The DEP will hold a public hearing to solicit public comments on the Proposed Priority System, Intended Use Plan, and Project Priority List for Federal Fiscal Year 2003 (PPS-FFY2003) for New Jersey's clean water and drinking water State Revolving Fund (SRF) Programs. The hearing will be held on Tuesday, March 26, 2002 in the third floor large conference room of the Department of Environmental Protection's headquarters, located at 401 East State Street, Trenton, New Jersey. The hearing will begin at 10:00 AM and conclude at 12:00 PM. Presentations may be made orally or in writing. The period for submitting written comments on the proposal will close March 29, 2002 (comments must be postmarked by that date). All comments submitted by the above deadline will be considered in the preparation of the final Priority System for FFY2003.

The Financing Program is a partnership between DEP and the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust (the Trust). The DEP provides loans at 0% interest for approximately 20 years for one half of the allowable project costs. The Trust offers loans at the prevailing market rate for the remaining allowable project costs, also for a 20-year term. Between these two funding sources, the rate on loans is typically half the market rate. In 2001, the Program's interest rate was 2.2% for public borrowers.

Projects eligible for clean water funding through the Financing Program include all areas of wastewater treatment, collection and conveyance, as well as stormwater/nonpoint source pollution management projects (including equipment purchases, landfill closure and construction activities, open space land acquisition for water quality protection and others). The drinking water aspects of the Financing Program focus on projects that are needed to help systems comply with safe drinking water standards. Examples of eligible drinking water projects include improvements to water treatment plants, extensions of water mains, transmission and distribution system repairs, finished water storage facilities, and new water meters.

The ranking methodology used in the Clean Water Priority System proposal has been modified from the previous year in some respects. To help promote the State Planning Commission's (SPC) "Smart Growth Initiatives" included in the State Development and Redevelopment Plan, the DEP is proposing to significantly increase the number of points awarded under the SPC categories. This will provide an incentive for additional municipalities to seek approval under the Center Designation Process, and thus higher priority for their clean water projects under the Financing Program. Two additional changes are proposed to be made to the ranking methodology as follows:

(1) the discharge categories "Inadequate Secondary Treatment" and "Advanced Treatment" would be combined into one category, "Treatment Plant Improvements" and all projects in this new category would receive 150 points; and

(2) the ranking points for all projects in the stormwater management/nonpoint source activities category would receive 50, rather than 25, points.

The Financing Program encourages borrowers to attend a pre-planning meeting prior to the October submission of a commitment letter and planning documents. Pre-planning meetings are an opportunity for borrowers to discuss their project with program staff, and receive guidance on program requirements.

For more information on the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Financing Program, please contact Nicholas G. Binder, P.E., P.P., Assistant Director of the Municipal Finance and Construction Element at (609) 292-8961 or at Nicholas.Binder@dep.state.nj.us.