WEST virginia legislature
2022 regular session
Committee Substitute
for
Senate Bill 584
By Senators Jeffries, Lindsay, Baldwin, Stollings, Grady, and Hamilton
[Originating in the Committee on Finance; reported on February 15, 2022]
A BILL to amend and reenact §31-15A-10 and §31-15A-17c of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating generally to the West Virginia Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council; modifying when funds may be converted to grants; removing congressional district limitations; increasing the cap on annual spending that may be made on the pre-application process to project sponsors; critical needs and failing systems sub account; increasing the cap relating to providing extensions to a water facility or wastewater facility from $1 million to $2 million; and permitting a person or governmental agency to pay any overages of an approved project not to exceed 10 percent of the total project cost.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 15a. west virginia infrastructure and jobs development council.
§31-15A-10. Recommendations by council for expenditures of funds by loan, grant, or for engineering assistance.
(a) To further accomplish the purpose and intent of this article, the
Water Development Authority shall use the moneys in the Infrastructure Fund
created pursuant to §31-15A-9 of this code, upon receipt of one or
more recommendations from the council pursuant to §31-15A-5 of this
code, to make loans, with or without interest, loan guarantees, or grants, and
to provide other assistance, financial, technical, or otherwise, to finance all
or part of the costs of infrastructure projects or projects to be undertaken by
a project sponsor: Provided, That any moneys disbursed from the
Infrastructure Fund in the form of grants shall not exceed 25 percent of the
total funds available for the funding of projects: Provided, however,
That if on the first day of each month, the amount available for grants in
any congressional district, as set forth in W.Va. Code §1-2-3, is below $150,000
$1,000,000 the council may convert up to 30 percent of the funds
available for loans in that congressional district to be used for grants
within the congressional district, if and when needed to make an award.
No loan, loan guarantee, grant, or other assistance shall be made or provided
except upon a determination by the council that the loan, loan guarantee,
grant, or other assistance and the manner in which it will be provided are
necessary or appropriate to accomplish the purposes and intent of this article,
based upon an application submitted to the council: Provided further,
That no grant shall be made to a project sponsor that is not a governmental
agency or a not-for-profit corporation under the provisions of Section 501(c)
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. Applications for loans, loan
guarantees, grants, or other assistance may be submitted by a project sponsor
for one or more infrastructure projects on preliminary application forms
prepared by the council pursuant to §31-15A-4 of this code. Any
recommendation of the council approving a loan, loan guarantee, grant, or other
assistance shall include a finding and determination by the council that the requirements
of this section have been met. The council shall base any decisions to loan
money for projects to project sponsors pursuant to this article solely on the
need of the project sponsors.
(b) The council has the authority in its sole discretion to make grants to project sponsors if it finds that: (1) The level of rates for the users would otherwise be an unreasonable burden given the users’ likely ability to pay; or (2) the absence of a sufficient number of users prevents funding of the project except through grants: Provided, That no project sponsor shall receive infrastructure grant money in an amount in excess of 50 percent of the total cost of the project. Therefore, the council may consider the economic or financial conditions of the area to be served. As a condition for receipt of a grant under this subsection, the council may require, in addition to any other conditions, that the applicant pursue other state or federal grant or loan programs. Upon a recommendation by the council, the Water Development Authority shall provide the grant in accordance with the recommendation. The council shall develop criteria to be considered in making grants to project sponsors which shall require consideration of the economic or financial conditions of the area to be served and the availability of other funding sources. The council shall adopt procedural rules regarding the manner in which grants will be awarded in conformity with this section. The procedural rules shall be adopted pursuant to §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article to the
contrary, the council shall apply a mandatory minimum end user utility rate
that must be met by the project sponsor before funding assistance may be
awarded. The mandatory minimum end utility rate shall be based upon a uniform
statewide percentage of the median household income in a particular geographic
area and said rate shall not exceed six-tenths of one percent. Effective June 15, 2022, funding
assistance shall be made from the Infrastructure Fund for loans and
grants to projects, after transfers required to make the state match for the
water and wastewater revolving loan programs pursuant to §22C-2-1et seq.
and §16-13C-1et seq. of this code. shall be provided by the
council on a pro rata basis divided equally among the congressional districts
of this state as delineated in accordance with §1-2-3 of this code: Provided,
That infrastructure projects as defined in §31-15A-2(l) of this code
shall not be subject to pro rata distribution. When determining median
household income of a geographic area of the project to be served, the council
shall consider any surveys of the income of the households that will be served
by the project.
(d) No loan or grant funds may be made available for a project if the project to be funded will provide subsidized services to certain users in the service area of the project.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article to the
contrary, engineering studies and requirements imposed by the council for
preliminary applications shall not exceed those engineering studies and
requirements which are necessary for the council to determine the economic
feasibility of the project. If the council determines that the engineering
studies and requirements for the preapplication would impose an undue hardship
on any project sponsor, the council may provide funding assistance to project
sponsors to defray the expenses of the preapplication process from moneys
available in the Infrastructure Fund for making loans: Provided, That
the council may only provide funding assistance in an amount equal to $5,000 or
50 percent of the total preapplication cost of the project, whichever amount is
greater. If the project is ultimately approved for a loan by the council, the
amount of funding assistance provided to the project sponsor for the
preapplication process shall be included in the total amount of the loan to be
repaid by the project sponsor. If the project is not ultimately approved by the
council, then the amount of funding assistance provided to the project sponsor
will be considered a grant by the council and the total amount of the
assistance shall be forgiven. In no event may the amount of funding assistance
provided to all project sponsors exceed, in the aggregate, $500,000 $1,300,000
annually.
(f) The council shall report to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Delegates, and the President of the Senate during each regular and interim session of the Legislature, on its activities and decisions relating to distribution or planned distribution of grants and loans under the criteria to be developed pursuant to this article.
§31-15A-17c. Critical Needs and Failing Systems Sub Account.
Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the contrary:
(a) The Water Development Authority shall establish a separate and segregated sub
account in the Infrastructure Fund designated the Critical Needs and Failing
Systems Sub Account into which the council may instruct the Water Development
Authority to transfer from the uncommitted loan balances for each congressional
district on June 30 each year, up to $4 million $12 million per
congressional district.
(b) The council shall direct the Water Development Authority to make loans or grants from the Critical Needs and Failing Systems Sub Account when the council determines that a project will address a critical immediate need by:
(1) The continuation of water or wastewater services;
(2) Addressing water facility or wastewater facility failure due to the age of the facility or facilities; or
(3) Providing extensions to a
water facility or wastewater facility that will add customers with a total
project cost of less than $1 million $2 million: Provided,
That a person or governmental agency, as those terms are defined in §31-15A-2 of this code,
shall pay any overage not to exceed 10 percent of the total project cost.
(c) Grant limitations and allocations contained in §31-15A-10(b) and §31-15A-10(c) of this code do not apply to grants made from the Critical Needs and Failing Systems Sub Account.