33 Miss. Code. R. 9-II - Goals of Mississippi's Drinking Water Systems Improvements Revolving Loan Fund (DWSIRLF) Program

The Board has established certain goals for the DWSIRLF Program with the objective of improving the Program on an ongoing basis. The goals have been classified into three categories that include basic, long-term, and short-term. These goals were developed to address the necessary requirements of federal and state regulations, as well as the state's need and desire to maintain and enhance the Program. Congress and the State of Mississippi have placed particular emphasis on assisting smaller drinking water systems under the DWSIRLF to ensure that these systems have adequate technical, managerial, and financial resources to achieve or maintain compliance and provide safe drinking water.

A. Basic Goals

1. Maintain a financially sound DWSIRLF in perpetuity; meet a portion of the drinking water needs in the state within a reasonable period of time; and fund projects in order of public health importance. Attaining these basic goals will help ensure that Mississippi's drinking water supplies remain safe and affordable, and that those public water systems that receive funding will be properly operated and maintained.

2. Determine the DWSIRLF's yearly interest rate, taking into consideration that it must be competitive with the private sector, as well as with other available funding sources within the state. This will ensure the timely use of available funds, as well as ensure sufficient income is generated to provide for the perpetuity of the Fund. Further details of loan terms and priority ranking are outlined in Sections IV and VI of this IUP.

B. Long-Term DWSIRLF Goals

1. Enhance and/or improve loan application and repayment procedures. MSDH intends to periodically evaluate the existing Program requirements and procedures to determine ways to streamline the DWSIRLF Program's application and repayment procedures, making it more user-friendly, attractive and beneficial to loan recipients, while ensuring continued compliance with all federal and state regulations and requirements.

2. Program staff are exploring the feasibility of creating a universal web-based ranking form for all lending agencies within the state. The proposed form would ask a few simple questions, recommend a lending program based on the responses, and submit the ranking form to the appropriate agency. This could help potential loan recipients find the program that is right for their water utility, quickly and easily.

3. Continue programs to protect the State's ground water by using designated funds from the Cap grants to fund abandonment and plugging of wells. Since FFY-2012 the Program has been using the Local Assistance and Other State Programs set-asides to properly abandon inactive wells and open holes. Inactive wells and open holes are potential avenues of contamination to the aquifer and a danger to humans. This program is a worthwhile endeavor that will protect the source water of the state's water supplies.

4. Develop a tracking system to manage programmatic and financial documentation. A tracking system will provide DWSIRLF loan recipients and their representatives an opportunity to view the status and/or location of documents mailed to the Program for review and/or processing. This tracking system will also assist Program staff in tracking/monitoring program documentation reviews as well as disbursements.

5. Develop a comprehensive engineering project manager (PM) manual. The Bureau of Public Water Supply continues to make changes to the personnel involved with the DWSIRLF Program as the need arises. A comprehensive manual for project management will help ensure new PMs will have all the necessary tools and reference materials at their disposal to ensure the ongoing project flow will be uninterrupted. Since regulations change periodically, once the manual is completed it will be maintained by assigned staff.

C. Short-Term DWSIRLF Goals

1. Enhance and/or improve the Program by making it more attractive to public water systems. The evaluation of this goal will be based on input received from "one-on-one" visits with staff at engineering firms, town conferences, and general feedback obtained from loan recipients and consulting engineers during the loan process. These meetings will be conducted with firms currently participating in the DWSIRLF Program to collect data regarding the effectiveness of the loan application process currently being implemented.

2. Explore the possibility of developing web-based checklists and forms to electronically store and process project management information.

3. Assist applicants in addressing capacity assessment deficiencies found during annual inspections by using technical solutions afforded by the technical assistance set-aside contractors. New or forthcoming regulations may make this a key goal in the future.

4. Train new staff members using available training sessions provided by EPA Region IV staff.

5. Meet special funding goals: The FFY-2017 federal appropriation may introduce additional provisions that will require additional compliance monitoring, thus creating an additional burden to the Program.

6. Automatic repayment collection system: Continue the implementation of an automatic repayment collection system; many loan recipients in the Program's repayment mode desire an automatic electronic repayment system as is available in the public sector. The DWSIRLF, by instituting this payment option, will ensure a more timely receipt of monthly repayments, as well as make the repayment process much more convenient for our loan recipients.

Notes

33 Miss. Code. R. 9-II

Adopted 10/22/2017