to cap grant(s) (Most 

common selection)

Use this option to assign the full amount of Subsidy and/or the full amount of GPR.

Use the assignment table to the right of the Assignment Selection dropdown to 

allocate Subsidy/GPR to a grant.

Flexible Reporting: If assigning both Subsidy and GPR, you may assign to meet 

Grant Requirements for the same or different grants.

-Assignment Selection 2: Assign custom Subsidy and/or GPR amount to cap grant

(s) (Uncommon)

The “Edit/View Custom Assignments” popup button will enable. Use this option to 

fully customize the Subsidy and/or GPR assignment(s).

CSTM: If you have used this option to make one or more assignments, the Grant 

Selection dropdown in the assignment table (Loan Information page) will display 

“CSTM” instead of a Grant year to indicate it is a customized assignment which may 

be for multiple years. The amount displayed as Amount Assigned will be a sum of all 

customized assignments. 

Grant Requirements Assignment Tips:

TIP 1: Eligible loans are typically executed in 2010 or later. 

TIP 2: It is common to assign the full amount of Additional Subsidy and/or GPR using 

Assignment Selection 1. The typical exception is when the amount will complete and 

exceed the amount required to meet a grant’s Grant Requirements. In this case, the 

amount may be split and assigned to two grants using Assignment Selection 2 (Custom).

Grant Reporting: Tracking/Reporting Tips:

TIP 1: Run the ‘Grant Requirements Progress Report’ for your state and restrict assistance 

to a particular Cap Grant to view progress towards meeting that Grant’s Grant 

Requirements.

TIP 2: Run the Project List: ‘Additional Subsidy and GPR’ Report for your state and restrict 

assistance to a particular Cap Grant to view a detailed list of loans assigned to meet that 

Grant’s Grant Requirements.

FFATA REPORTING must be done for all Federal Grants with award date 10/1/10 and later. This 

typically includes all Federal Grants with Appropriation Year 2010 and later. FFATA reporting must 

only be fulfilled by the Initial Assistance amounts from executed loan agreements. Actual FFATA 

Reporting should be done on the fsrs.gov website. CBR may be used to track which loans 

intend to be or have been reported to fsrs.gov, but FFATA data entry to CBR is optional. FFATA 

Reporting for a particular loan must be done by the last day of the month following the loan 

execution date (Ex: A loan with agreement date in April must be reported to fsrs.gov by last day of 

May).

Similar to Grant Requirements, FFATA Reporting follows an equivalency approach; therefore eligible 

Initial Assistance may be assigned to fulfill any Federal Grant’s FFATA Reporting, regardless of 

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actual SRF funding source for the project. 

How to assign Initial Assistance for FFATA Reporting purposes: 

-Assignment Selection dropdown will enable once an Agreement Date and Initial Assistance amount 

have been entered.

-Assignment Selection 1: Assign all Assistance to one cap grant (Most common 

selection)

Use this option to assign the full amount of Initial Assistance. Use the assignment 

table to the right of the Assignment Selection dropdown to allocate Initial Assistance 

to one grant.

-Assignment Selection 2: Assign custom Subsidy and/or GPR amount to cap grant

(s) (Uncommon)

The “Edit/View Custom Assignments” popup button will enable. Use this option to 

fully customize the Initial Assistance assignment(s). 

CSTM: If you have used this option to make one or more assignments, the Grant 

Selection dropdown in the assignment table (Loan Information page) will display 

“CSTM” instead of a Grant year to indicate it is a customized assignment which may 

be for multiple years. The amount displayed as Amount Assigned will be a sum of all 

customized assignments.

FFATA Reporting: Tracking/Reporting Tips:

TIP 1: FFATA Reporting popup (GRANT INFORMATION tab): Prior to entry to this popup, 

choose a Federal Grant Year at the top of the GRANT INFORMATION tab. The popup will 

list all assignments made under this chosen grant. To change the grant year, close the 

popup, select a different Federal Grant Year, then reopen the popup.

TIP 2: FFATA-based reports are available within the CBR Database, which can be 

downloaded from the REPORTS tab (Requires MS Access 2010 or later). 

NAVIGATING CUSTOM ASSIGNMENT POPUPS: Grant Requirements/FFATA

The custom assignments popups are very similar for both Grant Requirements and FFATA 

Reporting. The primary actions that can be taken within these popups are defined below.

