25 Pa. Code § 963.7 - Application procedure
(a) A
potential applicant shall first participate in a planning consultation with the
Department's Project Engineer serving the potential applicant's county. The
purpose of the planning consultation is to:
(1) Discuss relevant water supply, wastewater
abatement and stormwater management needs.
(2) Perform a prefeasibility assessment to
identify and screen alternative solutions, including opportunities for
consolidating water systems and other institutional alternatives.
(3) Examine alternative funding
sources.
(4) Discuss procedures and
information needed to complete the application and implement the
project.
(b) The
Department's Project Engineer will follow up the planning consultation with a
report sent to the potential applicant describing the meeting contents and
decisions reached.
(c) A wastewater
project shall meet the planning requirements described in Chapter 71 (relating
to administration of sewage facilities program). If the potential applicant is
a municipality or municipal authority, it shall prepare or update its Official
Sewage Plan under the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act (35 P. S. §§
750.1-750.20). If the potential applicant is
a private entity, it shall ensure that its facility is included in the Official
Sewage Plan prepared by the municipality in which its wastewater facility is
located.
(d) An application shall
be made on forms acceptable to the Authority and shall be addressed to the
Authority.
(e) A complete
application shall be received by the Authority administrative staff by the
application cutoff date associated with each regular meeting. The application
cutoff dates will be established and published at the same time as the regular
meeting schedule for the fiscal or calendar year is established, under the
Sunshine Act (65 P. S. §§
271-286). The application cutoff date can be
waived by the Board if the project addresses an emergency situation which
threatens public health or safety, or the project makes possible an economic
development project resulting in retention of existing jobs or the creation of
new jobs where the opportunity may be lost without prompt Authority action. The
Authority will seek independent confirmation from the Department or the
Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency that a public health or safety
emergency does exist, or will seek independent confirmation from the Department
of Commerce that an economic development opportunity will be lost without Board
action.
(f) An application received
by the Authority will be reviewed by the administrative staff for completeness
and eligibility. Substantive issues affecting material elements of an
applicant's project shall be resolved to the Authority's satisfaction at the
time of the Authority Board meeting. An application shall include a statement
of the status of the permits necessary for the construction and operation of
the proposed project which can be obtained prior to construction. For projects
which include acquisition, permits are not required until the applicant has the
legal authority to submit applications to receive those permits. Construction
may not begin until the required permits are in place and written permission is
obtained from the Authority.
(g) An
application determined to be eligible and complete by the administrative staff
will be logged in the order of final receipt by the Authority, and will be
dated and forwarded to the Department and the Department of Commerce for
review.
(h) If the administrative
staff determines an application is ineligible or incomplete, it will provide
the applicant with a written explanation of the reasons for the
determination.
(i) If an
application is determined to be ineligible by the administrative staff, the
Board will review the decision if the applicant files a written request with
the Authority within 30 days of receipt of the determination.
(j) The Department and the Department of
Commerce will provide the administrative staff with a written evaluation of
each application. The evaluation by the Department of Commerce will address the
economic development criterion while the Department evaluation will address
other criteria contained in §§
963.8 and
963.9 (relating to wastewater
project evaluation criteria; and water project evaluation criteria).
(k) The administrative staff will provide to
the Authority prior to each regularly scheduled Board meeting a written
evaluation of each application based upon the criteria in section 10 of the act
(35
P. S. §
751.10), including a
recommendation to accept, deny or defer. The administrative staff shall provide
a recommendation on the amount, types and terms of the financial
assistance.
(l) The administrative
staff shall provide notice to each applicant, in writing, advising it of the
meeting at which its application will be considered.
(m) Following each Board meeting, applicants
will be notified in writing of the action taken on their
applications.
(n) The fundamental
objectives that will guide project selection are long-term improvements to
public health, public safety and the environment. Performance on other criteria
will also influence project evaluations and selection. Sections
963.8 and
963.9 contain the general criteria
that will be used in evaluating projects, and specific examples of performance
in each of these criteria.
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