Chapter NR 166

NR 166.07(1)(z)2. 2. Initial training of operating personnel on new or modified equipment, laboratory procedures, computers, controls, records management, and treatment processes.

NR 166.07(1)(z)3. 3. Obtaining expert operational assistance for adjustments to the treatment process or other significant portions of the water system.

NR 166.07(1)(z)4. 4. Implementing a maintenance management system.

NR 166.07(1)(z)5. 5. Obtaining necessary computers, upgrades, and software, the costs of which the department may prorate if the municipality intends to use the equipment for multiple purposes rather than solely for the water system.

NR 166.07(1)(z)6. 6. Attending off-site formal training programs if necessary for the initial operation of the constructed water system.

NR 166.07(1)(z)7. 7. Purchasing the first fuel fill-up for new equipment, such as generators.

NR 166.07(1)(zm) (zm) Street restoration. Restoring streets and rights-of-way to preconstruction condition, and repairing items damaged during construction of the scored project, such as pavement, sidewalks, sanitary sewers, and storm sewers. Eligibility of costs may be prorated based on participation by one or more other funding sources, or on the percent of the project attributable to SDWLP-eligible activities.

NR 166.07 Note Note: Other funding sources that tend to participate in the types of projects that involve street restoration include the department of transportation, the community development block grant program, and the U.S. department of agriculture rural development community programs. Proration of costs may be due to the other funding source covering a portion of costs that would otherwise be eligible for SDWLP funding or because some of the project costs are not eligible for SDWLP funding, such as wastewater or storm water pipe costs being ineligible when the overall project purpose is to replace both watermains and sanitary sewers.

NR 166.07(2) (2) Ineligible costs. Costs for items and activities not specific to or not necessary for the construction or startup of a scored project are not eligible for financial assistance unless specifically approved by the department as necessary and reasonable for the efficient operation or integrity of the overall water system. Ineligible items and activities include all of the following:

NR 166.07(2)(a) (a) Allowances. Any contingency or allowance amounts built into a bid contract for nonspecific or ineligible items or activities.

NR 166.07(2)(b) (b) Basin planning. Basin or areawide planning not related to the scored project.

NR 166.07(2)(c) (c) Bonus payments. Bonus payments not legally required for completion of construction before a contractual completion date.

NR 166.07(2)(d) (d) Certification. Fees for operator certification training.

NR 166.07(2)(dm) (dm) Chapter 30 permit fees. Chapter 30 permit fees if a municipality at the time of purchase of a permit under ch. 30, Stats., pays a fee for the permit due to not identifying the project as being funded with state or federal funds.

NR 166.07 Note Note: Permit fees are not required by the department for waterway projects authorized under ch. 30, Stats., that are funded in whole or in part by any federal or state agency.

NR 166.07(2)(e) (e) Conflict of interest. Costs incurred under a contract that creates a real or apparent conflict of interest. An apparent conflict of interest arises when an official or employee of a recipient participates in the selection, award, or administration of a contract supported by the SDWLP and any of the following conditions exist:

NR 166.07(2)(e)1. 1. The official or employee, the official’s or employee’s spouse, or the official’s or employee’s partner has an ownership interest in the firm selected for the contract.

NR 166.07(2)(e)2. 2. Any person identified in subd. 1. receives any contract, gratuity, or favor from the award of the contract.

NR 166.07(2)(f) (f) DBE noncompliance. The amount of project costs determined by the department to be appropriate for a sanction under s. NR 166.11 (4) (b) for noncompliance with DBE good faith effort requirements.

NR 166.07(2)(g) (g) Engineering. Engineering costs relatable to ineligible construction costs when the ineligible construction and equipment costs are more than 10 percent of total construction and equipment costs.

NR 166.07(2)(h) (h) Grant administration. Any costs for administering or applying for funding from sources other than the SDWLP, such as U.S. department of agriculture’s rural development programs, a community development block grant program, federal state and tribal assistance grants, U.S. army corps of engineers, focus on energy, or other non-SDWLP federal or state government loan or grant programs, or other types of financial assistance programs.

NR 166.07(2)(i) (i) Hookup charges. Hookup charges imposed by one municipality on another for hooking up to a water system, unless the charges are based on identifiable capital improvement costs incurred by the municipality imposing the charge, proportional to the capacity to be used by the municipality hooking up, and included in a written agreement signed by both municipalities.