Add (button)

Click to open the Add popup form. Add a new assignment and click “Save’ to create the 

assignment, or ‘Cancel’ to return to the main popup without adding a new assignment.

For Grant Requirements: Assign all or part of the available Additional Subsidy and/or GPR to a 

Federal Grant.

For FFATA Reporting: Assign all or part of this project’s Assistance to a Federal Grant. 

Edit an Assignment (button)

Grant Requirements/FFATA Custom Assignments: Select which grant you want to edit. Click the 

‘Edit’ button to open the Edit popup form. Make edits as necessary and click ‘Save’ to save the 

edits or ‘Cancel’ to return to the main popup without making any changes. 

Delete (button)

Grant Requirements/FFATA Custom Assignments: Select which grant assignment you want to 

delete. Click ‘Delete’ to remove the chosen assignment.

________________________________________________________________________

ENTER PROJECT INFORMATION [Return to Top]

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In the second portion of the screen, enter detailed information on each individual project financed 

by the loan and its environmental benefits.

Project activities financed by the same loan may differ in terms of their on-the-ground results and 

environmental impacts. Report different activities as separate projects where it makes sense to do 

so. You can add multiple project records by clicking the Add Project button.

If the loan is for Planning and Design purposes, check the “Planning and Design Project”

checkbox. This will denote that project information may not yet be known for this loan. If no 

project information is known, disregard the rest of the project information fields. However, if 

project information is known for the loan, enter as much information as possible. Regardless if the 

CWSRF did not fund the construction portion of the loan and only funded the Planning and Design 

portion of the loan, the loan will still be included in CW Benefits Reporting.

CW Needs Survey Number

If available, report the Clean Water Needs Survey Identification Number for this project.

Project Name

Enter a brief but descriptive name for this project.

Project Description [Return to Top]

What does the project do? Expand and upgrade a treatment plant? Correct CSOs? Extend sewer 

lines to eliminate 70 septic tanks and a wildcat sewer? 

Enter a project description of your choice: a name, municipality/service area other than the 

borrower, nonpoint source project action, etc. This field will only save up to 255 characters. If you 

would like to copy in more text from another source (e.g. an IUP) place it in the Project 

Comments field.

If the project affects part of a treatment system, specify the treatment FacilityName affected. If 

multiple treatment facilities are affected, please enter multiple names separated by semicolons.

# of NPS projects

See above under Multiple Nonpoint Source Projects with Similar Environmental Results. 

Project Dates 

Construction/Project Start Date 

Enter the date when the CWSRF funded project begins construction on the project. The start 

of construction is defined as the date of issuance to a contractor of a notice to proceed for 

the initial CWSRF funded contract or, if a notice to proceed is not required or the project 

includes planning and design, the date of execution of the intial CWSRF funded contract 

awarded for the project. Includes only the portion financed with CWSRF funds. For 

refinance projects, report construction start amounts either in the year in which the CWSRF 

assistance agreement for the project is signed or int he year in which construction started -

whichever is later - even if the construction began prior to the date of the CWSRF assistance 

agreement. Refinance projects are those where non-CWSRF financing was initially used, 

and CWSRF funding was subsequently provided to pay off the non-CWSRF financing. For 

NIMS Reporting purposes: If there is more than one project, the earliest Construction Start 

date entered will be used.

Initiation of Operations/Project Completion Date 

Enter the date when the CWSRF funded project comes into operation or becomes capable of 

operation for the purposes for which it was planned, designed, and built. Includes only the 

portion financed with CWSRF funds. If the project is for planning and design only, enter the 

date planning and design was completed. For refinance projects, report initiation of 

operation as the date the CWSRF assistance agreement for the project is signed or the date 

in which operations are initiated, whichever is later, even if initiation of operations began 

prior to the date of the CWSRF assistance agreement. Refinance projects are those where 

non-CWSRF financing was initially used, and CWSRF funding was subsequently provided to 

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pay off the non-CWSRF financing. For NIMS Reporting purposes: If there is more than one 

project, the latest IOO date entered will be used.

Wastewater Volume: >treated/processed and eliminated/conserved/reused

[Return to Top]

For the project, enter the flow that it directly affects. This figure could be equivalent to the flow 

for the system, the design flow obtained from the engineering plans or updated permit for the 

facility. Use average daily flow figures or the closest available.

