Each year the CWSRF and DWSRF publish an Intended Use Plan (IUP), which explains how the SRF funding "cap grant" provided by the Federal government will be used to support the programs. Each IUP involves a public hearing and comment period, a priority list, and an explanation about how money will be used to meet funding requirements.
Each IUP makes program decisions to meet requirements set by Congress in each year's cap grant. Those program decisions are discussed briefly below.
FFY20/SFY21 Proposed Schedule:
Priority List Application announcement-- December 19, 2019
DWSRF FFY20 Priority List Application
CWSRF FFY20/SFY21 Priority List Application
Priority List Application deadline-- February 24, 2020
Draft Intended Use Plan announcement and Hearing notice-- April 10, 2020
Intended Use Plan hearing-- May 11 2020, The Montpelier Room, 1 National Life Drive, Montpelier, VT, 10:00 AM until Noon.
Public Comment Period ends-- May 25, 2020
Final Intended Use Plan released-- June 12, 2020
Subsidy
Each cap grant sets a minimum and maximum subsidy.
CWSRF is required to provide a minimum of 20% of the cap grant in subsidy, with a maximum of 40%. Conditions for use of the subsidy are detailed in each year’s IUP. Subsidy is applied as principal forgiveness on the loan at closing. Subsidy is administered on a first come, first serve basis. All CWSRF projects must obtain professional design services through Qualifications Based Selection procurement.
DWSRF subsidy varies by cap grant; for FFY19 the minimum subsidy is 26% of the grant with a maximum of 55%. Conditions for use of the subsidy are detailed in the IUP. Subsidy is most frequently applied in the form of principal forgiveness to disadvantaged systems. Subsidy is administered on a first come, first serve basis. The DWSRF has eliminated ‘negative interest’ in favor of principal forgiveness; there is no loss of subsidy benefit to applicants as it calculated exactly the same way.
For both programs, not all applicants may be eligible for subsidy regardless of whether or not the ceiling is met. Please see the annual IUPs for eligibility requirements. Please contact the respective Project Lead with questions.
Green Project Reserve
The CWSRF program requires that a portion of projects funded with the cap grant qualify as green projects. Currently these projects include water and energy efficiency projects and green stormwater infrastructure.
Current business cases:
Bellows Falls, RF1-180, Sewer Improvements- Hadley, Chase and Oak Sts
The DWSRF program encourages green projects, but there is no reserve requirement. Examples are: replacement of leaking pipes, new or replacement of individual water meters, and purchase of WaterSense labeled plumbing fixtures.
Set Asides
The DWSRF program is able to "set aside" money from the cap grant in the IUP in order to incentivize certain types of mini-projects. Current set asides include: archeological services, asset management, leak detection, technical service contracts, training contracts, and the Water Planning Loan Program.
The CWSRF program does not and cannot do set asides.