NR 166.07(2)(j) (j) Interim debt. Interest or principal payments on interim debt paid by the municipality out of its internal funds rather than capitalized funds, unless DOA notifies the department that such payments are eligible under the particular circumstances.

NR 166.07 Note Note: The ineligibility of interest or principal payments in par. (j) is based on U.S. treasury reimbursement regulations 26 CFR 1.150-2.

NR 166.07(2)(k) (k) Lab fees. Laboratory fees incurred for activities related to monitoring, except when the monitoring is project specific.

NR 166.07(2)(L) (L) Late fees. Interest or late fees on payments for services provided to the municipality in relation to the scored project.

NR 166.07(2)(m) (m) Leases. Costs related to leasing land or buildings.

NR 166.07(2)(n) (n) Mismanagement and litigation. Costs of claims against the recipient resulting from mismanagement or caused by the recipient’s vicarious liability for the improper action of others and costs resulting from litigation of contract disputes, liquidated damages, appeals, and other related disputes.

NR 166.07(2)(o) (o) Negligence. Costs incurred due to negligence or error of a party contracted by the municipality.

NR 166.07(2)(p) (p) No construction. All costs of a project if the municipality does not finance some construction costs through the SDWLP, unless the department is cooperating with another governmental funding agency to provide an affordable financing package for the project, the other agency is financing the construction costs, and the department receives acceptable documentation of the other agency’s commitment.

NR 166.07(2)(q) (q) Operations and maintenance. Operations and maintenance expenses as defined in s. NR 166.03 (38) and (29), respectively.

NR 166.07(2)(r) (r) Ordinary municipal operating expenses. Ordinary operating expenses of a municipality, such as salaries and expenses of elected officials and on-staff attorneys, postage, utility bills, and annual financial audits.

NR 166.07(2)(s) (s) Other funding. Costs for which payment has been or will be received from another funding source, including costs for which funds from the U.S. department of agriculture’s rural development program or a community development block grant program are committed, or costs covered by a focus on energy grant. If the municipality does not receive the funds expected from the other source, the department may consider the costs of the work that was to be funded through the other source to be eligible for SDWLP financial assistance unless the costs are considered ineligible under another paragraph in this subsection.

NR 166.07(2)(t) (t) Outside of scope. Costs outside the scope of the scored project unless the department approves the costs as necessary and reasonable to improve the overall integrity, operation, or functionality of the water system.

NR 166.07(2)(u) (u) Personal injury. Personal injury compensation or damages arising out of the project, whether determined by adjudication, arbitration, negotiation, or otherwise.

NR 166.07(2)(v) (v) Post-closeout. Expenses incurred after the project completion date of the scored project.

NR 166.07(2)(w) (w) Private service lines. Removal or replacement of private service lines that are not made of lead or galvanized materials.

NR 166.07(2)(x) (x) Sewer pipes. Storm sewer or wastewater sewer pipe construction, replacement, or repair, unless the work is necessary as a direct result of work performed for a scored project, such as moving a wastewater pipe to allow appropriate distance between it and a watermain being constructed or repairing or replacing a sewer pipe damaged during construction of the scored project.

NR 166.07(2)(xm) (xm) Site acquisition. Site acquisition expenses other than those meeting the criteria established under sub. (1) (h) and (p).

NR 166.07(2)(y) (y) Source water protection. Land acquisition or easement costs incurred for land used for source water protection.

NR 166.07(2)(ym) (ym) Special districts. Costs of establishing special purpose districts or commissions, such as sanitary districts, utility districts, public inland lake protection and rehabilitation districts, joint local water authorities created under s. 66.0823, Stats., municipal water districts, and joint commissions.

NR 166.07(2)(z) (z) Violation penalties. Fines and penalties due to violations of, or failure to comply with, federal, state, or local laws.

NR 166.07(2)(zm) (zm) Warranty inspections after construction completion. Costs related to post-construction warranty inspections, including costs of a consulting engineer or a third-party inspector, and costs of extended warranties or service contracts that go beyond construction completion.

NR 166.07(3) (3) Limitation on eligibility of interim debt costs.

NR 166.07(3)(a) (a) Net interest expense. Interim debt interest expenses shall be offset with any interest earnings from the investment of the proceeds from the interim debt to determine the amount eligible for SDWLP financial assistance.