For CSO, SSO, conservation, reuse, and similar projects, flow figures will not be comparable to 

those for treatment facilities. Use the Volume Eliminated/Conserved /Reused field to record 

the estimated amount of overflow, treatment, or effluent discharge avoided.

Note: When flow cannot be accurately calculated for each phase of a phased project, please use 

your best professional judgment and explain your estimate. Use the ProjectComments field. 

Example 1: 

A CWSRF loan funds rehabilitation of two pump stations, each of which processes 8% of total flow 

to the treatment facility. Enter 16% of the total flow for the projectand enter the total design flow 

for the facility. 

Example 2: 

A CWSRF loan funds I&I repair designed to only affect 5% of flow but is designed to reduce wet 

weather flow by 12%. Because this project is not predominantly a wet weather project, we would 

count the 5%. (If is was a wet weather project, we would count the 12%.) Enter the total design 

flow for the facility. 

Report the design flow, NOT the peak flow, which will exist at project completion. Do not report a 

range. For consistency, use a 20-year design horizon when reporting flow numbers. Make a note 

in the comment field if the only numbers are derived using a different design horizon. 

If a project simply expands a facility, only enter the added flow capacity in the Project field. If a 

project also upgrades a facility, report the total design flow at project completion in the Project

field. In both cases, report the total design flow at project completion in the System field. 

Example 1: 

For a project that expands a treatment plant’s capacity from 3.4mgd to 5.4mgd, report 2mgd in 

the Project field and 5.4mgd in the System field. 

Example 2: 

For a project that expands a treatment plant’s capacity from 3.4mgd to 5.4mgd and upgrades the 

plant, report 5.4mgd in the Project field and 5.4mgd in the System field. 

_____________________________________________________________________

Discharge Affected [Return to Top]

Select the type(s) of waterbody(ies) that the project affects the discharge to. At least one box 

must be checked. If this section is not applicable to the project, please choose no change/no 

discharge. 

Ocean Outfall

Estuary/Coastal Bay

Wetland

Surface Water (Stream, River, Lake)

Groundwater

Land Application

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Other/Reuse

Eliminates Discharge

No Change/No Discharge

Choose the “Eliminates Discharge” option when the project removes a discharge from the receiving 

waterbody; e.g., rerouting flow to another treatment facility. This allows us to focus on the 

environmental benefit to the waterbody even when the facility no longer actually discharges to it. 

Of course, if a regionalization/consolidation project decommissions a smaller, older plant on a river 

and sends its discharge to a newer, cleaner plant on the same river, the result is really just 

improved treatment. In this case, select “Surface Water” and enter the permit number for the new 

plant now discharging the effluent.

If the older plant had been discharging to a different waterbody segment and eliminating that 

discharge has a specific environmental impact on that segment, this could be the primary result of 

the project. In this case, also select “Eliminates Discharge” but still enter the permit number for 

the new plant now discharging the effluent.

National Estuary Program (NEP) Study Area

If the project is located within an NEP Study area, check this box. For a list and maps of the 

National Estuary Programs and their study areas, go to www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries/sheds.htm. 

(This question is irrespective of the Discharge Affected list.)

Seasonal Discharge

Check this box if the wastewater discharge is seasonal. Note: Seasonal discharge can be checked 

along with the other, above choices. 

Permit Information 

In this section, enter the discharge permit number(s) for the project. If the project facility has an 

NPDES number, click on the "Enter NPDES Number" button. This will bring up a popup form that 

will allow you to choose from a list of EPA maintained NPDES numbers. You can choose by number 

or facility name. If the NPDES number for the facility is not on the list, check the "NPDES Number 

Not on List" check box and enter Number in the text box provided. Once the number is selected or 

entered, click on the "Close and Save" button. 

As a convenience to the user, when the NPDES number is chosen from the list and its location is in 

the EPA database, a link to view the facility on Enviro Mapper will appear on the popup form. 

If no NPDES permit number applies, check the “No NPDES Permit Number” box. If a different 

permit applies (other than NPDES), enter the permit type in the other Permit Type field and the 

permit number in the other Permit Number field. If no other permit applies, leave the other Permit 

Type and other Permit Number fields blank. 

If more than one highly relevant NPDES or other type of discharge permits apply, note the permit 

types in the other permit type box and enter the corresponding additional permits in the other 

permit number box separating the entries with a comma. The intent is to capture the most relevant 

discharge permit numbers and not every possible permit that applies to the project. 

