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Public Comment: Many commenters supported the interim final rule's allowance of <br />capital expenditures in facilities to meet pandemic operational needs but requested that the final <br />rule explicitly allow for a broader range of capital expenditures. Commenters expressed an <br />interest in investing in equipment, real property, and facilities that they argued will yield lasting <br />benefits beyond the SLFRF period of performance. Some commenters stated that the approach in <br />the interim final rule limited the vast majority of capital expenditures to governments that <br />experienced revenue loss under Sections 602(c)(1)(C) and 603(c)(1)(C) and that this approach <br />may prevent some governments from fully meeting the needs of their residents. A few <br />commenters argued that Treasury should limit use of funds on capital expenditures not related to <br />addressing a direct pandemic harm, such as general economic development or workforce <br />development, and some expressed support for generally limiting capital expenditures to those <br />that address the needs of low-income communities and communities of color. <br />Many commenters requested that capital expenditures related to direct COVID-19 public <br />health response be included as enumerated eligible uses. The requested types of expenditures <br />include improvements and construction of hospitals and health clinics (including behavioral <br />health clinics), as well as other health -related infrastructure improvements, such as <br />improvements to medical equipment or public health information technology. These commenters <br />stated that investments in health and public health systems are vital to ensuring critical <br />infrastructure necessary to respond to continued impacts of COVID-19 or to address disparities <br />in health, due to lack of access to health care, that contributed to disproportionate impacts of <br />COVID-19 on some communities. Further, some commenters requested that construction or <br />improvements of emergency management and public safety facilities be deemed eligible, citing <br />191 <br />