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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 1284. Limitations and conditions
(a) Determinations by Administrator
Before approving grants for any project for any treatment works
under section 1281(g)(1) of this title the Administrator shall
determine -
(1) that any required areawide waste treatment management plan
under section 1288 of this title (A) is being implemented for
such area and the proposed treatment works are included in such
plan, or (B) is being developed for such area and reasonable
progress is being made toward its implementation and the proposed
treatment works will be included in such plan;
(2) that (A) the State in which the project is to be located
(i) is implementing any required plan under section 1313(e) of
this title and the proposed treatment works are in conformity
with such plan, or (ii) is developing such a plan and the
proposed treatment works will be in conformity with such plan,
and (B) such State is in compliance with section 1315(b) of this
title;
(3) that such works have been certified by the appropriate
State water pollution control agency as entitled to priority over
such other works in the State in accordance with any applicable
State plan under section 1313(e) of this title, except that any
priority list developed pursuant to section 1313(e)(3)(H) of this
title may be modified by such State in accordance with
regulations promulgated by the Administrator to give higher
priority for grants for the Federal share of the cost of
preparing construction drawings and specifications for any
treatment works utilizing processes and techniques meeting the
guidelines promulgated under section 1314(d)(3) of this title and
for grants for the combined Federal share of the cost of
preparing construction drawings and specifications and the
building and erection of any treatment works meeting the
requirements of the next to the last sentence of section 1283(a)
of this title which utilizes processes and techniques meeting the
guidelines promulgated under section 1314(d)(3) of this
title.(!1)
(4) that the applicant proposing to construct such works agrees
to pay the non-Federal costs of such works and has made adequate
provisions satisfactory to the Administrator for assuring proper
and efficient operation, including the employment of trained
management and operations personnel, and the maintenance of such
works in accordance with a plan of operation approved by the
State water pollution control agency or, as appropriate, the
interstate agency, after construction thereof;
(5) that the size and capacity of such works relate directly to
the needs to be served by such works, including sufficient
reserve capacity. The amount of reserve capacity provided shall
be approved by the Administrator on the basis of a comparison of
the cost of constructing such reserves as a part of the works to
be funded and the anticipated cost of providing expanded capacity
at a date when such capacity will be required, after taking into
account, in accordance with regulations promulgated by the
Administrator, efforts to reduce total flow of sewage and
unnecessary water consumption. The amount of reserve capacity
eligible for a grant under this subchapter shall be determined by
the Administrator taking into account the projected population
and associated commercial and industrial establishments within
the jurisdiction of the applicant to be served by such treatment
works as identified in an approved facilities plan, an areawide
plan under section 1288 of this title, or an applicable municipal
master plan of development. For the purpose of this paragraph,
section 1288 of this title, and any such plan, projected
population shall be determined on the basis of the latest
information available from the United States Department of
Commerce or from the States as the Administrator, by regulation,
determines appropriate. Beginning October 1, 1984, no grant shall
be made under this subchapter to construct that portion of any
treatment works providing reserve capacity in excess of existing
needs (including existing needs of residential, commercial,
industrial, and other users) on the date of approval of a grant
for the erection, building, acquisition, alteration, remodeling,
improvement, or extension of a project for secondary treatment or
more stringent treatment or new interceptors and appurtenances,
except that in no event shall reserve capacity of a facility and
its related interceptors to which this subsection applies be in
excess of existing needs on October 1, 1990. In any case in which
an applicant proposes to provide reserve capacity greater than
that eligible for Federal financial assistance under this
subchapter, the incremental costs of the additional reserve
capacity shall be paid by the applicant;
(6) that no specification for bids in connection with such
works shall be written in such a manner as to contain
proprietary, exclusionary, or discriminatory requirements other
than those based upon performance, unless such requirements are
necessary to test or demonstrate a specific thing or to provide
for necessary interchangeability of parts and equipment. When in
the judgment of the grantee, it is impractical or uneconomical to
make a clear and accurate description of the technical
requirements, a "brand name or equal" description may be used as
a means to define the performance or other salient requirements
of a procurement, and in doing so the grantee need not establish
the existence of any source other than the brand or source so
named.