Affected Waterbodies [Return to Top]

Select/Enter a Waterbody Name and Waterbody ID number for the Primary Impacted Waterbody 

and, if applicable, for the Other Impacted Waterbody. Whenever possible, a 14 digit waterbody ID 

(NHD reach code) should be entered for a project. If a 14 digit reach code is not available or does 

not apply, check the box indicating that one is not available and enter an 8 digit HUC code if 

applicable. 

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Click on the "Enter Waterbody ID" button to enter a Primary or Other Waterbody ID. A popup with 

valid Region, Basin, HUC, and Reach codes for your state are displayed. You’re your selection by 

choosing the Region, Basin, HUC, and then Reach code in order. Once you make your selection to 

the Reach (14 digit) level, or HUC level if appropriate, click on the "Save Selection as Primary 

Waterbody ID" button or "Save Selection as Other Waterbody ID" to save the selections. 

If an NPDES number has been selected from the list of NPDES numbers provided (see above) and 

the HUC for that Facility is known, the Region, Basin, and HUC codes will be pre-populated in the 

form and the user will only need to select the Reach Code. However, if the pre-populated 

information is not correct, the user can still revise the selections as appropriate. 

Based on the choices made, a link to view the Facility/HUC on Enviro Mapper appears to assist the 

user in locating a facility and Reach code. Enviro Mapper can also be reached at:

www.epa.gov/waters/enviromapper

To find the NHD Reach Code in Enviro Mapper, follow these basic steps. 

1. On the right-hand side, choose a Geographic location to zoom to. 

2. On the lefthand side, be sure that "Surface Water" is checked off. 

3. As you zoom closer into your designated area, use the "i" info key to choose a specific body 

of water to click on and identify. A Reach Code will only appear in the Identification Results 

once you have zoomed in close enough to the location. This may mean you are zooming to 

under a 10 mile scale.

4. The NHD "Reach Code" should appear under a section labeled "Water Body" or "Flow Lines."

If you do not see these, it is because you have not zoomed in far enough. You also should 

take care in clicking directly on a body of water when using the "i" info key, otherwise the 

Identification Results will not include water bodies. 

If you locate a reach code in Enviro Mapper you must then select that Reach code in the popup 

form and click to save it as the Primary or Other Waterbody ID. 

Once the Waterbody ID is selected, check off whether the waterbody is the receiving waterbody 

from the facility discharge. Please keep in mind that the affected waterbody is not always the 

Receiving Waterbody. In many cases, a downstream stream segment, river, lake, or reservoir has 

strict pollutant limits that drive projects on upstream tributaries. Also, a septic elimination project 

may occur to protect local groundwater, not to improve water quality in the receiving stream for 

the treatment plant. 

You may also enter any State waterbody identifiers in the optional State Waterbody ID field. 

If you are reporting a project with a category of III, IV, V, VI, or a group of NPS projects, the 

waterbody ID is not required, but is encouraged if it is available. Note that a project record 

representing multiple nonpoint source projects should only have one watershed (or waterbody) 

entered. If more than one is entered, we cannot locate any of the project benefits.

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As an alternative to Waterbody ID, you may enter a latitude/longitude pair that corresponds to 

the affected waterbody. Be sure this location represents, for example, the outfall (not the plant or 

utility office) and that the receiving waterbody is actually the primary affected waterbody. See the 

latitude/longitude section below. 

Project Location [Return to Top]

The physical location of the primary place of performance for the funded activity. If the project 

location spans a large geographic area, such as an interceptor or collection system project, enter a 

street address that best represents the location of the center of the project. Do not enter multiple 

cities, states, counties, or congressional districts. 

Address Line 1

Enter the primary street address of the project. 

Address Line 2 

Enter any secondary street address information for the primary street address of the 

project (e.g.: Suite 2; P.O. Box 123). 

City 

Enter the primary city/other political jurisdiction of the project location. (Example: 

"Rockville")

State

Your state's abbreviation is automatically populated in this field. 

Zip Code+4

Enter the primary zip code (zip+4) of the project (e.g.: 12345-6789) 

Congressional District(s) (add primary first)

To add a district, select the district from the drop-down list and press the “Add” button. If 

the project falls in more than one district, select additional districts from the drop-down list 

and press the “Add” button. Choose the primary congressional district first. To remove any 

incorrectly identified districts, select from the drop-down list and press the “Delete” button.

