Rule 11-6-4.1 - Introductory ProvisionsA. Scope of Regulations. These regulations, adopted pursuant to Section 49-17-61, Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended, shall govern the Mississippi Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund Program. These regulations may be superceded by the SRF loan agreement when approved by the Department staff and when not in conflict with any state or federal law or executive order.B. Effective Date of Regulations. These regulations are effective December 1, 1999. These regulations shall also apply to loan agreements executed prior to this date unless the loan recipient requests that the previously effective regulations apply.C. Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in this regulation, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:(1) Act - The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, 33 USC 1251, et seq., including any future amendments.(2) Alternative Technology - Proven wastewater treatment processes and techniques which provide for the reclaiming and reuse of water, productively recycle wastewater constituents or otherwise eliminate the discharge of pollutants, or recover energy. Specifically, alternative technology includes land application of effluent and sludge; aquifer recharge; aquaculture; direct reuse (non-potable); horticulture; revegetation of disturbed land; containment ponds; sludge composting and drying prior to land application; self-sustaining incineration; methane recovery; individual and onsite systems; and small diameter pressure and vacuum sewers and small diameter gravity sewers carrying partially or fully treated wastewater.(3) Authorized Representative - The signatory agent of the applicant authorized and directed by the applicant's governing body to make application for assistance and to sign documents required to undertake and complete the project, on behalf of the applicant. The signatory agent must be a member of, or an employee of, the applicant's governing body, and may not be under a separate contract with the applicant at any time during the execution of the project.(4) Best Practicable Waste Treatment Technologies - The cost-effective technology that can treat wastewater, combined sewer overflows and nonexcessive infiltration and inflow in publicly owned or individual wastewater treatment works to meet the applicable provisions of federal and state effluent limitations, groundwater protection, or other applicable standards.(5) Binding Commitment - A legal obligation, enforceable under State law, specifying the terms and schedules under which assistance is provided.(6) Building - The erection, acquisition, alteration, remodeling, improvement or extension of treatment works.(7) Capitalization Grant - Federal grant assistance awarded to the State for the establishment of the State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund.(8) Change Order - The documents issued by the loan recipient, upon recommendation of the consulting engineer, authorizing a change, alteration, or variance in previously approved engineering plans, specifications, and contract documents, including but not limited to, additions or deletions of work to be performed pursuant to the contract or a change in costs or time for work performed pursuant to the contract.(9) Collector Sewer - The common lateral sewers, within a publicly owned treatment system, which are primarily installed to receive wastewaters directly from facilities which convey wastewater from individual systems, or from private property.(10) Commission - The Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality or its successors.(11) Construction - Any one or more of the following: erection, building, acquisition, alteration, remodeling, improvement or extension of treatment works.(12) Construction Fund - A dedicated source of funds, created and maintained by the applicant in a separate account at an official depository, or a designated depository approved by the Department staff, used solely for the purposes of construction and other allowable costs of a project funded by the Commission.(13) Consulting Engineer - The engineer or engineering firm retained by the loan recipient to provide professional engineering services during the planning, design, and/or construction of a project.(14) Cost-Effectiveness Analysis - An analysis performed to determine which waste treatment management system or component part will result in the minimum total monetary (resources) costs over time, without overriding nonmonetary considerations, to meet federal, state, and local requirements and objectives.(15) Department - The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and staff.(16) Effluent Limitation - Any restriction established by the Department or the EPA administrator on quantities, rates, and concentrations of chemical, physical, biological and other constituents which are discharged from a point source into waters of the State.(17) Eligible Applicant - A public waste treatment or collection management agency or any city, town, county, district, or other public body created by or pursuant to state law which has authority to dispose of domestic wastewater, industrial wastewater, wastewater sludges resulting from the treatment of such wastewater, stormwater, or nonpoint sources of pollution, has the authority under State and Federal law to receive SRF loan assistance, and has the ability to comply with this regulation and the requirements of the SRF loan agreement.(18) Enforceable Requirements of the Act - Those conditions and limitations of permits issued pursuant to the Act, Sections 402 and 404, which, if violated, could result in issuance of a compliance order or initiation of a civil or criminal action under the Act, Section 309. Where a permit has not been issued, but issuance is anticipated, the term means any requirement which will be in the permit when issued.(19) Environmental Determination - A finding by the Department regarding the potential environmental impacts of a proposed project and describing what mitigative measures, if any, the applicant will be required to implement as a condition of financial assistance.(20) Environmental Information Document - A written analysis prepared by the applicant describing the potential environmental impacts of a proposed project, sufficient in scope to enable the Department staff to make an environmental assessment to allow an environmental determination to be made by the Department.(21) Environmental Review - The process whereby an evaluation is undertaken by the Department, consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act and other federal, state, and local laws and requirements, to determine whether a proposed project may have significant impacts on the environment.(22) EPA - The Environmental Protection Agency.(23) EPA Administrator - The chief officer of the Environmental Protection Agency appointed by the President of the United States.(24) Estuary Management Plan - A plan for the conservation and management of an estuary of national significance as described in Section 320 of the Act.(25) Executive Director - The executive director of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, or his designee.(26) Facilities Planning - Those necessary plans and studies which directly relate to treatment works needed to comply with enforceable requirements of the Act and other eligible treatment works, and which consist of a systematic evaluation of alternatives that are feasible in light of the unique demographic, topographic, hydrologic and institutional characteristics of the area and will demonstrate the selected alternative is cost-effective, practical to implement and environmentally sound.