Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 11 - Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality › Part 6 - Wastewater Pollution Control Regulations › Chapter 5 - Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality Water Pollution Control Emergency Loan Fund Program Regulations › Rule 11-6-5.1 - Introductory Provisions

Current through June 25, 2024
A. Scope of
				Regulations. These regulations, adopted pursuant to Section
				49-17-86,
				Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended, will govern the Water Pollution Control
				Emergency Loan Fund (WPCELF) Program. These regulations may be superseded by
				the WPCELF loan agreement when a variance or exception is made by the
				Department and when not in conflict with any state or federal laws or executive
				orders.
B. Definitions. The
				following words and terms, when used in these regulations, will have the
				following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) Act - The Mississippi Water Pollution
				Control Revolving Fund and Emergency Loan Fund Act, Sections
				49-17-81
				through
				49-17-89,
				Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended.
(2) Administration Fee - Those fees collected
				from the loan recipient to defray the reasonable costs of administering the
				emergency fund.
(3) Allowable Costs
				- Those project costs that are eligible, reasonable, necessary, allocable to
				the project, within the established project scope and budget period, in
				conformance with the WPCELF Regulations, and determined allowable by the
				Department.
(4) Authorized
				Representative - The signatory agent or office of the applicant, authorized and
				directed by the applicant's governing body to make application for assistance
				and to sign documents required to undertake and complete the project on behalf
				of the applicant. The signatory agent or office must be a member of, or an
				employee of, the applicant's governing body and may not be under a separate
				contract with the applicant at any time during the execution of the
				project.
(5) Budget Period - The
				time frame identified in the loan agreement as such, during which allowable
				costs may be incurred.
(6) Change
				Order - The documents, including supporting documentation, executed by the loan
				recipient and the construction contractor, upon recommendation of the engineer
				if required by the contract documents, authorizing a change, alteration, or
				variance in the plans, specifications, and contract documents, including but
				not limited to, additions or deletions of work to be performed pursuant to the
				contract or a change in costs or time for work performed after the execution of
				the contract.(7)
(7) Collector
				Sewer - The common lateral sewers, within a publicly owned treatment system,
				which are primarily installed to receive wastewaters directly from facilities
				which convey wastewater from individual systems, or from private
				property.
(8) Commission - The
				Commission on Environmental Quality or its successors.
(9) Consolidation project - The acquisition
				of an existing entity or its treatment works by another or the merger of two
				entities.
(10) Construction - Any
				one or more of the following: repair, erection, building, acquisition,
				alteration, improvement or extension of water pollution control
				systems.
(11) Contract - The
				contracting agreement made between the loan recipient and any other party,
				whether by written contract, quote, invoice, work order, or other legal
				arrangement, which establishes the parties to the agreement, the scope and
				price of goods or services to be provided, the timeframe for performance, and
				any other provisions required by these regulations and/or state law.
(12) Contractor - The individual, company,
				party or other business enterprise awarded a contract by the loan recipient to
				construct any part of the project, or to supply materials, labor, equipment, or
				other necessary goods or services for the project. Contractor is not the same
				as Engineer, consultant, attorney, or other person or company providing
				professional services in conjunction with the project
(13) Department - Mississippi Department of
				Environmental Quality and staff, and their designated representatives or
				successors.
(14) Eligible Applicant
				- Any county, municipality, municipal public utility, district, authority,
				political subdivision or other governmental unit created under state law which
				has authority to dispose of domestic wastewater, industrial wastewater,
				wastewater sludges resulting from the treatment of such wastewater, stormwater,
				or nonpoint sources of pollution, has the authority under state law to receive
				WPCELF loan assistance, has the ability to comply with these regulations and
				the requirements of the WPCELF loan agreement, and which is not in arrears in
				repayments to the WPCRLF, the WPCELF or the WPALP.
(15) Eligible Costs - Eligible costs are
				those costs in which WPCELF loan participation is authorized pursuant to
				applicable statute.
