(a) Planning and preliminary engineering studies, project design, and construction costs incurred by a community water system or not-for-profit noncommunity water system may be funded under this chapter.
(b) (1) The board shall determine what portion of the full costs the water system is capable of repaying and authorize funding in the form of a loan or other repayable financing for that amount. The board may authorize a grant or principal forgiveness to a system eligible under subdivision (a) that serves a disadvantaged community and only to the extent the board finds the water system is unable to repay the full costs of the financing.
(2) Where the otherwise eligible water system is a water corporation regulated by the Public Utilities Commission, principal forgiveness shall be limited to capital improvements made by a water system serving disadvantaged communities with fewer than 3,300 service connections, and the board shall incorporate consideration of the water system’s rate of return for the three fiscal years before the timeframe in which the board is considering financial assistance.
(3) Where an otherwise eligible water system is not a water corporation described in paragraph (2) and serves a severely disadvantaged community with fewer than 200 service connections, the water system is deemed to have no ability to repay any financing for a project serving the severely disadvantaged community.
(c) At the request of the board, the Public Utilities Commission shall submit comments concerning the ability of water systems, subject to its jurisdiction, to finance the project from other sources and to repay the financing.
(Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 488, Sec. 1. (SB 1456) Effective January 1, 2017.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018