West Virginia Infrastructure and Capacity Development Program
The West Virginia Infrastructure and Capacity Development unit in the Office of Environmental Health Services under the WV Bureau for Public Health (BPH) provides assistance to drinking water systems in the areas of capital project funding from the Drinking Water Treatment Revolving Fund (DWTRF) , Capacity Development, and Construction Permitting to ensure facilities will meet state and federal requirements.
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) - This is the capitalization fund provided annually by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enable the state to fund two distinct programs to assist drinking water systems. The majority of the DWSRF fund goes to fund infrastructure projects through the Drinking Water Treatment Revolving Fund. A smaller portion of the capitalization grant funds set-aside activities to provide assistance and monitoring of water system's performance. The Intended Use Plan prepared each year details the intended use of the funding available for capital projects and program set-aside activities. An annual report is issued that describes all of the construction and set-aside activities in detail. The Intended Use Plan and Annual Report can be viewed on the Drinking Water Treatment Revolving Fund webpage.
Drinking Water Treatment Revolving Fund (DWTRF) - This fund is the construction portion of the United States Environmental Protection Agency capitalization grant and corresponding state match along with subsequent loan repayments to enable the state to provide loans for drinking water infrastructure projects needed to achieve and maintain compliance with the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and the state's Public Water Systems Regulations. The program coordinates project funding with other state and federal agencies, under the auspices of the West Virginia Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council.
The Capacity Development Program helps drinking water systems to improve their finances, management, infrastructure, and operations so they can provide safe drinking water consistently, reliably, and cost-effectively. More specifically, the Federal SDWA capacity development provisions establish a flexible framework for the BPH and water systems to work together to ensure the systems acquire and maintain the technical, financial, and managerial resources necessary to consistently achieve the health objectives of the 1996 SDWA.
Plan Review and Permitting Section reviews all proposed plans and specifications for public water systems, recreational water facilities, dairy farm waste disposal facilities, water vending machines, and sewage collection and treatment systems to assure that proposed projects are designed in accordance with design standards and will perform as needed to provide adequate public health protection and service. Approximately 400 technical reviews are performed each year with about 225 approvals issued. Click here to go to the Permit Archive webpage to find previously issued construction permits.
For more information on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law please visit the website here.
Contact
Christopher ThomasBureau For Public HealthOffice of Environmental Health Services
Capacity Development Program
350 Capitol Street, Room 313
Charleston, WV 25301-3713
Phone: 304-352-5042Email: Christopher.W.Thomas@wv.gov