HELENA, Mont. (NMB) – The Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) is seeking public comment on updates to the Water and Sewer Infrastructure Grant Guidelines.
The guidelines incorporate the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Final Rule for the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Program (SLFRF) and is formally in effect beginning on April 1st.
The Final Rule expands program eligibility to allow funds to be used for additional stormwater infrastructure, residential wells, lead remediation, and certain rehabilitations of dams and reservoirs.
DNRC is also seeking public comment on updates to competitive grant ranking guidelines for matching funds to include only committed match. The changes would also apply to ranking criteria for ARPA Irrigation grants.
Public comments are due at 5 PM on February 23rd. They will be reviewed at the February 24th Infrastructure Advisory Commission meeting.
More information on the updated guidelines and meeting information is below, courtesy of DNRC:
Updated American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) Water and Sewer Grant Application Guidelines can be viewed online at https://arpa-mtdnrc.hub.arcgis.com/pages/tools-resources.
The ARPA IAC will meet on Thursday, February 24th, 2022, at 9 AM. The meeting will be streamed live at https://leg.mt.gov/audio-video/. Click the “Streaming For Today” button. The meeting is also available on Zoom. Requests to join the meeting via Zoom should be made by noon, February 23rd by emailing dnrarpa@mt.gov.
During the February 24th meeting, the IAC will review Department of Administration State Capitol project 604 Applications; Regional Water Systems; Minimum Allocation Grant certified projects; and ARPA Water and Sewer Grant activities.
Public comments or letters of support regarding a specific project application can be e-mailed to dnrarpa@mt.gov or submitted in the Public Comment Form at https://arpa-mtdnrc.hub.arcgis.com/pages/commission-meetings.The Infrastructure Advisory Commission is responsible for review of applications for water and sewer grants and state capital projects using ARPA funds. Commission members must certify that the projects are necessary investments in water and sewer infrastructure, or a qualifying capital project as defined in ARPA. Their recommendations are submitted to the governor for consideration.
Infrastructure Commission members include: Chair Sue Vinton, R-Billings, Vice-Chair Amanda Kaster, Director, Department of Natural Resources and Conservation; Sen. Doug Kary, R-Billings; Sen. Mike Cuffe, R-Eureka; Sen. Ellie Boldman, D-Missoula; Rep. Jerry Schillinger, R-Circle; Rep. Jim Keane, D-Butte; Chris Dorrington, Director, Department of Environmental Quality; and Rachel Meredith, Council to Governor Greg Gianforte. ARPA Director: Scott Mendenhall.