(16) Emergency
				- Any circumstance caused by fire, flood, explosion, storm, earthquake,
				epidemic, riot, insurrection or caused by any inherent defect due to defective
				construction, or when the immediate preservation of public health or
				environmental protection is necessary by reason of unforeseen event or
				condition, or when the immediate restoration of a condition of usefulness or
				construction of any water pollution control facilities appears advisable, or as
				required by a pollution control or public health regulatory agency.
(17) Emergency Fund or Fund - The Water
				Pollution Control Emergency Loan Fund, created pursuant to Section
				49-17-86,
				Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended.
(18) Engineer - Unless otherwise indicated,
				the engineer, or engineering firm, registered by the Mississippi State Board of
				Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, retained or
				employed by the loan recipient to provide professional engineering services
				during the planning, design and/or construction of the project.
(19) Executive Director - The executive
				director of the Department of Environmental Quality, or his designee.
(20) Financial Assistance - Loans by the
				Commission, acting through the Department, from the Water Pollution Control
				Emergency Loan Fund.
(21) Financial
				Capability Summary - A financial analysis of a water pollution control system
				to determine whether the system has the capability to reliably meet the
				financial obligations on a long term basis.
(22) Improvements - Includes making necessary
				repairs to existing water pollution control systems to meet the emergency and
				may include new construction needed to provide a permanent correction to the
				problems which caused the emergency.
(23) Infiltration - Water other than
				wastewater that enters a sewer system (including sewer service connections and
				foundation drains) from the ground through such means as defective pipes, pipe
				joints, connections, or manholes. Infiltration does not include, and is
				distinguished from, inflow.
(24)
				Inflow - Water other than wastewater that enters a sewer system (including
				sewer service connections) as a result of rainfall or rainfall induced soil
				moisture from sources such as, but not limited to, roof leaders, cellar drains,
				yard drains, area drains, drains from springs and swampy areas, manhole covers,
				cross connections between storm sewers and sanitary sewers, catch basins,
				cooling towers, storm waters, surface runoff, street wash waters, or drainage.
				Inflow does not include, and is distinguished from, infiltration.
(25) Interceptor Sewer - A sewer which is
				designed for one or more of the following purposes:
(1) To intercept wastewater from a final
				point in an existing or proposed collector sewer and convey such wastes
				directly to a treatment facility or another interceptor or pump
				station.
(2) To replace an existing
				wastewater treatment facility and transport the wastes to an adjoining
				collector sewer or interceptor sewer for conveyance to a treatment
				plant.
(3) To transport wastewater
				from one or more municipal collector sewers to another municipality or system
				or to a regional facility for treatment.
(4) To intercept an existing discharge of raw
				or inadequately treated wastewater for transport directly to another
				interceptor, pump station or to a treatment plant.
(26) Interlocal Agreement - An agreement or
				contract between the loan applicant/recipient and other entities relating to
				use, enforcement, or finances of the project or treatment works, which may be
				necessary to ensure completion of a useful project.
(27) Loan Agreement - A legal and binding
				agreement between the Department and the loan recipient through which the
				Department provides WPCELF funds for allowable assistance and the recipient
				promises to repay the principal sum and interest back to the WPCELF over a
				period not to exceed 10 years at an interest rate established by the
				Commission.
(28) Loan Applicant -
				An eligible applicant, as defined above, that makes a WPCELF loan application
				for assistance from the Department.
(29) Loan Recipient - An eligible applicant,
				as defined above, that receives a WPCELF loan from the Department.
(30) May - Whenever used in the context of an
				action to be taken by the loan recipient, the word "may" will be interpreted as
				optional but is not mandatory.
(31)
				May not - Whenever used in the context of an action by the loan recipient, such
				an action is prohibited by these regulations.
(32) Must - Whenever used in the context of
				an action to be taken by the loan recipient, the word "must" will be
				interpreted as mandatory.
(33)
				Nonpoint Source - Pollution caused by diffuse source(s) that are not regulated
				as point source(s) and normally is associated with agriculture, silviculture,
				urban runoff and runoff from construction activities, etc.
(34) Overflows and Bypasses - Polluted water,
				such as sewage, which overflows or bypasses any portion of the treatment works
				prior to complete and final treatment and discharge in accordance with the
				permit.