NR 166.07(3)(b) (b) Interim debt issuance costs. The amount of interim debt issuance costs eligible for financial assistance is limited to $15,000 plus 0.5 percent of the total eligible face amount of the interim debt. If interim debt is rolled over or renewed, the face amount may not be counted multiple times in calculating the eligible face amount of interim debt for purposes of this limit.

NR 166.07(3)(c) (c) Interim debt interest costs. The period of time for which interest on interim debt is eligible for financial assistance shall run from no earlier than 18 months prior to the start of construction to the earliest of the following:

NR 166.07(3)(c)1. 1. The date of the first disbursement of the financial assistance.

NR 166.07(3)(c)2. 2. One year following substantial completion of the project.

NR 166.07(3)(d) (d) Cost proration. If the term of the interim debt exceeds the limit in par. (c), the interim debt costs shall be prorated using the length of the eligible term divided by the total time that the interim debt is outstanding. If the interim debt is not exclusively for the SDWLP scored project, costs shall be prorated according to the proportion of the total debt that is for the scored project.

NR 166.07(3)(e) (e) Maximum principal. The amount of interim debt principal that may be refinanced with SDWLP financial assistance may not exceed the total amount of the interim debt that was spent on eligible project costs.

NR 166.07 History History: CR 22-068: cr. Register October 2023 No. 814, eff. 11-1-23.

NR 166.08 NR 166.08 Application process.

NR 166.08(1) (1) Notice of intent to apply submittal. If required by the department, a municipality shall submit notice of its intent to apply for financial assistance via the department’s online application systems by any applicable deadline set in the SDWLP annual intended use plan under s. NR 166.05 (1). The municipality or its designated representatives shall complete the requirements established by the department for gaining access to and submitting information through the department’s online application systems. The department may require the municipality to submit through the online systems any of the following:

NR 166.08 Note Note: Instructions regarding the online application systems are available on the Environmental Improvement Fund website at dnr.wisconsin.gov/aid/EIF.html.

NR 166.08(1)(a) (a) A clear, concise, and comprehensive project description that includes the public health or water system problem or concern being addressed, the general solution proposed through a single project, and detailed information regarding what structures are to be constructed, what equipment is to be purchased and installed, and project location, including detailed information for purposes of eligibility determinations regarding storm sewer or sanitary sewer construction being done at the same time as watermain construction on the same block of a street or in the same intersection.

NR 166.08(1)(b) (b) Contact information.

NR 166.08(1)(c) (c) An estimate of the total project cost and what amount of the cost is likely to be requested from the SDWLP.

NR 166.08(1)(d) (d) Estimated or actual dates related to the bidding and construction timeline of the project.

NR 166.08(1)(e) (e) Date and number of the department approval of plans and specifications for each set of plans and specifications associated with the project, if available at time of intent to apply or priority evaluation and ranking information submittal.

NR 166.08(1)(f) (f) Any other information required to complete the submission in the department’s online application systems.

NR 166.08(2) (2) Engineering report. A municipality shall submit an engineering report to the department for approval as required under s. 281.61 (4), Stats., subject to all of the following:

NR 166.08(2)(a) (a) An engineering report shall comply with the applicable engineering report requirements contained in chs. NR 108 and 811 for the type of project being constructed.

NR 166.08(2)(b) (b) The department shall determine whether there are activities included in the engineering report that fall outside of the scope of the project for purposes of this chapter.

NR 166.08(2)(c) (c) If neither ch. NR 108 nor ch. NR 811 requires an engineering report for a specific project, or if either ch. NR 108 or 811 allows submittal and review of the engineering report and plans and specifications simultaneously, and the department receives the plans and specifications with or prior to submittal of the SDWLP application, the municipality may submit an application for financial assistance prior to receiving department approval of the engineering report.

NR 166.08(3) (3) Application procedures.

NR 166.08(3)(a) (a) A municipality shall apply for financial assistance in accordance with s. 281.61 (5), Stats. All applicants must submit the required information and documentation through the department’s online application system.

NR 166.08 Note Note: Directions regarding online submittal are available on the Environmental Improvement Fund website at dnr.wisconsin.gov/aid/EIF.html.

NR 166.08(3)(b) (b) The applicant shall submit plans and specifications to the department drinking water plan review section as required under ch. NR 108 or 811, or both, prior to or simultaneously with submitting the financial assistance application for the project to the department environmental loans staff. The applicant must submit a copy of the plans and specifications with the financial assistance application via the online application system in addition to submitting the copies required for drinking water plan review.

