Restoring Prosperity
The Greater Ohio Policy Center Blog
Greater Ohio has regularly provided updates on the Volkswagen Mitigation Trust Fund settlement and grants that are available through the program. As Ohio EPA prepares to open the second round of grant requests, the department will be holding webinars for those who are interested in learning more about the application process and requirements.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) has released its Draft Program Management Plan for the Water Pollution Control Loan Fund (WPCLF) for program year 2018. The WPCLF is the main source of funding for the design and construction of publicly-owned wastewater and stormwater control projects in Ohio. The WPCLF is a “revolving” loan fund that allows repaid funds to be loaned out again to new borrowers. The plan calls for the Fund to make a total of $520 million in loans in 2018, a level below that of recent years.
The US EPA provides annual funding to support states water infrastructure revolving loan funds. The subsidy allows the WPCLF to lend at below-market interest rates and to provide a limited number of projects with principal forgiveness. For example, the October 2017, standard discount rate on a twenty-year loan is 1.81%. Small communities with populations below 10,000 that also meet economic hardship criteria can receive interest rates of 1% or less. The plan reserves up to $29.9 million for principal forgiveness to address critical needs of economic hardship areas with combined sewer overflow needs or failing home sewage treatment systems.
OEPA extends a zero percent interest rate to borrowers with regionalization projects that connect communities that are served by failing septic systems or wastewater treatment facilities that are otherwise incapable of meeting Clean Water Act requirements. Regionalization of smaller water systems is a crucial way to meet regulatory requirements and control costs.
Greater Ohio Policy Center is working with the Ohio Water Development Authority, Ohio EPA, and other water infrastructure stakeholders in the Small Communities Environmental Infrastructure Group (SCEIG) to find ways to promote shared services and partnering among small communities.
A ranked list of priority projects is published along with the plan. Interested parties can comment on the WPCLF plan at a public hearing on November 20, 2017. For more information, please see the Ohio EPA website.
Providing the infrastructure for safe drinking water is one of the basic functions of local government in Ohio. Ohio has over 4,000 public water systems, ranging from large systems in major cities that serve thousands of customers, to village systems, schools, and mobile home parks that serve less than a hundred customers.
By Jon Honeck, GOPC Senior Policy Fellow Before leaving on its summer break, the Ohio General Assembly passed House Bill 512, a major reform to Ohio’s drinking water regulations that will tighten lead notification and testing requirements, tighten the requirements for lead-free plumbing fixtures, and provide more flexibility to the Ohio EPA and the Ohio Water Development Authority to support public drinking water and wastewater treatment infrastructure. The bill passed with strong bipartisan support in the wake of the well-publicized crises involving lead in drinking water supplies in Flint, MI, and Sebring, OH. The American Water Works Association estimates that there are 6.1 million lead service drinking water supply lines still in place across the nation, including many in Ohio. With proper corrosion control methods, many of the issues with lead pipes can be avoided, although the ultimate answer is to replace these lead lines over time. We hope that this same bipartisan spirit will carry forward into the fall and 2017 as the state grapples with important water infrastructure and water quality issues.
Under the bill, homeowners must be notified within two business days of lead laboratory test results received by a community water system. If the lab results show a lead level above the applicable threshold then the water system must provide information about the availability of health screening and lead blood level testing in the area to the homeowner and notify all customers that the system has exceeded acceptable lead levels within two business days, and provide information about lead testing to all customers within 5 business days. Within 18 months of the notification of about excessive lead levels, the system must submit a revised corrosion control treatment plan to the Ohio EPA. A revised corrosion control plan requirement is also triggered if a system changes sources of water supply, makes substantial changes to treatment, or operates outside the limits for certain metals or chemicals. Each water system is also required to map parts of its service area that are likely to contain lead lines.
Many Ohio cities are engaged in multi-year capital projects to fix combined sewer overflows and replacing aging water infrastructure. The Water Pollution Control Loan Fund, which is controlled by the Ohio EPA, provided over $700 million in revolving loans in 2015 for these purposes. The Fund receives an annual capitalization grant from the U.S. EPA so it can provide below-market interest rates to projects that are a high priority for the state and local partners. House Bill 512 broadened the scope of the WPCLF’s authority to match recent changes in federal law. New funding purposes include energy conservation and efficiency at wastewater treatment plants (which use enormous amounts of electric power), watershed management, recapture or treatment of stormwater, and decentralized sewer systems to assist smaller, more isolated rural areas. In addition, loan terms for the WPCLF are increased from 20 to 30 years, making them more affordable for borrowers. These changes make it easier to develop creative approaches to managing the water treatment system.
As Greater Ohio pointed out in Phase I of its ongoing infrastructure project, the state’s needs are vast and the financial capacity of many water utilities is stretched to its limit. We will make further policy recommendations on this point in 2016.
By Lindsey Gardiner, GOPC Manager of Government AffairsEarlier this month GOPC staff attended the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s 2016 Ohio Brownfields Conference. The two day conference included beginner-friendly and advanced presentations, making the event attractive to attendees from a number of different disciplines such as environmental consultants, economic development, brownfield and other municipal officials, state government officials, developers, and various nonprofit community organizations.
The Abandoned Gas Station Cleanup Fund Program was one of the headlining topics during the keynote portion on the first day. GOPC played an instrumental role during the creation of the program nearly one year ago. The program was designed to offer funding for the cleanup and remediation of abandoned gas stations and enable environmentally safe and productive reuse of the sites. The program was established in conjunction with the Ohio Development Services Agency (ODSA), the Ohio EPA, and the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations (BUSTR). For more information on the Abandoned Gas Stations Cleanup Program, please visit here.
Photo by Ohio EPA
The presentations throughout the conference offered creative ways to take the problem of brownfields, and utilize them so they are part of the solution for Ohio communities. Some solutions include building green infrastructure on contaminated sites to tackle combined sewer overflows in urban areas, or turning contaminated materials into value-added engineered materials. It is clear that leaders in the brownfield industry see these contaminated sites as opportunities for growth. Presentations from out-of-state industry leaders offered a valuable education to attendees about what has worked for their state, and how their rules and regulations compare to Ohio’s. GOPC looks forward to incorporating information gained from the Ohio EPA’s 2016 Brownfields Conference to create more opportunities for brownfield remediation in Ohio.
