Source Water Protection
Competitive Grants

Applications for this grant program are accepted between
March 1, 2013 and 4:30 PM on Monday, April 1, 2013

Notification of Grant Availability

The Minnesota Department of Health announces the availability of funding to support source water protection competitive grants for community and nontransient noncommunity public water suppliers.  Source water protection activities that are funded under this grant program must focus on managing or eliminating one or more potential sources of contamination that the Minnesota Department of Health has determined presents a risk to the public water supplier.  Community public water suppliers serve at least 25 year-round residents or have at least 15 service connections that are used by year-round residents (e.g., a municipality, rural water supply system, subdivision, or mobile home park). Nontransient noncommunity public water suppliers serve at least 25 of the same persons over six months per year (e.g., school, factory, industrial park, or office building).  The funding for source water protection competitive grants is provided under Chapter 6; Art 2; Sec.8(b) (2011 1st Special Session Law). 

Introduction
The Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment to the Minnesota constitution provide funding to the Minnesota Department of Health to establish the source water protection competitive grant program.  This program will be administered through the Drinking Water Protection Section.  This notice applies to all community and non-transient non-community public water supply systems. 

These are competitive grants that will help implement source water protection measures regardless of whether a community or non-transient non-community public water supplier has a source water protection plan in place.  Source water protection plans are either 1) wellhead protection plans that have been approved by the Minnesota Department of Health under requirements of Minnesota Rules Parts 4720. 5100 to 4720.5590 or 2) surface water intake protection plans that have been endorsed by the Minnesota Department of Health.  For qualifying public water suppliers without a source water protection plan, the source water protection measure(s) must address a public health risk that has been identified by the Minnesota Department of Health,

The fundamental goal of source water protection is to prevent contamination from entering sources of public drinking water at levels that present a risk to people.  Source water protection applies to all types of public water supply systems and is based on requirements in the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and authorities granted to the Minnesota Department of Health by the state legislature. 

Grant Awards
The total amount of funding that is available under this notice is $50,000 and the maximum amount for any grant is $10,000.   However, when more than one qualifying community or non-transient non-community public water supplier applies under the same grant request, the cap amount will be increased by as much as $10,000 for each additional public water supplier up to a maximum grant amount of $30,000.

Matching Funds
An equal cost share for each work item is required for receiving a grant. Cost sharing is auditable and must be allowable under cost principles and verifiable to records.

Funding period
All of the funds that are awarded under this program must be expended by June 30, 2014. Based on availability of funds, source water protection competitive grants will be offered to water suppliers annually.

Termination for insufficient funding
The State may immediately terminate this grant if it does not obtain funding from the Minnesota Legislature, or other funding source.  Termination must be by written or fax notice to the Grantee.  The State will not be assessed any penalty if the grant is terminated because of the decision of the Minnesota Legislature, or other funding source, not to appropriate funds.  The State must provide the Grantee notice of the lack of funding within a reasonable time of the State’s receiving that notice.

Eligibility
A source water protection competitive grant is intended to support implementation of the drinking water protection measures that address a potential source of contamination exhibiting a high risk that is either 1) described in a source water protection plan or 2) recognized by the Minnesota Department of Health through formal correspondence with the public water supplier (most recent sanitary survey or letter/email from MDH Drinking Water Protection staff). Although only qualifying public water suppliers may apply for a source water protection competitive grant, they may use this funding to support the work of other parties. A public water supplier must meet the following conditions in order to qualify for a grant:

  • Be a community or a non-transient non-community public water supplier
  • The public water supplier is not currently subject to administrative penalty action by the Minnesota Department of Health for violation of state or federal public water supply regulations.

Each eligible public water supplier can submit only one application per grant program announcement.

Scope of Work
Grant funding is to be used solely to support work that is
1) Referenced to one or more measures contained in a source water protection plan or
2) Identified by the Minnesota Department of Health through formal correspondence with the public water supplier (most recent Sanitary survey or letter/email from MDH Drinking Water Protection staff).

Reporting or other administrative costs related to using a source water protection competitive grant are not eligible.

A grant application must identify:

  • A description of the work that is to be performed;
  • The entity responsible for completing the work;
  • The cost of performing the work, including a contractor estimate;
  • The page(s) in the source water protection plan that identify the source water protection measure(s) to which the work applies OR the correspondence from the Minnesota Department of Health that describes the work that will be conducted (copies of the above documents need to be attached to the application)
  • The outcome or deliverable that will be achieved by conducting the work; and
  • A detailed budget to include an estimated start date for the work to be performed.

