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

Home

water and sewer projects in their communities. Several Tribal government commenters noted that Tribes have different water and sewer infrastructure needs than states and localities and that additional flexibility in the use of funds would lift current barriers to improving infrastructure on Tribal lands. To achieve additional flexibility, commenters suggested a range of options for broadening the eligible use of SLFRF funds for necessary water and sewer infrastructure. For example, several commenters suggested Treasury broaden the eligibilities provided under the interim final rule to include project types eligible under other federal water and sewer programs. Treasury Response: Treasury agrees that additional flexibility for use of SLFRF funds is warranted and is providing expanded eligibilities as described below, several of which address specific areas of need outlined by Tribal and rural communities. As discussed below, Treasury has incorporated into the final rule projects that are eligible under certain programs established by the EPA under the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN Act). Other water -related grant programs cited by commenters include projects that are otherwise already covered by the final rule, for example because they are covered as eligible under the DWSRF or the CWSRF, or projects that are ineligible under the final rule because they are beyond the scope of the meaning of water and sewer projects for purposes of ARPA. To minimize the need for recipients of SLFRF funds to cross reference eligibilities across multiple federal programs, which may exacerbate current challenges to understanding eligibility under SLFRF, Treasury is providing detailed information related to expanded eligibilities within the text of this Supplementary Information for the final rule. 280