Agenda - Council - 09/13/2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

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"necessary" even if the replaced source is not sustainable over the long term. Expediency may dictate that a shorter -term solution is pursued if it is cost-effective and will prevent health issues while a longer -term solution can be found. In contrast, an expansion to accommodate population growth cannot be said to be necessary if it is not sustainable over its estimated useful life. Not included in the list of criteria above is the requirement in the interim final rule that the project be unlikely to be made using private sources of funds. Given that it may be difficult to assess in a particular case what the probability of private investment in a project would be, Treasury has eliminated this standard from the meaning of necessary but nevertheless encourages recipients to apply funds to projects that would provide the greatest public benefit. Water and Sewer Infrastructure: As stated above, Congress provided that SLFRF funds are available for "necessary water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure." Treasury interprets the reference to water and sewer uses consistent with the inclusion of broadband uses. Water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure all involve the provision of essential services to residents, businesses, and other consumers. As the pandemic has made clear, access to broadband has itself become essential for individuals and businesses to participate in education, commerce, work, and civic matters and to receive health care and social services. Water and sewer services provided broadly to the public as essential services include the provision of drinking water and the removal, management, and treatment of wastewater and stormwater.305 Although governments are engaged in other infrastructure related to water, including irrigation projects, transportation projects, and recreation projects, such projects go 305 In many jurisdictions, stormwater flows into the sewer system rather than into a separate stormwater system. The separate inclusion of "water" and "sewer" infrastructure also makes clear that "water" in this context cannot refer to all uses relevant to water. Given that sewer systems carry wastewater (and often stormwater), if water infrastructure were to refer to all water -related infrastructure in this context, it would make the inclusion of sewer infrastructure redundant. 269