All districts are coded with the state abbreviation and then a 2-digit district code.

________________________________________________________________________

Project Improvement/Maintenance of Water Quality [Return to Top]

To contribute to water quality “improvement,” a project must reduce pollutant loading to the 

receiving waterbody. A project that simply sustains the treatment capacity of a facility counts for 

water quality “maintenance.”

Complete the statements below to best describe this project in terms of improving or maintaining 

water quality. Note: If any of the statements do not apply the the project, please select "not 

applicable." 

a. Contributes to water quality...

1. Select "improvement" when a project reduces pollutant loading to the affected waterbody. 

2. Select "maintenance" when a project simply sustains the treatment capacity of a facility.

3. Select "not applicable" when the project increases loadings to the affected waterbody.

This information can be found in the engineering and/or environmental review documents for a 

project. Information on pre-project pollutant loadings should be confirmed with the most recent 

Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs). 

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b. Allows the system to...

1. Select "Achieves Compliance" when the facility/system was out of compliance before the 

project and will be in compliance at project completion. 

2. Select "Maintain Compliance" when the facility/system was in compliance before the project 

and has a lower risk of falling out of compliance after the project. 

Use the engineering and environmental review documents, the DMRs, and the permit (most likely a 

NPDES permit, but also possibly a reuse, recharge, or land discharge permit), along with any 

administrative, consent, or court orders.

Strictly speaking, these options do not give credit to projects that move the facility/system toward 

compliance but that do not “Achieve Compliance” at project completion, such as an SSO project: 

1. If a project is a significant factor in a system/facility achieving compliance, accomplishing a 

specific group of items on a consent order or eliminating CSO’s for a large section of the 

sewer system, go ahead and select “Achieve Compliance.”

2. If a project simply addresses a few I/I problems that generally affect SSOs, select “Not 

Applicable.”

3. If a project occurs under the threat of noncompliance – i.e. it allows the 

system/facility to meet anticipated permit limits – we suggest selecting “Achieve

Compliance” instead of “Maintain Compliance.”

c. Affected waterbody is...

“meeting standards,” “impaired,” “threatened,” or “not assessed.” Look it up on the 303(d) 

impaired waters list, or on a state groundwaters list.

d. Allows the system to address...

"existing TMDL," "Projected TMDL," or "Watershed Managment Plan." Does the project reduce 

the pollutants specified in the TMDL or watershed management plan (WMP) for the affected 

waterbody? 

First, contact the appropriate state environmental agency office(s) to find out if the affected 

waterbody has a TMDL or watershed management plan. (Watershed management plan is a 

general term; lingo will differ between states.) Check your project's engineering and 

environmental documents to see if it will reduce the pollutants specified in the TMDL or 

management plan. TMDL information may already be attached to the permit. Projects on 

impaired waters do NOT automatically address a TMDL. Information about projected TMDLs may 

appear on a state schedule.

Example:

On a nutrient impaired stream, a new wastewater treatment plant replaces a smaller early - 1980s 

POTW and the aging septic tanks of a few subdivisions. In the next few years, its up-to-date 

treatment processes will improve pollutant removal efficiency. Since state or local planning has 

targeted the area for development the plant is designed and permitted for a higher level of 

loadings to the stream than the existing POTW. Average effluent loadings over the lifetime of the 

plant will be significantly greater than those from the old POTW.

a. Select "Not Applicable". The project will have no effect on maintaining or improving water 

quality.

b. Select "achieves compliance", since the project will comply with stricter permit limits.

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c. The receiving waterbody is impaired.

d. Although a TMDL has been submitted to EPA for the stream, the permit does not contain any 

allocations. The TMDL program office, however, quotes a projected allocation figure for nutrients 

that the new facility does meet. Select projected TMDL allocation.

________________________________________________________________________

Contribution to Protection or Restoration of the Waterbody and Other Uses

[Return to Top]

Identify both the Designated Surface Water Uses and Other Uses and Outcomes that this 

project helps to protect or restore. If the project maintains or improves water quality, or if it 

increases effluent loadings but meets its permit, it contributes to protection of the uses you find 

when matching pollutants. If the project reduces loadings of a pollutant that is impairing a 

designated use (303(d) list), the project contributes to restoration of that use.

