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Clean Water Revolving Fund

The Clean Water Revolving Fund, also known as the State Revolving Fund (SRF) was established by the federal Clean Water Act to replace the federal Construction Grants Program. Under the SRF program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides grants or "seed money" with a required 20 percent state match, to capitalize state revolving funds with which the states provide low-interest loans to communities. As loan principal and interest payments are paid back into the revolving fund, the money is used to finance new loan projects.

Minnesota's SRF is managed by the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority (PFA), a board of six state commissioners from the departments of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), Finance, Health, Agriculture, Transportation and the MPCA. PFA and MPCA staff jointly administer the wastewater and stormwater components of the SRF. The PFA is responsible for the financial elements of the program, while the MPCA is responsible for its environmental and technical components.

One of the MPCA's primary responsibilities is to score and rank proposed wastewater construction projects in accordance with the environmental criteria contained in Minn. R. 7077.0117 to 7077.0119. The result of this ranked list is called the Project Priority List (PPL). In addition, the MPCA's responsibilities include the review of proposed wastewater projects to ensure they meet state requirements and are consistent with MPCA goals.

The PFA's administration of the financial aspects of the program includes the review of loan applications, setting the terms and conditions of the loans, and managing the funds. The PFA additionally prepares the annual Intended Use Plan (IUP), which is a list of those projects on the PPL that the PFA expects to fund during the coming year.