La. Admin. Code tit. 4 § VII-2401

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 8, August 20, 2024

Section VII-2401 - Purpose

A. The Community Water Enrichment Fund (CWEF) provides financial assistance to local units of government in rural areas. The CWEF program will be administered by the Office of Community Development (OCD).

B. All municipalities and parishes within the State of Louisiana that are identified by HUD as non-entitlement communities are eligible to apply for assistance.

C. Local Government classifications are defined as: Villages (pop. 1-999), Towns (pop. 1,000-4,999), Cities (pop. 5,000-35,000) and Parish governments.

D. OCD shall develop an application procedure satisfying the purposes and intentions of the CWEF.

E. The Office of Community Development applies the following guidelines to any project or activity funded.

1. At the beginning of each fiscal year, the Director of OCD/CWEF shall determine the equal funding level for all eligible parishes based on the total amount budgeted as aid to local governments for CWEF grants.

2. Applications will only be accepted for the following eligible activities: rehabilitation, improvement, and new construction projects for community potable water systems. Reasonable engineering costs (if associated with construction) are allowed.

3. The purchase of generators or chemicals will not be allowed under this program.

4. Funds from this program cannot be used to pay consulting fees charged to a unit of government for the preparation of the application, for administrative costs by agents of the project sponsor or any third party. Also, funds cannot be used to pay for previously incurred debt, improvements to private property, overtime for government employees, administration, engineering-only or planning-only projects. CWEF funds are not intended for salary-only projects or ongoing salaried positions.

5. Parish governments may request funding for projects that serve a parish-wide area or an unincorporated area within the parish.

6. Applicants may not exceed stated funding levels as outlined in the CWEF application guidelines for any fiscal year, except in those circumstances where other eligible applicants within each parish agree by resolution to allow funding levels to be exceeded.

7. Three-year contracts shall be issued for CWEF grants by OCD. Contract extensions and changes to the project must be requested in writing by the grantee and approved in writing by the Director of OCD/CWEF.

8. No award shall be made to an entity listed on the LLAs non-compliance list.

9. Applications received after deadline established by OCD will not be considered.

La. Admin. Code tit. 4, § VII-2401

Promulgated by the Office of the Governor, Division of Administration, Office of Community Development, LR 35:951 (May 2009), Amended LR 4620 (1/1/2020).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with Act 513 of the 2008 Regular Legislative Session.