Sec. 53.2. Definitions

(a) Terms used in this Part or to be used in complying with this Part have the following meanings:

(1) Act means title XIV of the Public Health Service Act (commonly known as the “Safe Drinking Water Act”) 42 USC section 300-f et seq.; and as supplemented by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

(2) Administrator means the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency or the chief executive officer of such agency or any successor agency or department or any authorized representatives of the administrator.

(3) Allowable costs means all costs of a project which the department and/or corporation determines:

(i) are properly allocable to that project; and

(ii) are not annual facility operation costs, including, but not limited to, those for maintenance, or replacement and repair of minor equipment.

(4) Annual fund resources means the funds available for project assistance within an annual funding cycle.

(5) Annual funding cycle means the period of time covered by a single Intended Use Plan.

(6) Commissioner means the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Health.

(7) Comptroller means the Comptroller of New York State.

(8) Construction means the erection, building, acquisition, alteration, reconstruction, improvement, enlargement or extension of a project; the inspection and supervision thereof; and the engineering, architectural, legal, fiscal, and economic investigations and studies, surveys, designs, plans, working drawings, specifications, procedures, and other actions necessary thereto.

(9) CT disinfection means the product of the free residual disinfectant concentration (C) in milligrams per liter determined before or at the first customer, and corresponding disinfectant contact time (T) in minutes, expressed by the formula (C) × (T) = CT.

(10) Corporation means the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation or its successor.

(11) Department means the New York State Department of Health.

(12) Design means necessary design calculations and decisions and the preparation of construction drawings and specifications.

(13) Disadvantaged system means a public water system which has been qualified by the corporation as being eligible for financial hardship assistance.

(14) DWSRF or fund means the New York State Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, established pursuant to chapter 413 of the Laws of 1996.

(15) DWSRF assistance or fund assistance means financial assistance from the DWSRF, or other available sources, provided by the corporation to a recipient for an eligible project, including, without limitation, loans or hardship assistance.

(16) E. coli means Escherichia coli, a species of coliform bacteria that is indicative of fecal pollution and the possible presence of enteric pathogens.

(17) Eligible project means a project for construction of a water supply facility which is intended to improve drinking water facilities, including a project that would be eligible for financing under or designed to comply with the requirements of the act, which the commissioner has certified, in writing:

(i) is necessary for the objectives and goals of the State Sanitary Code or the act to assure safe public drinking water;

(ii) represents a reasonable effort to develop a viable water supply that can consistently meet drinking water standards;

(iii) takes into consideration the water resources management strategy pursuant to title 29 of article 15 of the Environmental Conservation Law; and

(iv) is a project for which financial assistance is available from the fund.

(18) Emergency means a situation that results in an imminent threat to public health. Imminent threats to public health include situations that result in the unavailability of a source of potable drinking water for an extended period of time.

(19) Engineering report means the document or documents incorporating the results of preliminary project planning and technical and fiscal studies to determine the technical and economic feasibility of the project.

(20) Federal capitalization funds are funds deposited in the DWSRF pursuant to a Federal capitalization grant according to the provisions of the act or any lesser amount which the administrator shall determine is subject to the limitations imposed by the act.

(21) Hardship assistance or financial hardship assistance means DWSRF assistance, including, without limitation, an additional reduced interest rate loan, a principal subsidy, and/or State assistance payments, provided by the corporation to a recipient in those instances where the corporation, in its discretion, determines financial hardship exists.

(22) HUD means the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

(23) Intended Use Plan (IUP) means a plan identifying the intended uses of the amounts available in the fund, including but not limited to: a list of potentially eligible projects; a description of the short-term and tong-term goals and objectives of the fund; and information on the activities to be supported including a description of project categories, terms of fund assistance, recipients, and the criteria and methods established for the distribution of funds.

(24) Median Household Income (MHI) means the MHI published by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, as adjusted to the most recent biennium for which income data is available from the Bureau of the Census. For special districts and other areas for which accurate census data is not available, other income data may be considered by the corporation.

(25) Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) means the maximum permissible level of a contaminant in water which is delivered to any user of a public water system as specified in Subpart 5-1 of this Title.

(26) Nephelometric Turbidity Unit (NTU) means the unit in which measured turbidity is reported.

(27) Planning means the orderly development of a project concept from the original statement of need or purpose through the evaluation of alternatives to a final recommendation on a course of action and measures to implement the selected alternative.

(28) Principal Organic Contaminant (POC) means any organic chemical compound belonging to specific chemical classes as described in Subpart 5-1 of this Title.

(29) Project Financing and Loan Agreement (PFLA) means an agreement, or agreements, between the corporation and one or more recipients with respect to the financing of an eligible project or projects.

(30) Project plans and specifications means any technical data, information, designs, plans, analyses, engineering reports or other material required to be submitted by an applicant for approval by the department prior to installation or construction of a public water system or any addition or deletion or modification of a public water system.

(31) Public water system means any water system as defined in section 5-1.1 of this Title.

(32) Segment of a project, project component or project phase means one or more construction contracts and associated costs that the department and corporation determine constitute a discrete portion of a project which may be financed and constructed separately from other project segments.

(33) State Act means chapter 413 of the Laws of 1996 of the State of New York.

(34) State Sanitary Code means Parts 1 through 24 of this Title.

(35) Surface Water Treatment Rule means parts 141 and 142 of title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations which require that all surface water be treated in accordance with section 5-1.30 of the State Sanitary Code.

(36) Unspecified Organic Contaminant (UOC) means any organic chemical compound not otherwise specified in Subpart 5-1 of this Title.