(27) Financial Assistance - Loans by the Commission from the Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund.(28) Fund - The State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund, created pursuant to Section 49-17-61, Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended.(29) Infiltration - Water other than wastewater that enters a sewer system (including sewer service connections and foundation drains) from the ground through such means as defective pipes, pipe joints, connections, or manholes. Infiltration does not include, and is distinguished from, inflow.(30) Inflow - Water other than wastewater that enters a sewer system (including sewer service connections) as a result of rainfall or rainfall induced soil moisture from sources such as, but not limited to, roof leaders, cellar drains, yard drains, area drains, drains from springs and swampy areas, manhole covers, cross connections between storm sewers and sanitary sewers, catch basins, cooling towers, storm waters, surface runoff, street wash waters or drainage. Inflow does not include, and is distinguished from, infiltration.(31) Innovative Technology - Developed wastewater treatment processes and techniques which have not been fully proven under the circumstances of their contemplated use and which represent a significant advancement over the state of the art in terms of significant reduction in life cycle cost or significant environmental benefits through the reclaiming and reuse of water, otherwise eliminating the discharge of pollutants, utilizing recycling techniques such as land treatment, more efficient use of energy and resources, improved or new methods of waste treatment management for combined municipal and industrial systems, or the confined disposal of pollutants so that they will not migrate to cause water or other environmental pollution.(32) Intended Use Plan - A plan identifying the intended uses of the amount of funds available in the SRF for each fiscal year as described in Section 606(c) of the Act.(33) Interceptor Sewer - A sewer which is designed for one or more of the following purposes: (a) To intercept wastewater from a final point in an existing or proposed collector sewer and convey such wastes directly to a treatment facility or another interceptor or pump station.(b) To replace an existing wastewater treatment facility and transport the wastes to an adjoining collector sewer or interceptor sewer for conveyance to a treatment plant.(c) To transport wastewater from one or more municipal collector sewers to another municipality or to a regional facility for treatment.(d) To intercept an existing discharge of raw or inadequately treated wastewater for transport directly to another interceptor, pump station or to a treatment plant.(34) Nonpoint Source Pollution Plan - A plan for managing nonpoint source pollution as described in Section 319 of the Act.(35) Permit, Waste Discharge Permit - The authority granted by the Mississippi Environmental Quality Permit Board to discharge treated wastewater into or adjacent to waters of the state.(36) Plans, Specifications and Contract Documents - The engineering description of the project including engineering drawings, maps, technical specifications, design reports and construction contract documents in sufficient detail as required by the Department staff, to allow contractors to bid on and construct the work.(37) Point Source - Any discernible, confined and discrete conveyance, including but not limited to any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, concentrated animal feeding operation, or vessel or other floating craft, from which pollutants are or may be discharged. This term does not include agricultural stormwater discharges and return flows from irrigated agriculture.(38) Priority List - A list of projects for which SRF assistance has been requested, and which displays projects that are both fundable during the current fiscal year and are planned for possible future funding, consistent with the current Priority System.(39) Priority System - The method of ranking projects for which SRF funding assistance has been requested, in order of priorities established by the Commission.(40) Project - The scope of work for which assistance is awarded under the SRF.(41) Project Completion - The date of the final construction inspection as performed by the Department.(42) Project Performance Standards - The performance and operational requirements applicable to a project including, but not limited to, the enforceable requirements of the Act and the specifications, which the project is planned to meet.(43) Refinancing - To provide SRF assistance for a project or project portion where the debt obligation was incurred and construction began prior to the date of the SRF loan award.(44) Regional Facility - Wastewater collection and treatment facilities, which incorporate multiple service areas into an area wide service facility, thereby reducing the number of required facilities, or any system which serves an area that is other than a single county, city, special district, or other political subdivision of the state, the specified size of which is determined by any one or combination of population, number of governmental entities served, and/or service capacity.(45) Service Line - A conduit intended to carry wastewater, together with minor quantities of infiltration and inflow that are not admitted intentionally, from residences, public buildings and businesses to a collector sewer.(46) State Allotment - The sum allocated to the State of Mississippi for a federal fiscal year, from funds appropriated by Congress pursuant to the Act.(47) SRF - The State Revolving Fund.(48) Treatment Works - Any devices and systems which are used in the storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of waste or which are necessary to recycle or reuse water at the most economical cost over the estimated life of the works, including intercepting sewers, outfall sewers, sewage collection systems, pumping, power, and other equipment and their appurtenances; extensions, improvements, remodeling, additions, and alterations thereof; elements essential to provide a reliable recycled supply such as standby treatment units and clear well facilities; and any works, including site acquisition of the land that will be an integral part of, or used in connection with, the treatment process (including land used for the storage of treated water in land treatment systems prior to land application) or is used for ultimate disposal of residues resulting from such treatment; and any plant, disposal field, lagoon, canal, incinerator or other facilities installed for the purpose of treating, neutralizing or stabilizing wastewater or nonpoint source pollution or facilities to provide for the collection, control and disposal of wastewater or nonpoint source pollution.(49) Value Engineering - A specialized cost control technique which uses a systematic and creative approach to identify and focus on unnecessarily high cost in a project in order to arrive at a cost saving without sacrificing the purpose, reliability or efficiency of the project.(50) Water Quality Management Plan - A plan prepared and updated annually by the State and approved by the Environmental Protection Agency which determines the nature, extent, and cause of water quality problems in various areas of the State and identifies cost-effective and locally acceptable facility and nonpoint measures to meet and maintain water quality standards.Miss. Code Ann. §§ 49-17-61 through 49-17-70, 49-17-81 through 89, 49-2-1, et seq. and 49-17-1, et seq.