Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 33 - Public Health - Local Governments And Rural Water Systems Improvements Board › Part 16 - Drinking Water Systems Improvements Revolving Loan Fund Program Regulations › Section 33-16-VI - Priority System

Current through June 25, 2024
The SDWA provides the state with the flexibility to determine
				how to best utilize the Cap grant. To meet the particular and unique issues
				facing the public water systems in Mississippi, SDWA requirements allow states
				to give priority to those projects which:
1. address the most serious risk to human
			 health.
2. ensure compliance with
			 the SDWA requirements.
3. assist
			 areas most in need, on a per household basis.
A.
Priority Ranking Categories
Emergency Projects
The Project Priority List may be amended during the year for
				declarations of emergencies designated by the Governor (pursuant to §
										33-15-11(b)(17))
				or the State Health Officer (pursuant to §
										41-26-1 et sec.). The emergency
				project must meet all eligibility and loan requirements, but the additional
				public review and comment requirement may be waived. Once an emergency has been
				declared and the project is determined eligible, Emergency projects will take
				priority over all other project categories. Any emergency project must be
				documented in the DWSRF Annual Report and is subject to EPA oversight
				review.
Standard DWSRF Projects
Projects in Category I are funded each year to the extent funds
				are available. Projects in Categories II through XI are ranked in priority
				order; that is, all Category II projects are ranked higher than Category III
				projects, etc. Ranking is established in like manner through all remaining
				categories. Adjustments are made as necessary to comply with small community
				set-aside provisions of the Federal SDWA and as established by the Board
				[Section 1542(a) (2) of SDWA]. As stated previously, the order of Categories II
				- XI is intended to give highest priority to those projects that address the
				most serious risks to human health. Projects within each category will be
				ranked as described in Section B.
Due to the nature of the special
				appropriation Category I & Category II are not applicable.
Category III - Primary Drinking Water
				Standards
This category includes projects to facilitate compliance with
				Primary Drinking Water Standards. To qualify for this category, projects must
				correct deficiencies resulting in non-compliance with the primary drinking
				water standards. Depending on the nature of the project, additional treatment
				requirements may be necessary as part of the proposed project.
Category IV - One Well
This category includes projects to provide additional water
				supply to systems that have neither a backup well nor an MSDH-approved
				emergency tie-in to another system to ensure safe drinking water; thereby
				protecting the health of the existing population. Depending on the nature of
				the project, additional treatment requirements may be necessary as part of the
				proposed project.
Category V - Pressure Deficiencies
This category includes projects to correct documented
				deficiencies that result in existing systems routinely failing to maintain
				minimum acceptable dynamic pressure. Experience has shown that failure of water
				systems to maintain minimum acceptable dynamic pressure is the major cause of
				system contamination in Mississippi. System contamination that results from
				inadequate water system pressure is considered by the MSDH to be one of the
				most serious drinking water-related threats to public health in
				Mississippi.
Category VI - Source Water Protection
				Projects
This category includes projects to manage potential sources of
				contaminants/pollutants and/or prevent contaminants/pollutants from reaching
				sources of drinking water. To be eligible for loan participation, potential
				contaminants/pollutants and source water protection areas must have been
				identified in the public water systems source water assessment plan report
				(swapr) prepared by the Mississippi department of environmental quality's
				groundwater planning branch (deq-gpb). If the public water system has not
				received its swapr from the deq-gpb yet, or has documentation that may change
				its swap, it shall provide in the facilities plan suitable documentation of
				potential sources of contaminants/pollutants that is acceptable to the deq-gpb
				before the project will be deemed eligible.
The projects will be ranked: first in order of the highest
				source water classification that would be negatively impacted by source water
				contaminants; secondly, within each classification in order of the public water
				systems susceptibility assessment ranking as determined by the deq-gpb; and
				thirdly, within each susceptibility assessment ranking in order of the highest
				number of connections served by the public water system. Source water
				classifications will be ranked in the following order: surface water sources;
				shallow (generally [LESS THAN EQUAL TO] 300' in depth) unconfined water wells;
				shallow (generally [LESS THAN EQUAL TO] 300' in depth) confined water wells;
				and deep confined water wells.
Category VII - System Capacity Expansion to Serve
				Existing Unserved Residences/Businesses
This category includes projects to either expand existing
				system capacity or construct a new drinking water system to ensure safe
				drinking water (source, treatment and/or distribution) to serve existing
				residences/businesses in currently unserved areas.
Category VIII - Back-up Water Supply Sources
				Projects
This category includes projects to provide additional supply to
				systems with insufficient back-up water supply sources to ensure safe drinking
				water, and thereby protect the health of the existing population. As a minimum,
				a system using ground water should be able to lose any one of the wells
				supplying the system and still maintain minimum acceptable dynamic pressure
				throughout the entire system.
Category IX - Existing Facilities Upgrades (Meeting
				Primary Standards)
This category includes projects to rehabilitate, replace,
				protect or upgrade deteriorated, worn, aged or obsolete equipment, facilities,
				etc., to assure continued, dependable operation of water systems where such
				systems are already meeting Primary Drinking Water Standards. Depending on the
				nature of the project, additional treatment requirements may be necessary as
				part of the proposed project.
Category X - Fluoride Addition
This category is for projects that either rehabilitate existing
				fluoride treatment facilities at well or treatment plant sites or add new
				facilities to existing well or treatment plants.
