NAC445A.67561. Eligibility for short-term or long-term loan for certain types and costs of water projects; limitations; extension of long-term loan.

     1. The Division shall provide an applicant with a short-term or long-term loan from the Account for the Revolving Fund for a water project pursuant to the criteria set forth in this chapter and chapter 445A of NRS.

     2. The Division shall determine the eligibility of a water project to receive a loan from the Account for the Revolving Fund before the Division establishes the priority list pursuant to NAC 445A.67567 to 445A.67571, inclusive.

     3. Any change made by an applicant to the design of his or her proposed water project which the applicant makes after the Division has determined that the water project is eligible for a loan, but before the Board for Financing Water Projects has committed to a loan contract, must be reported by the applicant to the Division not later than 15 days after the applicant changes the design. The Division may decide that a water project is no longer eligible for a loan based upon the design changes.

     4. Water projects that are eligible for a loan from the Account for the Revolving Fund are limited to systems which are not owned by the Federal Government that are:

     (a) Publicly or privately owned community water systems; or

     (b) Nonprofit, noncommunity water systems.

     5. Water projects that are eligible for a loan from the Account for the Revolving Fund include, without limitation, water projects which:

     (a) Facilitate compliance with the health protection objectives of 42 U.S.C. § 300j-12(a)(2);

     (b) Facilitate compliance with NAC 445A.453 and 445A.455;

     (c) Replace aging infrastructure, if such infrastructure is needed to maintain compliance with or to further the public health protection goals of:

          (1) The Safe Drinking Water Act;

          (2) The provisions of NAC 445A.450 to 445A.540, inclusive; or

          (3) The provisions of NAC 445A.65505 to 445A.6731, inclusive;

     (d) Consolidate water supplies; or

     (e) Facilitate the purchase of a portion of the capacity of another system to improve the cost efficiency of a public water system.

     6. An applicant may be eligible to receive a loan from the Account for the Revolving Fund if the water project involves:

     (a) The replacement, rehabilitation or enhancement of an existing system for the collection, pumping, treatment, storage or distribution of water, or portions thereof, which is deemed necessary by the Division for the integrity and performance of the public water system to satisfy the requirements of NAC 445A.450 to 445A.6731, inclusive; or

     (b) The creation of a new distribution system designed primarily to serve residents within an existing water system who are using domestic wells which have public health or water quality problems. Such a distribution system must provide sufficient existing or planned capacity for the development, treatment and storage of the new water of the system. The applicant shall provide assurances acceptable to the Division that the existing population in the service area of the public water system currently obtaining its water from domestic wells will connect to the new distribution system within a reasonable time after completion of the water project.

     7. The Division shall decide on a case-by-case basis the costs for which an applicant may receive a loan. The costs of a water project for which an applicant may receive a loan from the Account for the Revolving Fund include, without limitation, costs for:

     (a) Planning and design;

     (b) Construction management, including, without limitation, inspection;

     (c) Water project facilities;

     (d) Land and rights-of-way or easements that are necessary to complete the water project;

     (e) The preparation of any environmental documents that the Division or any other state or federal agency requires; and

     (f) Legal and financial services.

     8. The Division may extend the term of a long-term loan to 30 years under special conditions for a disadvantaged community.

     9. As used in this section:

     (a) “Disadvantaged community” means an area served by a public water system in which the median household income is less than 80 percent of the state median household income.

     (b) “Domestic use” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 534.013.

     (c) “Domestic well” means a well that supplies water for domestic use.

     (Added to NAC by Bd. of Health by R067-98, eff. 7-23-98; A by Environmental Comm’n by R128-04, 2-14-2005; R194-08, 10-27-2009)