FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Robbie Wilbur
601/961-5277
September 22, 2009
MDEQ ANNOUNCES $10 MILLION IN WASTEWATER FUNDING FOR WEST RANKIN UTILITY AUTHORITY
(Jackson, Miss.) – The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) announced today that the West Rankin Utility Authority has been approved for a subsidized low-interest loan of $10 million for wastewater infrastructure improvements. The funding is being made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and the Water Pollution Control Revolving Loan Fund Program (WPCRLF) administered by MDEQ. The ARRA portion of the funding is a loan subsidy which will not have to be repaid. The WPCRLF portion will be repaid at a 1.75 percent interest rate over 20 years.
“We are pleased to award these funds to the West Rankin Utility Authority. Mayor Gary Rhoads and other board members worked diligently to produce an outstanding application. Properly constructed and maintained wastewater facilities are integral to protecting our environment and the public’s health, and we know this infrastructure will be of great benefit to Rankin County,” said Trudy Fisher, MDEQ Executive Director.
“We are very excited about these funds because they meet a critical need we have in this part of Rankin County. We have had issues in the past that have required time to recover from, and this upgrade will be of great assistance to the residents and the environment,” said West Rankin Utility Authority Board Chairman and Flowood Mayor Gary Rhoads.
The West Rankin Utility Authority will receive $10 million for rehabilitation of 24,500 linear feet of wastewater interceptor line and related equipment in western Rankin County from the northern part of Richland up to the Ross Barnett Reservoir. The WPCRLF amount is $5 million and the ARRA amount totals $5 million.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) appropriated $4.0 billion for Title VI EPA Capitalization Grants to the states’ Clean Water State Revolving Funds. Mississippi’s Water Pollution Control Revolving Loan Fund (WPCRLF), administered by MDEQ, received $35,308,350. ARRA funds will be used, along with base WPCRLF Program loan funds, to jointly fund projects with the ARRA portion of each award in the form of a loan subsidy
Prior to final passage and enactment of ARRA, MDEQ conducted a comprehensive outreach campaign to alert potential borrowers of the possible availability of federal economic recovery stimulus funding. MDEQ then amended the FY-2009 WPCRLF Intended Use Plan to implement the funding in the most efficient manner, while providing the most benefit to the state. Details on the application and award process are in the amended Intended Use Plan which is available at:
http://www.deq.state.ms.us/MDEQ.nsf/pdf/SRF_FY-09IUPAmendment1/$File/IUPFY-09AmendmentNo1FINAL.pdf?OpenElement.
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