SECTION 785:50-10-1. General program description and procedures

(a)   Drinking Water Treatment Revolving Loan Program description.

(1)   Pursuant to 82 O.S., §§1085.71 through 1085.84A, an additional financial assistance program was created to be administered by the Board and Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (Department) to implement provisions of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

(2)   Under Oklahoma's program, the Department is to generally carry out the role of prioritizing drinking water projects and conducting technical analysis and review of eligible entities and drinking water treatment projects. The Board is to generally carry out the role of conducting financial evaluations and analyses of eligible entities, reviewing documents for loan closings, and managing and administering monies in the Water Resources Fund to make monies available for financial assistance.

(3)   The Drinking Water Treatment Revolving Loan Program shall be administered as a separate program from the Board's previously existing Financial Assistance Programs. The rules in this Subchapter are intended to recognize the distinction between the programs where necessary.

(b)   General procedures. The general procedures to be followed in the drinking water project review and financial assistance application process for financial review under the program authorized in 82 O.S., §1085.71 through 1085.84A shall be as follows:

(1)   The applicant shall follow the procedures, rules and regulations administered by the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, which shall include placement on the priority list of a publicly owned waterworks established by the Department and the filing of an application with the Board for drinking water project review and financial assistance.

(2)   The Board shall make an initial determination of whether an entity meets the legal and managerial criteria to receive funding.

(3)   The Board shall prepare an initial financial review of the entity based on documents provided to the Board and proposed loan amount and interest rate for which the entity qualifies. Consultations among Board staff, the Department, and the applicant's representatives may be held where deemed appropriate and beneficial.

(4)   The Board staff shall consider the initial financial review and application. It shall then forward its preliminary recommendation for approval or rejection of the loan application to the applicant, based on applicable criteria set forth in 785:50-10-2.

(A)   If the recommendation is for rejection, the Board shall provide a written recommendation including the reasons for rejection. The entity may then be allowed to modify or supplement any documents in order to comply with the Board requirements and resubmit the same to the Board.

(B)   If the Board recommends approval, it shall notify the applicant and the Department.

(5)   After initial financial review approval by the Board, the Board shall follow its established procedures and rules to conduct an in-depth financial review and evaluation of the drinking water project to determine whether it complies with applicable state and federal laws.

(6)   After a secondary application and necessary documents are submitted to the Board, the matter will be reviewed by staff who may request additional information from the applicant or the Department and have further conferences as deemed necessary and beneficial to complete the financial review. The matter will then be placed on the Board's agenda for consideration. The Board may approve the application, reject the application, or request additional information.

(7)   If the application and loan receives final approval, the Board, Department and applicant will coordinate the setting of the date, time and place for the closing of the loan.

(8)   At the loan closing, the Department shall have authority to grant approval for disbursement of loan proceeds and to present the same.

(9)   The Board shall administer the loans until paid by the recipient and a final accounting is completed.

[Source: Added at 12 Ok Reg 2715, eff 7-1-95; Amended at 15 Ok Reg 2881, eff 7-1-98]