Arkansas Department of Health & Human Services
Division of Health
Center for Local Public Health - Environmental Health Branch - Engineering Section

DRINKING WATER STATE REVOLVING LOAN FUND

A general invitation for Year 2002 Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Applications was mailed to all Public Water Systems in December of 2001. Some seventeen applications have been received with projects loan requests of approximately $100 Million dollars. These projects will be combined with eligible unfunded projects from the prior year for a combined need of approximately $140 Million dollars.

All 2002 applicants have been notified as to their eligibility. The applicant list or Comprehensive Project Priority List (CPPL) will be made available through a public hearing process. This should occur sometime between November 2002 and the first of next year. Arkansas Soil & Water Conservation Commission will contact all eligible applicants to determine readiness to proceed with funding.

Interest rates for DWSRF eligible applicants are currently 3.0-3.5% and are always less than all other funding sources. This makes a significant difference in the monthly payments, total interest paid, and in the repayment ability for the public water system.

To be eligible for these loan rates, the public water system must be on the CPPL. If you are not on the CPPL, you will not be eligible for a DWSRF loan. Once you are on the list, you are eligible for funding for as long as the project need and definition has not changed.

Each application received must be reviewed to determine project eligibility and system capacity development. Eligible projects are those that solve a defined health need. These types of needs are outlined in the application. Each applicant or public water system must also comply with current capacity development criteria, or the application project must solve the capacity development deficiency.

Each applicant is then awarded points based on guidelines approved by EPA. All applicants are then ranked by their point totals. Applicants with the most points go to the top of the list and are reviewed for readiness to proceed with construction.

Although we mail each public water system an invitation each year to submit an application, it is not necessary for you wait for an invitation. You are encouraged to apply for eligibility at any time. This funding program works best for those who plan their capital improvement needs. If you have a major project that will need to be funded within the next five years, submit your application now.

Contact the Division’s SRF Coordinator, Raymond Thompson PE, at 501-661-2623. He is available to discuss your project need and system eligibility.

Adobe Acrobat (TM) Reader needs to be installed on your computer in order to read the newsletters and reports that are saved in PDF format. Download Adobe Acrobat (TM) Reader (FREE) from downloading Acrobat Reader Software page.