Note: Choices from both Designated Surface Water Uses and Other Uses and Outcomes may be 

selected. However, if the Designated Surface Water Uses section does not apply to the project, an 

Other Use or Outcome must be chosen (and vice versa). 

Each state chose a list of Designated Surface Water Uses from its state water quality 

standards. This list appears in the dropdown on the reporting form and in the pop-up window 

linked to the form (for read-only users). The following list is the summary list used for national 

reporting and serves as an example list here.

Drinking Water

Aquatic Life & Wildlife

Primary Contact Recreation

Secondary Contact Recreation

Fish Consumption

Shellfish Consumption

Agricultural Water Supply

Industrial Water Supply/Navigation

Aesthetic Value

Exceptional & Outstanding Significance

Other

Other Uses and Outcomes selections allow reporting of additional project outcomes that may not 

affect pollutant discharge into a surface waterbody with designated uses. For example, it is 

expected that many CWSRF projects will have the outcome of “Infrastructure Improvement.” The 

‘protection’ and ‘restoration’ labels may not apply as well to the Other Uses and Outcomes, so 

use your best judgment. It is likely, however, that some of these uses and outcomes will be 

primary ones for the project. Mark them as such. (See the examples.) The Other Uses and 

Outcomes list is fixed:

Infrastructure Improvement

Regionalization/Consolidation

Water Reuse/Recycling/Conservation

Groundwater Protection

Drinking Water Supply (e.g., groundwater source)

Other Public Health/Pathogen Reduction

Wetland Restoration

Security

Industrial

Other

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Selecting uses – matching pollutants 

While some project benefits are better described as infrastructure improvement, we should make 

an effort to link project benefits to the waterbody that the facility/system affects. Please do not 

simply select all of the uses listed for the waterbody in your state water quality standards or 305

(b) report. 

First, identify the pollutants that the project removes from the influent sewage (design and 

environmental review documents) and that also show up in the water quality criteria for the 

receiving waterbody’s uses (water quality standards database) and outcomes.

Next, mark only those uses/outcomes that are explicitly addressed or strongly inferred by the 

planning and design documentation. The project design objectives indicate which pollutants are 

targeted and often mention uses/outcomes that drive the project. If these documents do not 

specify uses/outcomes, mark those that the project significantly affects. 

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Primary and secondary uses

Specify as primary those affected uses that drive a large portion of project financing. Often, a 

primary use will correspond to the largest pollutant reduction. In most cases, one and possibly two 

uses will qualify as primary. Specify secondary for other uses. If no use qualifies as primary, 

specify secondary for all applicable uses.

A project can have multiple primary uses and may even have an Other Use or Outcome as its sole 

primary use or one of its primary uses. Thus, a project can be reported, for example, as primarily 

resulting in “Groundwater Protection” but also in restoring the use of “Primary Contact Recreation”

in a nearby stream. Use your judgment where the option to choose protection or restoration 

doesn’t necessarily make sense for an Other Use or Outcome like “Groundwater Protection.”

[Return to Top]

View a step-by-step/decision tree approach to reporting Designated Surface Water Uses.

Example 1:

A project renovates a POTW and installs post-secondary chemical phosphorus removal equipment 

to comply with new TMDL allocations. The receiving waterbody is temperature impaired for its 

designated use as a cold water fishery and is also bacteria-impaired for its use of primary contact 

recreation. 

The project reduces effluent loadings of BOD, TSS, ammonia, and phosphorus. Because these 

pollutants are listed in the criteria for the receiving waterbody’s two Designated Surface Water 

Uses, the project protects both uses. Because the TSS reduction will affect the listed bacteria 

impairment, the project contributes to restoration of the primary contact recreation use. But 

because the project did not change effluent temperature, it will not be credited with restoring the 

cold water fishery use. Nonetheless, the cold water fishery is the primary use for this waterbody 

because its more stringent water quality criteria drive efforts to reduce loadings. Do not mark 

additional Designated Surface Water Uses that are not explicitly addressed or strongly inferred in 

the planning/design documentation, even if project improvements incidentally protect these uses 

(e.g. agriculture).

As for Other Uses and Outcomes, Infrastructure Improvement is likely a primary benefit of this 

project.

