Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
Glossary of Terms

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), also known as the stimulus bill, was signed into law on February 17, 2009. Ohio received approximately $58.5 million in ARRA funding for drinking water infrastructure projects. Ohio EPA is supplementing this amount with funding from other grants and bonds, and will distribute a total of $140 million through the Drinking Water Assistance Fund in the state fiscal year beginning July 1, 2009. Ohio EPA plans to distribute funding as quickly as possible to help stimulate Ohio’s economy by creating and retaining jobs through the construction of water infrastructure projects.

As applied to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, and as indicated in the program year 2009 Intended Use Plan, the following words and terms mean:

ARRA- American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the stimulus bill

SDWA- Safe Drinking Water Act

SRF- State Revolving Fund (interchangeable with DWAF)

DWAF- Drinking Water Assistance Fund (interchangeable with SRF)

WSRLA- Water Supply Revolving Loan Account, loan/subsidy fund for the DWAF or SRF

IUP- Management and Intended Use Plan, annual plan used by the DWAF

IPL- Intended Projects List, projects for the current program year only

PPL- Project Priority List, all projects on the list

Proportionate share - Systems serving a population of more than 10,000 people are eligible to receive no greater than 10 percent of the amount of available annual funds. Systems serving a population of 10,000 or fewer people are not subject to the proportionate share amount.

Readiness to proceed - progress toward achieving a WSRLA binding commitment and initiating construction. This is a relative measure of an applicant's success in the expeditious achievement of compliance with all pre-award WSRLA program requirements, compliance with the schedule for initiating facilities construction, and submission and approval of general, detailed or other plans as necessary for Ohio EPA approval.

Construction - means any one or more of the following: preliminary planning to determine the feasibility of treatment works, engineering, architectural, legal, fiscal, or economic investigations or studies, surveys, designs, plans, working drawings, specifications, procedures, field testing of innovative or alternative water treatment processes and techniques meeting applicable guidelines, or other necessary actions, erection, building, acquisition, alteration, remodeling, improvement, or extension of treatment works, or the inspection or supervision of any of the foregoing items.

Small System- For interest rate determination in the WSRLA program, a public water system with a specific project to serve a service area, or portion thereof, of 10,000 or fewer persons.

Capability Assurance- (also known as capacity assurance and capacity development) the process through which a system plans for and implements action to ensure that the system can meet both its immediate and its long term challenges. Capability assurance encompasses a water system's technical, managerial, and financial ability to achieve, maintain, and plan for compliance with applicable drinking water standards, given the system's available water resources and the characteristics of its service population.

To be comprehensive, all elements of a water system’s capability to effectively deliver safe water must be considered to meet the current needs and the projected future needs of the water system.

Technical capability refers to the physical infrastructure of the water system, including but not limited to the adequacy of the source water, infrastructure (source, treatment, storage, and distribution), and the ability of system personnel to implement the requisite technical knowledge.

Managerial capability refers to the management structure of the water system, including but not limited to ownership accountability, staffing and organization, and effective linkages to customers and regulatory agencies.

Financial capability refers to the financial resources of the water system, including but not limited to revenue sufficiency, credit worthiness, and fiscal controls.

Public Water System- as defined in OAC rule 3745-81-01.

Community System- means a public water system that serves at least 15 service connections used by year-round residents or regularly serves at least 25 year-round residents.

Non-community System- means a public water system that is not a community water system.

Disadvantaged Community- means the service area, or portion thereof, of one of the following entities that applies for and is eligible for loan assistance pursuant to the affordability criteria established by the director:

• A nonprofit public water system that operates or provides water to a community water system;
• A public water system that is regulated by PUCO and that operates or provides water to a community water system;
• A political subdivision, as defined by ORC Section 6119.011(B), that operates or provides water to a community water system; or
• A nonprofit non-community public water system.