(b) Additional determinations; issuance of guidelines; approval by
Administrator; system of charges
(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, the
Administrator shall not approve any grant for any treatment works
under section 1281(g)(1) of this title after March 1, 1973, unless
he shall first have determined that the applicant (A) has adopted
or will adopt a system of charges to assure that each recipient of
waste treatment services within the applicant's jurisdiction, as
determined by the Administrator, will pay its proportionate share
(except as otherwise provided in this paragraph) of the costs of
operation and maintenance (including replacement) of any waste
treatment services provided by the applicant; and (B) has legal,
institutional, managerial, and financial capability to insure
adequate construction, operation, and maintenance of treatment
works throughout the applicant's jurisdiction, as determined by the
Administrator. In any case where an applicant which, as of December
27, 1977, uses a system of dedicated ad valorem taxes and the
Administrator determines that the applicant has a system of charges
which results in the distribution of operation and maintenance
costs for treatment works within the applicant's jurisdiction, to
each user class, in proportion to the contribution to the total
cost of operation and maintenance of such works by each user class
(taking into account total waste water loading of such works, the
constituent elements of the wastes, and other appropriate factors),
and such applicant is otherwise in compliance with clause (A) of
this paragraph with respect to each industrial user, then such
dedicated ad valorem tax system shall be deemed to be the user
charge system meeting the requirements of clause (A) of this
paragraph for the residential user class and such small
non-residential user classes as defined by the Administrator. In
defining small non-residential users, the Administrator shall
consider the volume of wastes discharged into the treatment works
by such users and the constituent elements of such wastes as well
as such other factors as he deems appropriate. A system of user
charges which imposes a lower charge for low-income residential
users (as defined by the Administrator) shall be deemed to be a
user charge system meeting the requirements of clause (A) of this
paragraph if the Administrator determines that such system was
adopted after public notice and hearing.
(2) The Administrator shall, within one hundred and eighty days
after October 18, 1972, and after consultation with appropriate
State, interstate, municipal, and intermunicipal agencies, issue
guidelines applicable to payment of waste treatment costs by
industrial and nonindustrial recipients of waste treatment services
which shall establish (A) classes of users of such services,
including categories of industrial users; (B) criteria against
which to determine the adequacy of charges imposed on classes and
categories of users reflecting all factors that influence the cost
of waste treatment, including strength, volume, and delivery flow
rate characteristics of waste; and (C) model systems and rates of
user charges typical of various treatment works serving
municipal-industrial communities.
(3) Approval by the Administrator of a grant to an interstate
agency established by interstate compact for any treatment works
shall satisfy any other requirement that such works be authorized
by Act of Congress.
(4) A system of charges which meets the requirement of clause (A)
of paragraph (1) of this subsection may be based on something other
than metering the sewage or water supply flow of residential
recipients of waste treatment services, including ad valorem taxes.
If the system of charges is based on something other than metering
the Administrator shall require (A) the applicant to establish a
system by which the necessary funds will be available for the
proper operation and maintenance of the treatment works; and (B)
the applicant to establish a procedure under which the residential
user will be notified as to that portion of his total payment which
will be allocated to the cost of the waste treatment services.
(c) Applicability of reserve capacity restrictions to primary,
secondary, or advanced waste treatment facilities or related
interceptors
The next to the last sentence of paragraph (5) of subsection (a)
of this section shall not apply in any case where a primary,
secondary, or advanced waste treatment facility or its related
interceptors has received a grant for erection, building,
acquisition, alteration, remodeling, improvement, or extension
before October 1, 1984, and all segments and phases of such
facility and interceptors shall be funded based on a 20-year
reserve capacity in the case of such facility and a 20-year reserve
capacity in the case of such interceptors, except that, if a grant
for such interceptors has been approved prior to December 29, 1981,
such interceptors shall be funded based on the approved reserve
capacity not to exceed 40 years.
(d) Engineering requirements; certification by owner and operator;
contractual assurances, etc.
(1) A grant for the construction of treatment works under this
subchapter shall provide that the engineer or engineering firm
supervising construction or providing architect engineering
services during construction shall continue its relationship to the
grant applicant for a period of one year after the completion of
construction and initial operation of such treatment works. During
such period such engineer or engineering firm shall supervise
operation of the treatment works, train operating personnel, and
prepare curricula and training material for operating personnel.
Costs associated with the implementation of this paragraph shall be
eligible for Federal assistance in accordance with this subchapter.
(2) On the date one year after the completion of construction and
initial operation of such treatment works, the owner and operator
of such treatment works shall certify to the Administrator whether
or not such treatment works meet the design specifications and
effluent limitations contained in the grant agreement and permit
pursuant to section 1342 of this title for such works. If the owner
and operator of such treatment works cannot certify that such
treatment works meet such design specifications and effluent
limitations, any failure to meet such design specifications and
effluent limitations shall be corrected in a timely manner, to
allow such affirmative certification, at other than Federal
expense.
(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a
grantee under this subchapter from requiring more assurances,
guarantees, or indemnity or other contractual requirements from any
party to a contract pertaining to a project assisted under this
subchapter, than those provided under this subsection.
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