35 Ill. Adm. Code 3650.365.345
Loan Priority Score
TITLE 35: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
SUBTITLE C: WATER POLLUTION
CHAPTER II: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
PART 365 PROCEDURES FOR ISSUING LOANS FROM THE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL LOAN PROGRAM
SECTION 365.345 LOAN PRIORITY SCORE
Section 365.345 Loan Priority Score
a) Projects
will be scored and ranked for inclusion on the Project Priority List using the
loan priority score methodology set forth in this Section.
b) The
Agency will calculate the loan priority score by totaling the points awarded in
subsections (e) through (l).
c) Applicants
with a higher loan priority score will be ranked above applicants with a lower
loan priority score on the Project Priority List.
d) Only
projects that have submitted a Funding Nomination Form and have a project plan
approved by the Agency will be scored pursuant to this Section.
e) Violations and
Enforcement Compliance
1) A
maximum of 650 points may be awarded under this subsection (e).
2) 200
points will be awarded if the project is necessary to correct a violation of
the Act or Board rules, other than reporting, that has resulted in any of the
following:
A) referral
to the Illinois Attorney General's Office;
B) referral
to USEPA;
C) a
court order directing the loan applicant to remedy the violation;
D) a Pollution
Control Board order directing the loan applicant to remedy the violation; or
E) an
administrative order from USEPA directing the loan applicant to remedy the
violation.
3) 150
points will be awarded if the project is necessary to correct a violation of
the Act or Board rules, other than reporting.
4) 150
points will be awarded if the project improves or replaces infrastructure that
requires a construction permit or National Pollution Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) permit.
5) 75
points will be awarded if the completed project will result in the applicant's
removal from the Agency's Critical Review or Restricted Status list.
6) 75
points will be awarded if the completed project corrects sanitary sewer
overflows (SSOs), combined sewer overflows (CSOs), or basement backups.
f) Unsewered Communities
and Consolidation
1) A
maximum of 200 points may be awarded under this subsection (f).
2) Points
will be awarded if the project provides wastewater collection and treatment
service to a municipality as follows:
A) 200
points will be awarded if the loan applicant does not have centralized waste
water treatment and discharges to surface waters;
B) 100
points will be awarded if the loan applicant does not have centralized waste
water treatment; or
C) 50
points will be awarded if the loan applicant has centralized waste water
treatment and greater than 50% of the project's costs is to provide sewer service
to an unsewered area.
3) 100
points will be awarded if the project consolidates one or more treatment works
and eliminates a discharge to a water of the United States.
g) Water Quality
Improvement
1) A
maximum of 150 points may be awarded under this subsection (g).
2)
Points will be awarded if
the project
improves a named cause of impairment for a receiving water body identified as a
high priority pursuant to section 303(d) of the CWA.
A) 50
points will be awarded if the project improves two or more causes of
impairments; or
B) 25
points will be awarded if the project improves one cause of impairment.
3) Points
will be awarded if the project improves a named cause of impairment for a
receiving water body designated as medium priority pursuant to section 303(d)
of the CWA.
A) 25
points will be awarded if the project improves two or more causes of
impairments; or
B) 15
points will be awarded if the project improves one cause of impairment.
4) Points
will be awarded if the project improves a receiving water body that has an
approved total maximum daily load (TMDL) pursuant to section 303(d)(1)(C) of
the CWA.
A) 75
points will be awarded if the project improves a receiving water body with an
approved TMDL for two or more causes of impairments.
B) 50
points will be awarded if the project improves a receiving water body with an
approved TMDL for one cause of impairment.
5) Points
will be awarded if the project will result in a reduction of phosphorous or
nitrogen in the receiving water body.
A) 75
points will be awarded if the project will reduce both nitrogen and
phosphorous.
B) 50
points will be awarded if the project will reduce nitrogen or phosphorous.
h) Protection of Assets
1) A
maximum of 75 points may be awarded under this subsection (h).
2) Points
will be awarded if the applicant is implementing an asset management plan,
fiscal sustainability plan, or other equivalent operation and maintenance
plan.
A) 75
points will be awarded if the facility has a design average flow of less than 1
million gallons per day.
B) 25
points will be awarded if the facility has a design average flow of equal to or
greater than 1 million gallons per day.
3) 25
points will be awarded if the applicant has a design average flow of less than
1 million gallons per day and the applicant is developing an asset management
plan, fiscal sustainability plan, or other equivalent operation and maintenance
plan.
i) Conservation and Green
Infrastructure
1) A
maximum of 75 points may be awarded under this subsection (i).
2) 25
points will be awarded if the project will achieve 20% or greater reduction in
water or energy use of the loan applicant.
3) 20
points
will be awarded if the project contains
resiliency components, including facilities built for redundancy, or if the
project assists a loan applicant with planning for potential service
disruptions, natural or manmade.
4) 15
points will be awarded if the project implements green infrastructure,
including, but not limited to, green roofs, pervious pavement, rainwater
harvesting or cisterns, sustainable landscaping, stormwater control,
constructed wetlands, LEED certified buildings, and riparian buffers.
5) 15 points
will be awarded if the project implements one or more agricultural BMPs.
j) Readiness to Proceed
1) A
maximum of 120 points may be awarded under this subsection (j).
2)
20 points will be awarded if the loan application
required by Section 365.350(a) has been submitted to the Agency.
3)
20 points will be awarded if the applicant has
obtained necessary permits to
begin construction of
the project
or the Agency determines that no permit is required for the
project.
4) 40
points will be awarded if the requirements of Section 365.350(a) through (d)
have been satisfied.
5) 40
points will be awarded if the requirement of Section 365.350(e) has been
satisfied.
k) Economic Factors
1) A
maximum of 135 points may be awarded under this subsection (k).
2) Median
Household Income (MHI). The following points will be awarded based on the MHI
of the applicant's service population as a percentage of the statewide average
MHI:
Points
MHI as % of
Statewide MHI
50
Below 70%
40
70 - 79.99%
30
80 - 89.99%
20
90 - 99.99%
0
At or Above 100%
3) User
Rates. The following points will be awarded based on the average annual
residential user fees after the project is constructed as a percentage of MHI
of the applicant's service population (i.e., average annual user fees/MHI) x
100).
Points
Rate as % of MHI
50
At or Above 2%
25
1 - 1.99%
0
Below 1%
4) Unemployment
Rate. The following points will be awarded when the applicant's unemployment
rate is greater than the statewide average:
Points
Unemployment
Rate Percentage Points Greater than
Statewide
Average
35
3 percentage points or more
25
1.5 - 2.99 percentage points
15
0.1 - 1.49
percentage points
l) Population
1) A maximum of 50 points
may be awarded under this subsection (l).
2) The
following points will be awarded based on applicant's service population.
Points
Service
Population
50
Less than 10,000
25
10,000 - 34,999
10
35,000 - 74,999
0
At or Above 75,000