16.134 - WASTEWATER TREATMENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
16.134 WASTEWATER TREATMENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM.
1. The Iowa finance authority shall establish and administer a
wastewater treatment financial assistance program. The purpose of
the program shall be to provide financial assistance to enhance water
quality. The program shall be administered in accordance with rules
adopted by the authority pursuant to chapter 17A. For purposes of
this section, "program" means the wastewater treatment financial
assistance program.
2. A wastewater treatment financial assistance fund is created
and shall consist of appropriations made to the fund and transfers of
interest, earnings, and moneys from other funds as provided by law.
Moneys in the fund are not subject to section 8.33. Notwithstanding
section 12C.7, subsection 2, interest or earnings on moneys in the
fund shall be credited to the fund.
3. Financial assistance under the program shall be used to
install or upgrade wastewater treatment facilities and systems, and
for engineering or technical assistance for facility planning and
design.
4. The authority shall distribute financial assistance in the
fund in accordance with the following:
a. The goal of the program shall be to base awards on the
impact of the grant combined with other sources of financing to
ensure that sewer rates do not exceed one and one-half percent of a
community's median household income.
b. Communities shall be eligible for financial assistance by
qualifying as a disadvantaged community and seeking financial
assistance for the installation or upgrade of wastewater treatment
facilities due to regulatory activity by the department of natural
resources. For purposes of this section, the term "disadvantaged
community" means the same as defined by the department.
c. Priority shall be given to projects in which the financial
assistance is used to obtain financing under the Iowa water pollution
control works and drinking water facilities financing program
pursuant to section 16.131 or other federal or state financing.
d. Priority shall also be given to projects whose completion
will provide significant improvement to water quality in the relevant
watershed.
e. Priority shall also be given to communities that employ an
alternative wastewater treatment technology pursuant to section
455B.199C.
f. Priority shall be also given to those communities where
sewer rates are the highest as a percentage of that community's
median household income.
g. Financial assistance in the form of grants shall be issued
on an annual basis.
h. An applicant shall not receive a grant that exceeds five
hundred thousand dollars.
5. The authority in cooperation with the department of natural
resources shall share information and resources when determining the
qualifications of a community for financial assistance from the fund.
6. The authority may use an amount of not more than four percent
of any moneys appropriated for deposit in the fund for administration
purposes. Section History: Recent Form
2006 Acts, ch 1179, §63; 2009 Acts, ch 30, §9, 10; 2009 Acts, ch
72, §1
Referred to in § 16.131A