(35) Permit - Unless
				otherwise specified, the authority granted by the Mississippi Environmental
				Quality Permit Board or their designated staff to discharge treated wastewater
				into or adjacent to waters of the state in accordance with the stipulations of
				the relevant National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) or State
				Operating Permit.
(36) Plans,
				Specifications and Contract Documents - The engineering description of the
				project including engineering drawings, maps, technical specifications, design
				reports and construction contract documents in sufficient detail to allow
				contractors to adequately construct the work.
(37) Plans, Specifications and Contract
				Documents Addendum - Any change made to the Plans, Specifications and Contract
				Documents after advertisement of the documents for bidding, but prior to
				opening of the bids.
(38) Plans,
				Specifications and Contract Documents Revision or Amendment . Any change made
				to the Plans, Specifications and Contract Documents after completion of the
				initial documents, but prior to advertisement of the documents for
				bidding.
(39) Point Source - Any
				discernible, confined and discrete conveyance, including, but not limited to,
				any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container,
				concentrated animal feeding operation, vehicle, or vessel or other floating
				craft from which pollutants are or may be discharged. This term does not
				include agricultural stormwater discharges and return flows from irrigated
				agriculture.
(40) Project - The
				scope of work for which assistance is awarded under the WPCELF.
(41) Project Completion - The date of the
				final construction observation, as performed by the Department, for the purpose
				of an allowability determination.
(42) Protest - A written complaint to the
				loan recipient concerning the loan recipient's solicitation or award of a
				contract. The protest must be filed with the loan recipient by a party with a
				direct financial interest adversely affected by a loan recipient's procurement
				action.
(43) Record Drawings - A
				final, post-construction set of reproducible design plans, revised to describe
				the project as it was actually constructed, including all revisions, addenda,
				change orders and field changes that affect items shown on the
				drawings.
(44) Repayment -
				Principal and interest repayments on WPCELF loans as established in the loan
				agreement.
(45) Service line - A
				conduit intended to carry wastewater, together with minor quantities of
				infiltration and inflow that are not admitted intentionally, from residences,
				public buildings and businesses to a collector sewer.
(46) Sewer - Any pipe, conduit, or related
				appurtenance used to convey sewage or wastewater, including collectors,
				interceptors, force mains and service lines.
(47) Title Counsel or Legal Counsel - The
				attorney(s) of record, legally practicing, who provide(s) legal advice and
				certifications relating to the project for the loan
				applicant/recipient.
(48) Treatment
				Works (or Water Pollution Control System) - Any devices and systems which are
				used in the storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of waste, including
				interceptor sewers, outfall sewers, sewage collection systems, pumping, power,
				and other equipment and their appurtenances; extensions, improvements,
				remodeling, additions, and alterations thereof; elements essential to provide a
				reliable recycled supply such as standby treatment units; and any works,
				including site acquisition of the land used for or in connection with the
				treatment works; and any plant, disposal field, lagoon, canal, incinerator, or
				other facilities installed for the purpose of treating, neutralizing or
				stabilizing wastewater or nonpoint source pollution or facilities to provide
				for the collection, control and disposal of wastewater or nonpoint source
				pollution.
(49) Unilateral Change
				Order - Change order executed only by the loan recipient, and identified as
				such, in accordance with the contract documents.
(50) User Charge Ordinance - A legally
				enforceable ordinance, regulation or corporate resolution enacted by the loan
				recipient which includes, at least by reference, the User Charge System, and
				establishes user charge rates to generate adequate revenues to cover all costs
				of the treatment works, as required by the User Charge System.
(51) User Charge System - That system by
				which the loan recipient charges users of the treatment works, user rates that
				produce adequate revenues required for operation, maintenance, replacement of
				equipment, retirement of existing debt, and repayment of the WPCELF loan for
				the project.
(52) Water Pollution
				Control System - see "Treatment Works."
(53) Will - Whenever used in the context of
				an action to be taken by the loan recipient, the word "will" is to be
				interpreted as mandatory.
(54)
				WPALP - Water Pollution Abatement Loan Program
(55) WPCELF - Water Pollution Control
				Emergency Loan Fund.
(56) WPCRLF -
				Water Pollution Control Revolving Loan Fund.