DEC Commissioner Announces Initiative to Update Clean Water Funding Programs

• by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

ALBANY, NY (11/02/2009)(readMedia)-- New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis today announced that the agency will update the system used to score applications for clean water infrastructure loans. The changes will provide communities with more incentives for employing land use planning and asset management planning.

"The state's clean water loan program provides much needed assistance to New York's communities," Commissioner Grannis said. "To make this even better, we need to improve the system used to prioritize applications to maximize the benefits of these loans."

New York uses the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund (SRF) to evaluate and financially support infrastructure for wastewater collection and treatment systems. The program relies on a point system to prioritize municipal projects, using a range of public health and water quality factors. Going forward, DEC will develop new regulations to ensure that the scoring system adds incentives to:

• Support smart growth and wise land use planning, ensuring that a proposed project maximizes existing infrastructure and is consistent with local land use plans.
• Implement asset management planning that encourages ongoing maintenance.
• Utilize the most energy efficient technologies possible.

Commissioner Grannis noted: "The current scoring system has served us well for years and now needs to be updated to reflect our current policies of encouraging energy efficiency and smart growth principles. My staff, in consultation with the state Environmental Facilities Corporation and the state Clean Water Collaborative, will update the scoring system so it appropriately recognizes those communities that engage in long-term planning and ongoing investment in their systems, while maintaining the program's focus on water quality."

"Water quality and smart growth go hand-in-hand," said Secretary of State Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez. "This new scoring system that aligns state fiscal resources with smart growth principles will benefit all New Yorkers."

"I would like to thank Governor Paterson and Commissioner Grannis for their leadership in promoting these important enhancements to the Clean Water SRF program," said Matthew Millea, New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation Acting President. "For more than 20 years, the SRF program has provided low-cost financial assistance for urgent water quality projects. With the advent of the federal stimulus program and all that we have learned from it, the time has come to challenge ourselves to further improve this important program and design a system that promotes innovation, water conservation and energy efficiency while at the same time rewarding communities that properly maintain their treatment and collection systems."

"The Conference of Mayors is pleased that Commissioner Grannis has committed to improving the system used in determining who will be awarded water project funding. We look forward to working with him to update the SRF scoring system to reflect a pro-active environmental policy that encourages energy efficiency and water conservation," said Peter Baynes, New York Conference of Mayors Executive Director.

Bruce Munn, president of the New York Water Environment Association, Inc., said: "NYWEA strongly supports DEC's revised priority structure for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program. By adjusting the funding formula and keeping pace with water quality needs, municipalities that have been diligent with capital improvement programs and sustainable water quality management practices will have a greater opportunity to be recognized financially. At the same time, the program will continue on its foundation to assist those communities that have compelling needs."

"It is very exciting to see the state synchronizing the varied and essential goals of protecting water quality, reducing energy consumption and advancing smart growth development. Updating sewer infrastructure funding criteria is a critical component to realizing New Yorks vision for a sustainable, healthy and prosperous future in the 21st century," said Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment.

A recent DEC report found that sewage-treatment infrastructure around the state is aging out and in need of an estimated $36.2 billion in repairs over the next 20 years. In response, Governor David A. Paterson formed the Clean Water Collaborative (a public-private partnership) to raise awareness of the issue and DEC developed a successful program to foster federal investment in water treatment systems. As a direct result, New York received a record $432 million to invest in wastewater infrastructure through the federal stimulus program (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act). This represents a 300 percent increase in federal aid for wastewater projects over recent years.

Since 1990, the Environmental Facilities Corp. has provided through the SRF more than $11 billion in low cost financial assistance to municipalities to support more than 1,800 water supply and water pollution control projects.