Water pollution control revolving loan funds

Before a State may receive a capitalization grant with funds made available under this subchapter and section 1285(m) of this title, the State shall first establish a water pollution control revolving fund which complies with the requirements of this section. Each State water pollution control revolving fund shall be administered by an instrumentality of the State with such powers and limitations as may be required to operate such fund in accordance with the requirements and objectives of this chapter. The amounts of funds available to each State water pollution control revolving fund shall be used only for providing financial assistance— to any qualified nonprofit entity, as determined by the Administrator, to provide assistance to owners and operators of small and medium publicly owned treatment works— to any qualified nonprofit entity, as determined by the Administrator, to provide assistance to an eligible individual (as defined in subsection (j))— Except as otherwise limited by State law and provided in subsection (k), a water pollution control revolving fund of a State under this section may be used only— to make loans, on the condition that— for a treatment works proposed for repair, replacement, or expansion, and eligible for assistance under subsection (c)(1), the recipient of a loan shall— develop and implement a fiscal sustainability plan that includes— If a State makes, from its water pollution revolving fund, a loan which will finance the cost of facility planning and the preparation of plans, specifications, and estimates for construction of publicly owned treatment works, the State shall ensure that if the recipient of such loan receives a grant under section 1281(g) of this title for construction of such treatment works and an allowance under section 1281(l)(1) of this title for non-Federal funds expended for such planning and preparation, such recipient will promptly repay such loan to the extent of such allowance. A State may provide financial assistance from its water pollution control revolving fund only with respect to a project which is consistent with plans, if any, developed under sections 1285(j), 1288, 1313(e), 1329, and 1330 of this title. The State may provide financial assistance from its water pollution control revolving fund only with respect to a project for construction of a treatment works described in subsection (c)(1) if such project is on the State’s priority list under section 1296 of this title. Such assistance may be provided regardless of the rank of such project on such list. A State water pollution control revolving fund may provide assistance (other than under subsection (d)(1) of this section) to a municipality or intermunicipal or interstate agency with respect to the non-Federal share of the costs of a treatment works project for which such municipality or agency is receiving assistance from the Administrator under any other authority only if such assistance is necessary to allow such project to proceed. In any case in which a State provides assistance to an eligible recipient under subsection (d), the State may provide additional subsidization (including forgiveness of principal, grants, negative interest loans, other loan forgiveness, and through buying, refinancing, or restructuring debt)— in assistance to a municipality or intermunicipal, interstate, or State agency to benefit a municipality that— does not meet the affordability criteria of the State if the recipient— to implement a process, material, technique, or technology— Not later than September 30, 2015, and after providing notice and an opportunity for public comment, a State shall establish affordability criteria to assist in identifying municipalities that would experience a significant hardship raising the revenue necessary to finance a project or activity eligible for assistance under subsection (c)(1) if additional subsidization is not provided. The criteria under clause (i) shall be based on income and unemployment data, population trends, and other data determined relevant by the State, including whether the project or activity is to be carried out in an economically distressed area, as described in section 3161 of title 42. If a State has previously established, after providing notice and an opportunity for public comment, affordability criteria that meet the requirements of subparagraph (A)— The Administrator may publish information to assist States in establishing affordability criteria under subparagraph (A). A State may provide additional subsidization in a fiscal year under this subsection only if the total amount appropriated for making capitalization grants to all States under this subchapter for the fiscal year exceeds $1,000,000,000. For each fiscal year, of the amount of the capitalization grant received by the State under this subchapter, the total amount of additional subsidization made available by a State under paragraph (1)— A loan from the water pollution control revolving fund of a State with an interest rate equal to or greater than 0 percent shall not be considered additional subsidization for purposes of this subparagraph. The authority of a State to provide additional subsidization under this subsection shall apply to amounts received by the State in capitalization grants under this subchapter for fiscal years beginning after September 30, 2014. If the State provides additional subsidization to a municipality or intermunicipal, interstate, or State agency under this subsection that meets the criteria under paragraph (1)(A), the State shall take the criteria set forth in section 1382(b)(5) of this title into consideration. In subsection (c)(12), the term “eligible individual” means a member of a household, the members of which have a combined income (for the most recent 12-month period for which information is available) equal to not more than 50 percent of the median nonmetropolitan household income for the State in which the household is located, according to the most recent decennial census. A State may use an additional 2 percent of the funds annually awarded to each State under this subchapter for nonprofit organizations (as defined in section 1254(w) of this title) or State, regional, interstate, or municipal entities to provide technical assistance to rural, small, and tribal publicly owned treatment works (within the meaning of section 1254(b)(8)(B) of this title) in the State.