Application Review Process
Applicants may submit a grant application either by mail or electronically using the form provided by the Minnesota Department of Health. Applications must be received by 4:30 PM on Monday, April 1, 2013. Applications must be sent to:

Ms. Cristina Covalschi
SWP Grant Coordinator

Mail:
Minnesota Department of Health
P.O. Box 64975
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55164-0975

Hand Deliver:
625 Robert Street North
St. Paul, Minnesota 55101

Fax: Attention Cristina Covalschi, 651-201-4701

Email: Cristina.Covalschi@state.mn.us

The Minnesota Department of Health is not responsible for grant applications that are lost in the mail or delayed in electronic transmission.  Upon receipt, a grant application will be assigned a time and date which will be used to place the grant on the priority for funding waiting list once the Minnesota Department of Health has determined the minimum score to qualify has been achieved.

Applications received after the deadline will be disqualified from consideration.

Application Form
You may obtain a copy of the source water protection competitive grant request form by

Scoring Grant Applications
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) uses the following methodology to score a source water protection competitive grant application:

Grant applications are scored using a standard set of questions and associated point values.  The total score for each grant application will be used to place it on a priority list providing that the total score meets or exceeds the minimum value.  Once on the list, grants will be funded based upon the 1) score, 2) date placed upon the list, and 3) availability of grant funds.

MDH will assign points based upon the following grant review questions:

1. Has the public water supplier provided sufficient detail to indicate that the work to be performed will meet applicable state and local regulations, particularly plan review and inspection requirements? If not, the grant review cannot proceed further.

2. Is the work to be performed included in an MDH-approved wellhead protection plan, an MDH-endorsed intake protection plan, in the results of the most recent sanitary survey that has been conducted by the MDH, or in any correspondence or notification from MDH that this is an action that has to be undertaken? If not, the grant review cannot proceed further. If not, the grant review cannot proceed further.

3. Has the public water supplier provided sufficient documentation to confirm that it will provide a cost share amount? If not, the grant review cannot proceed further.

4. Is the work that is to be performed described in enough detail with associated costs so that the MDH can clearly communicate to the public how the money is being spent to protect the source of the drinking water?  Points: 0 to 20

5. Is there sufficient documentation to indicate that the work can be completed within the time period that the grant is in effect? Points: 0 to 10

6. Select one of the following -

Either -Will the grant result in the public water supplier eliminating a potential contamination source that the MDH has determined presents a high risk to the source of drinking water?  Points: 0 to 20

Or - Will the grant result in the public water supplier being better able to manage a potential contamination source that the MDH has determined presents a high risk to the source of drinking water?  Points: 0 to 15

Note: MDH reserves the right to consider the application incomplete and to assign zero points if the applicant has not provided enough documentation. Points are assigned on a scale basis and depend on how much detail is provided on the application form.

Scoring Results
The minimum score to be placed on the grant award list is 38 points.
The maximum score that can be achieved is 50 points.

Trade Secret Information
The source water protection measures that are contained in a source water protection plan have already been reviewed and approved by the Minnesota Department of Health. Those that have been communicated to a public water supplier through formal correspondence from the Minnesota Department of Health have also been reviewed and approved. Therefore, the scoring serves to prioritize work that will provide the greatest public health benefit that is achieved using public funding. The Minnesota Department of Health does not anticipate that trade secret information will be compromised as a result of the information presented in a grant application nor documenting the work that is performed and reported under a grant agreement.

Notification Process
The Minnesota Department of Health will provide written notification to grant applicants of the scoring results after April 15, 2013. Applicants may be required to provide additional information for the work to be performed, including a detailed estimate invoice showing specific materials, labor, time, etc. Rejected applicants are encouraged to reapply to the upcoming grant programs.

If awarded a grant, NO work should begin until ALL required signatures have been obtained on the grant agreement, and grantee receives a signed copy of the grant agreement.

Allocation of the Grant Award
The public water supplier will be reimbursed once the project duties and the grant reporting requirements have been successfully met and MDH is satisfied that the project has been completed according to the terms of the grant agreement.

The public water supplier has the obligation to pay any third party (contractor) hired for the purpose of completing the work before or immediately after receiving payment from MDH.

Grantee reporting requirements
A public water supplier who receives a source water protection competitive grant must report the results of each work item that is funded by providing all of the following information –

  • the results of performing the work that is described in the grant application
  • the total amount of grant funds that were expended to perform each work item
  • a summary of the costs that are attributed to performing each work item
  • a summary of the contribution that a recipient makes to the award – referred to as cost-share

Additional requirements will be listed in the grant agreement, based on the nature of the project.

Application Questions
Questions regarding grant application should be directed to:

Ms. Cristina Covalschi
SWP Grant Coordinator
Telephone: 651-201-4696
E-mail: cristina.covalschi@state.mn.us

Frequently Asked Questions about Competitive Grants

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Updated Friday, 18-Jan-2013 09:50:22 CST