Category XI - Secondary Drinking Water Standards
				Projects
This category includes projects to provide treatment that
				brings systems into compliance with Secondary Drinking Water Regulations.
				Depending on the nature of the project, additional treatment requirements may
				be necessary as part of the proposed project.
Category XII - Consolidation Projects
This category includes projects to consolidate separate systems
				into a single system for purposes other than those related to Categories II
				through IX. Consolidation will also be considered in establishing priority
				ranking within all categories, as described in the Priority Ranking Criteria in
				Section C.
Category XIII - Other
This category includes projects that do not meet the criteria
				of any other listed category and have been determined loan eligible in
				accordance with the DWSIRLF loan program regulations.
B.
Priority Ranking Criteria
The criteria for ranking Standard DWSRF projects within each
				category is intended to give priority to projects that:
(1) benefit the most people per dollar
			 expended;
(2) assist systems most
			 in need on a per household affordability basis as required by the
			 SDWA
(3) use consolidation with
			 other systems to correct existing deficiencies and improve
			 management;
(4) take into
			 consideration the system's current capacity;
(5) encourage participation in short-term and
			 long-term technical assistance programs; and
(6) encourage an Asset Management Plan
			 participation in the Drinking Water Needs Survey. These considerations are
			 addressed by the Priority Ranking Criteria in the following manner:
1.
Benefit/Cost
Benefit/Cost points assigned to each project will be determined
				using the following formula:
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The number of benefiting connections must be included in the
				facilities plan submitted by the applicant; be defined as the sum of individual
				connections
currently experiencing deficiencies that will be corrected by
				the improvement;
and include only existing residences, businesses, and
				public buildings. Applicants must furnish information (including hydraulic
				analysis, if necessary) to support their estimate of the number of benefiting
				connections. The total eligible cost is in millions of dollars (i.e., $800,000
				= $0.8 M).
2.
Affordability Factor
An affordability factor will be assigned to each project to
				reflect the relative needs of applicants on a per household basis. The
				Benefit/Cost points calculated in Section C.1. will be adjusted using the
				affordability factor in the following formula:
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The affordability factor used in the calculation is defined as
				the ratio of the "Median Household Income" (MHI) for the State of Mississippi
				($49,111) to the MHI for the affected community. The affordability factor used
				in the calculation will be no less than 1.0 and no greater than 1.5.
3.
Consolidation
Any project that includes consolidation (ownership and
				management) of separate existing systems into a single system will receive
				consolidation points equal to 0.5 times the Adjusted Benefit/Cost points
				assigned to the project. The purpose of assigning consolidation points is to
				promote reliability, efficiency and economy of scale that can be achieved with
				larger water systems while discouraging the proliferation of numerous separate
				small systems with their inherent inefficiencies and limitations. Projects, in
				any priority category, that do not include consolidation will receive zero
				consolidation points in the final calculation of total priority points.
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4.
System Capacity
Any project that includes scope of work to address critical
				design capacity issues (systems that are currently overloaded or within two (2)
				years of reaching their current design capacity, as determined by MSDH) will
				receive additional priority points equal to 25% of the Adjusted Benefit/Cost
				points assigned to the project. Documentation of the system capacity analysis
				and recommendations to address the design capacity issues must be addressed in
				the facilities plan to be eligible for these additional priority points.
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5.
Participation in Short-Term & Long-Term Assistance
			 Programs
The MSDH, with the Board's approval, has contracted with
				Mississippi State University Extension Service to provide both short-term and
				long-term assistance to designated water systems in the state based on their
				scores on the latest Capacity Assessment Form (CAF). This assistance is
				provided at no cost to the water systems.
Participation by the water systems in these assistance programs
				is voluntary; however, any water system that has participated in either of
				these assistance programs within the past two years will be eligible to receive
				additional priority points equal to 5% of their Adjusted Benefit/Cost Points.
				Water systems that have implemented all the recommendations made by Mississippi
				State University Extension Service will receive additional priority points
				equal to 5% of their Adjusted Benefit/Cost Points for a total of 10%.
				Documentation of participation in either of these assistance programs and
				implementation of the recommendations made by Mississippi State University
				Extension Service must be included in the facilities plan before additional
				priority points will be granted.
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1.
Asset Management Plan
Any water system certifying and providing support of their
				Asset Management Plan's implementation or maintenance to MSDH will be eligible
				to receive additional priority points equal to 10% of their Adjusted
				Benefit/Cost Points.
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7.
Ranking Within Each Category
Within each category, projects will be ranked in order based on
				the total points assigned the project using the following formula:
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Projects receiving the most priority points will be given the
				highest ranking on the Priority List. In case of a tie in the number of
				priority points, projects with the lowest median household income will receive
				the highest ranking.
8.
Small Community Set-Aside
Following completion of the ranking process, the Priority List
				will be reviewed to determine if at least 15% of available funding for projects
				above the funding line is for public water systems which regularly serve fewer
				than 5,000 people, which the Board has defined as a small community for the
				purposes of this set-aside. If this is not the case, the Priority List will be
				adjusted by exchanging the lowest ranking projects above the funding line that
				serve 5,000 or more with the highest-ranking projects below the funding line
				that serve fewer than 5,000, until the 15% requirement is
				satisfied.