§ 46-12.2-8 - Procedures for application, approval, and award of financial assistance.
SECTION 46-12.2-8
§ 46-12.2-8 Procedures for application,approval, and award of financial assistance. – (a) Any local governmental unit may apply to the agency for financialassistance in accordance with this chapter to finance all or any part of thecost of a water pollution abatement project. The agency shall not awardfinancial assistance to a local governmental unit until and unless thedepartment shall have issued a certificate of approval of the project orportion thereof.
(b) If the department shall determine, in accordance withrules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this chapter, that an applicationfor financial assistance or portion thereof shall be approved, it shall deliverto the agency a certificate of approval of the project or a portion thereofwhich shall specify the project or portion thereof eligible for financialassistance and such other terms, conditions and limitations with respect to theconstruction and operation of the project as the department shall determine.The agency shall specify, among other things, the type and amount of financialassistance to be provided, the costs thereof eligible for financial assistance,the amounts, if any, of the financial assistance, to be provided from the waterpollution control revolving fund and/or the Rhode Island water pollutioncontrol revolving fund, the amount, if any, of subsidy assistance to be grantedfrom the local interest subsidy trust fund, the amount, if any, of otherfinancial assistance permitted by this chapter to be provided, and such otherterms, conditions, and limitations on the financial assistance, the expenditureof loan proceeds, and the construction and operation of the project as theagency shall determine or approve.
(c) Any water pollution abatement project or portion thereofincluded on the priority list established by the department for federal fiscalyear 1989 or any federal fiscal year thereafter shall be eligible for financialassistance in accordance with this chapter.
(d) In addition to the authority provided by law, thedepartment shall be responsible for, and shall have all requisite power to,review and approve reports and plans for water pollution abatement projects andapproved projects, or any part thereof, for which financial assistance has beenapplied or granted in accordance with this chapter, to enter into contractswith local governmental units relative to approved projects, including, withoutlimiting the generality of the foregoing, the costs of approved projectseligible for financial assistance, grants, and other terms, conditions andlimitations with respect to the construction and operation of the project, andto inspect the construction and operation thereof of projects in compliancewith approved plans. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, inconnection with the exercise of its powers and performance of its duties underthis chapter, the department shall have all the powers provided by law to thedepartment and its director. The department shall adopt rules, regulations,procedures, and guidelines to carry out the purposes of this chapter and forthe proper administration of its powers and duties under this chapter. Therules, regulations, procedures, and guidelines shall include among otherthings, criteria for determining those water pollution abatement projects to beapproved for financial assistance (the criteria shall include the prioritydetermination system), specification of eligible costs of the projects, andprovisions for compliance by projects constructed in whole or in part withfunds directly made available under this chapter by federal capitalizationgrants with the requirements of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1351 etseq., and other federal laws applicable to the project. The department shallcooperate with the agency in the development of capitalization grantapplications, operating plans, and intended use plans for federalcapitalization grant awards under title VI of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C.§ 1381 et seq., and may enter into such agreements and other undertakingswith the agency and federal agencies as necessary to secure to the state thebenefits of title VI of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1381 et seq. Inorder to provide for the expenses of the department under this chapter, theagency shall transfer to the department for application to the expenses anamount from the water pollution control revolving fund equal to the maximumamount authorized by federal law, and such additional amounts as may be neededfrom the Rhode Island water pollution control fund and from any other moniesavailable. The agency and the department shall enter into an operatingagreement and amend the same, from time to time, allocating their respectiverights, duties, and obligations with respect to the award of financialassistance and grants to finance approved projects under this chapter andestablishing procedures for the application, approval, and oversight ofprojects, financial assistance, and grants.
(e) Upon issuance of a certificate of approval, the agencyshall award as soon as practicable the financial assistance to the localgovernmental unit for any approved project specified in the certificate;provided, however, the agency may decline to award any financial assistancewhich the agency determines will have a substantial adverse effect on theinterests of holders of bonds or other indebtedness of the agency or theinterests of other participants in the financial assistance program, or forgood and sufficient cause affecting the finances of the agency. All financialassistance shall be made pursuant to a loan agreement between the agency andthe local governmental unit, acting by and through the officer or officers,board, committee, or other body authorized by law, or otherwise its chiefexecutive officer, according to the terms and conditions of the certificate ofapproval and such other terms and conditions as may be established by theagency, and each loan shall be evidenced and secured by the issue to the agencyof local governmental obligations in fully marketable form in principal amount,bearing interest at the rate or rates specified in the applicable loanagreement, and shall otherwise bear such terms and conditions as authorized bythis chapter and the loan agreement.
(f) The agency shall adopt rules, regulations, procedures,and guidelines for the proper administration of its financial assistanceprograms and the provision of financial assistance under this chapter. Therules, regulations, procedures, and guidelines shall be consistent with therequirements of title VI of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1381 et seq.,and any rules, regulations, procedures, and guidelines adopted by thedepartment, and may include, without limitation, forms of financial assistanceapplications, loan agreements, and other instruments, and provision forsubmission to the agency and the department by a local governmental unit of theinformation regarding the proposed water pollution abatement project, thewastewater system of which it is a part, and the local governmental unit as theagency or the department shall deem necessary, to determine the eligibility ofa project for financial assistance under this chapter, the financialfeasibility of a project, and the sufficiency of general revenues or wastewatersystem revenues to secure and pay the loan and the local governmentalobligations issued to evidence the project.
(g) Subject to the provisions of any trust agreement securingbonds of the agency, when the agency shall have awarded a loan eligible forsubsidy assistance from funds held by the agency for the credit of the localinterest subsidy trust fund, the agency shall credit to the applicable accountin the fund maintained in accordance with § 46-12.2-6(e), the amount, ifany, as provided in the loan agreement to defray all or a portion of theinterest otherwise payable by the local governmental unit on the loan.
(h) In addition to other remedies of the agency under anyloan agreement or otherwise provided by law, the agency may also recover from alocal governmental unit, in an action in superior court, any amount due theagency together with any other actual damages the agency shall have sustainedfrom the failure or refusal of the local governmental unit to make the payments.