NR 166.08(3)(c) (c) For any type of project for which plans and specifications are required under ch. NR 108 or 811, the department may deny an applicant funding if the applicant does not provide appropriately complete plans and specifications to the department prior to or with the application for the project as required under par. (b) and sub. (4).

NR 166.08(4) (4) Contents of application. The applicant shall submit a complete application, including all of the following items that are applicable to the project:

NR 166.08(4)(a) (a) Evidence of compliance with sub. (2).

NR 166.08(4)(b) (b) Except as provided in par. (bg), for a project for which the department requires plans and specifications under ch. NR 108 or 811, or both, a copy of biddable construction plans and specifications approvable by the department for all parts of the scored project for which the municipality is requesting financial assistance from the fiscal year applicable to the project.

NR 166.08(4)(bg) (bg) For a well construction project, at least plans and specifications for the drilling of a permanent well with or prior to submittal of the application for financial assistance; the applicant may submit additional well-related plans and specifications for the scored project, such as those for pumps or the wellhouse, after the department determines the application is complete.

NR 166.08(4)(br) (br) A certification from the applicant or its consulting engineer stating that plans and specifications are not required under chs. NR 108 and 811 for the project if the applicant submits an application for financial assistance for a project type that does not require plans and specifications review under ch. NR 108 or 811.

NR 166.08(4)(c) (c) Completion of the required fields in and upload of required documentation to the department’s online application system, including all of the following:

NR 166.08(4)(c)1. 1. A clear, concise, and comprehensive project description including any modifications to the project description previously provided in the online application systems.

NR 166.08(4)(c)2. 2. Estimated or actual construction costs.

NR 166.08(4)(c)3. 3. Identification of known ineligible costs included within the total budget provided in the online application.

NR 166.08(4)(c)4. 4. Information regarding assistance received or expected from another funding source.

NR 166.08 Note Note: The project description may already be included in the online application as it should transfer over to the application if previously provided with intent to apply or priority evaluation and ranking information. When that transfer of information is successful, the applicant must only provide information regarding any modifications to the project description that is already included in the application rather than providing an additional complete project description.

NR 166.08(4)(d) (d) Items or information for compliance with federal regulations identified by the department in the online application system as required for a complete application; these items may include documentation of compliance with wage rate laws, completed federal forms, and information regarding green project components or procuring American-made products for use in the project.

NR 166.08(4)(e) (e) A copy of each executed engineering contract and any associated existing contract amendments for planning and design of the project if funds are requested for planning and design in the application project budget.

NR 166.08(4)(f) (f) A copy of each executed engineering contract and any associated contract amendments for construction management if funds are requested for construction management in the application project budget and the contract or amendment is available at the time of application submittal.

NR 166.08(4)(g) (g) A copy of each executed non-engineering professional services contract related to the project and any associated amendments if funds are requested in the application project budget for services included in the contract and the contract or amendment is available at the time of application submittal.

NR 166.08(4)(h) (h) A resolution declaring intent to reimburse municipal accounts with financial assistance proceeds that meets the requirements established in U.S. treasury reimbursement regulations 26 CFR 1.150-2.

NR 166.08(4)(i) (i) A list of all major pieces of water system infrastructure used to obtain, treat, store, transmit, or distribute water to the applicant municipality when the overall water system serves 2 or more municipalities. This requirement does not apply if the application requests funding for a project for which the construction scope is only watermain replacement or lining and any associated street and pipe work and appurtenances within the boundaries of the applicant municipality. If only one municipality owns the infrastructure for obtaining, treating, and distributing water to other municipalities, and the project scope includes construction of a new or modification of an existing portion of the infrastructure used to supply water to other municipal governments, the list shall include all infrastructure within and outside of the boundaries of the owning municipality that is used to obtain, treat, and transmit water to other municipalities. The department may request additional information regarding ownership and maintenance responsibility of the water system than the information provided by the applicant in or with the application for financial assistance. Prior to receiving financial assistance, the applicant shall ensure that for each municipality impacted by the project the list identifies ownership and maintenance responsibility for each individual portion of the water system, including any of the following:

NR 166.08(4)(i)1. 1. Distribution system pipes.

NR 166.08(4)(i)2. 2. Transmission mains.