Example 2:

A treatment project is designed to remove ammonia and phosphorus from the effluent. The 

affected lake is designated for use as a warm water fishery, a primary contact recreation area, and 

a source of irrigation water. The warm water fishery use dictates the standards/criteria for 

ammonia and phosphorus, so definitely select it. The swimming use dictates lower criteria for 

phosphorus, so select that too. Since the agriculture use does not have criteria for these 

pollutants, do not select it. 

Example 3:

These are the preferred reporting options for two cases where a project simply replaces 

interceptors:

Case 1: If the project had not occurred, loadings to the receiving waterbody would have increased.

In this case, the project prevents increased loadings, maintaining water quality. Choose Protection 

for those uses that are affected by these loadings. Under Other Uses & Outcomes make 

“Infrastructure Improvement” primary under protection. 

Case 2: Without the project, a collection system failure would result in sewage spills that would 

pollute groundwater and perhaps threaten public health. Under Other Uses & Outcomes, make 

“Groundwater protection” , “Other Public Health/Pathogen Reduction” , and “Infrastructure 

Improvement” primary under protection. 

Additional important comments

It is important to take every reasonable step to accurately link loan dollars spent for a project to 

the uses/outcomes that the project benefits. We can rarely measure protection or restoration of

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fishing or recreational uses on the scale of a single CWSRF project and the associated affected 

waterbody. State assigned designated uses and accompanying water quality criteria allow us to 

link the loading reductions from a CWSRF project to fishing, swimming, and other uses of and 

outcomes for affected waterbodies. 

A step-by-step/decision tree approach to reportingDesignated Surface Water Uses.

The following decision tree provides a methodical approach to determining which designated 

surface waterbody uses a project helps to protect or restore. This page accompanies the online 

‘Help’ file, where you can read through illustrative examples of use determinations.

1.) Does the project:

Improve water quality; i.e. reduce pollutant loadings.*

---ÆGo to (2.b.).

Maintain water quality; i.e. maintain pollutant loading levels.*

---ÆGo to (2.b.).

Increase loadings but keep the facility in compliance with its permit.*J

---ÆGo to (2.a.), but go to (2.b.) if the waterbody is meeting standards for all uses. 

None of the above.

---ÆBypass the Designated Surface Water Uses section and select the Other Uses and 

Outcomes that apply. See (4.) to distinguish between “Primary” and “Secondary”

selections.

2.) Make a list of the designated uses for the affected waterbody.

If a use is threatened or impaired by a pollutant that the project will increase loadings of, cross 

out that use. Skip this step if the waterbody is meeting standards for all uses. ---Æ Go to 

(2.b.). 

Cross out those uses that the project, wastewater or nonpoint source, has no chance of 

affecting (e.g., navigation). ---Æ Go to (3.).

3.) Consider whether the project’s impact on loadings, to reduce and/or maintain pollutant levels, 

affects the uses that remain on the list.

If the pollutant criteria for each use are available (Ask water quality section colleagues.), you 

can easily note which pollutants affect which uses.

If the project does affect a designated use, and the waterbody is meeting that designated use, 

then record “Secondary” in the Protection column. For projects that only maintain water 

quality; i.e. maintain pollutant loading levels, go to (4.).

If (i) the project does affect a designated use, and (ii) the waterbody only partially meets or 

DOES NOT meet that use, check to see if (iii) the project reduces loadings of the pollutant 

that is causing the impairment. (See the ‘Help’ file for examples.)

- If yes to i, ii, and iii, record “Secondary” in the Restoration column.

- If yes to i & ii but no to iiii, record “Secondary” in the Protection column.

---Æ Go to (4.).

4.) If protection or restoration of one or many uses represents the primary environmental benefit 

of the project, change “Secondary” to “Primary” (Rarely for more than one or two uses.) Note: 

The project design objectives often indicate which pollutants are targeted for (the greatest) 

loading reductions and often mention uses/outcomes that drive the project.

* See the above question on the form: “a. Contributes to water quality...___________________.”

J

 Also see the above question on the form: “b. Allows the system to...___________________.”

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________________________________________________________________________

Reports Database Download [Return to Top]

Contains current CBR Program Reports as well as program graphs and ARRA, NIMS, and FFATA 

reports. Downloading the Reports Database captures a “snapshot” of data from all states, even if 

you are logged in under a specific state or region. If information is updated since the last download 

of the Reports Database, it will need to be re-downloaded to capture the new data. It is 

recommended that you save this file to a known location on your computer or network. Requires 

Access 2003 or later.

