Section 22-36-3 - West Virginia Drinking Water Treatment Revolving Fund; duties of Department of Environmental Protection and Water Development Authority; set-aside accounts(a) There is continued in the office of the State Treasurer a permanent and perpetual special fund to be known as the West Virginia Drinking Water Treatment Revolving Fund. The fund shall be administered and managed in accordance with the provisions of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act by the Department of Environmental Protection. The Department of Environmental Protection may draw all or a portion of those moneys available under capitalization agreements, and with the capitalization grant awards from the United States Environmental Protection Agency under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, and deposit such moneys into the fund and the set-aside accounts.(b) The fund, less the set-aside account moneys, shall be administered and managed by the Water Development Authority under the direction of the Department of Environmental Protection. The fund shall be comprised of moneys appropriated to the fund by the Legislature, moneys allocated to the state by the federal government expressly for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a drinking water treatment revolving fund and set-aside accounts, all receipts from loans made from the fund, all income from the investment of moneys held in the fund, and all other sums designated for deposits to the fund from any source, public or private. Moneys in the fund shall be used solely to make loans or provide other allowable financial assistance to eligible projects for public water systems, as described in the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.(c) In order to carry out the administration and management of the fund, the authority and the Department of Environmental Protection are authorized to employ officers, employees, agents, advisors, and consultants, including attorneys, financial advisors, engineers, other technical advisors, and public accountants, and notwithstanding any provisions of this code to the contrary, to determine their duties and compensation without the approval of any other agency or instrumentality.(d) The authority shall propose legislative rules for promulgation in accordance with the provisions of §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code to govern the pledge of loans to secure bonds of the authority.(e) Disbursements from the fund shall be authorized for payment by the director of the authority or the director's designee. Moneys in the fund shall not be commingled with other money of the authority. If not needed for immediate use or disbursement, moneys in the fund may be invested or reinvested by the authority in obligations or securities which are considered lawful investments for public funds under this code.(f) Pursuant to the provisions of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, set-aside accounts shall be set up in accounts separate from the West Virginia Drinking Water Treatment Revolving Fund. These set-aside accounts shall include, but not be limited to, administration costs, source water protection, operator training and certification, technical assistance to systems, local assistance, and other state activities permitted by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. The Department of Environmental Protection shall establish and administer the set-aside accounts as permitted by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. An application fee may be charged and deposited into the administrative account to defray the cost of administering the program.Added by 2023 Acts, ch. 148 (SB 561), eff. 7/1/2023.