Downloading

To download, click the “Download” button once; do not refresh or navigate away from the 

page. It may take several minutes for the file to generate and download, depending on 

your Internet speed. 

Downloading as a .zip file 

You may choose to download the file as a .zip file by clicking the checkbox labeled 

“download as .zip file” before clicking the “Download” button. Opting to obtain the .zip file 

may shorten the length of time spent downloading, depending on your Internet speed (This 

option is not available for Internet Explorer Beta 9 Users). 

OMB 1512 Reporting Template 

Excel template from FedReporting.gov that is used with the Reports Database Download to 

generate quarterly ARRA reports. Must save the template to the same location as the Reports 

Database. Requires Excel 2000 or later. 

Populating the OMB 1512 Reporting Template 

1. Download and save both the template and the Reports Database Download to the same 

location on your computer or network (same folder).

2. Open the Reports Database Download and navigate to the ARRA Reports tab.

1. Select “Populate OMB FederalReporting.gov Reporting File in Excel” (Step 1) and select 

your state (Step 2).

2. Click “Run Report” (Step 5). This will create a copy of the template, with the state data 

populated to it. The new file is saved to the same location on your computer or network 

where you originally saved the template and Reports Database Download. You should 

receive a message that says “FederalReportingTemplate File Created and Saved.”

Web Reports – Program Reports

Run current CBR Program Reports right from the web. These reports are identical to reports run 

from the Reports Database Download. Reports are generated as .PDF files (Requires Adobe Reader 

or equivalent Adobe program). To save the file, choose “Save” when the report is generated. If 

you have already opened the file, save it by going to “File” Æ “Save As.”

Raw Data Download 

Contains tables with raw state and project information. Not to be used with the Reports Database 

Download. To download, click the “Download” button once; do not refresh or navigate away from 

the page. It may take a few moments for the file to generate and download, depending on your 

Internet speed. Requires Access 2000 or later.

________________________________________________________________________

Reporting for Specific Project Types [Return to Top]

Planning and design loans

While planning and design do not directly improve water quality, they are important parts of the 

process and should be entered in the CWSRF Benefits Reporting effort. Treat them like any other 

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project if data are available. Information on the water quality impact of a project may not be 

available if a loan does not also fund project implementation. The most appropriate use or 

outcome to select is “Infrastructure Improvement.”

If the CWSRF also funds construction, use the Incremental Funding fields to link the construction 

and planning and design loans.

Nonpoint source projects

Nonpoint source (NPS) projects that occur as part of conduit lending programs may be grouped for 

reporting. See Multiple Nonpoint Source Projects with Similar Environmental Results

above.

The approach to reporting other nonpoint source projects should be similar to that for any other 

project. Because the form was designed primarily for point source projects, however, a few fields 

should be treated differently. For most nonpoint source projects, it is hard to quantify population 

served and wastewater volume. Except for decentralized treatment projects and perhaps septic 

projects, it is doubtful that these fields apply. The Facility Name field is rarely relevant. The 

permit and compliance fields may apply for landfills, but not for most NPS projects.

Because NPS projects may be difficult to link to a specific waterbody, it may be necessary to report 

at a summary level: a small watershed instead of a specific waterbody reach. Best management 

practices on a large farm may affect multiple streams and rivers. If you cannot identify a primary 

affected waterbody, enter a latitude/longitude or the NHD reach code for a representative 

waterbody or for a small watershed (not a huge 8-digit HUC). In either case, review the 

impairment and designated use information for the affected waterbodies to complete the benefits 

reporting.

Older projects: water quality information

This reporting system anticipates project benefits. This requires knowledge of the project’s impact 

vis-à-vis water quality conditions at the time of reporting: loan execution. We want to use 

impairment, compliance, and use information from the same year as the loan. This time-sensitive 

information may be more difficult to obtain for older projects. If you cannot find it, enter current 

information and make a note in the Project Comments.

________________________________________________________________________

Required versus optional fields [Return to Top]

Almost all fields are required when relevant, provided that the information is available.

Data elements that may be more difficult to find are:

Project population 

Project wastewater volume

Volume Eliminated/Conserved

Waterbody name and ID

The existence of a projected TMDL or a watershed management plan

The optional fields are:

CW Needs Survey Number

Other #

State Waterbody ID

Latitude/Longitude under Project Location

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