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Credit Assistance and Related Fees for Water Resources Infrastructure Projects rule (2023)

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The Credit Assistance and Related Fees for Water Resources Infrastructure Projects rule is a significant rule issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) effective June 21, 2023, that implements a new credit assistance program administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and establishes the process by which the Corps will administer the credit assistance, pursuant to Subtitle C of Title V of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 (WRRDA).[1]

HIGHLIGHTS
  • Name: Credit Assistance and Related Fees for Water Resources Infrastructure Projects
  • Agency: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
  • Action: Final rule
  • Type of significant rule: Economically significant rule

    • Timeline

    The following timeline details key rulemaking activity:

    Background

    This rule implemented the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 (WIFIA), focusing on safety projects for dams identified in the National Inventory of Dams with specific ownership types. This program, funded by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, allows the Corps to provide secured loans for eligible water resources infrastructure projects.

    Summary of the rule

    The following is a summary of the rule from the rule's entry in the Federal Register:[1]

    “ This final rule implements a new credit assistance program administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). Consistent with the funding provided under Subtitle C of Title V of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 (WRRDA), often referred to as the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 (WIFIA), credit assistance is available for safety projects to maintain, upgrade, and repair dams identified in the National Inventory of Dams with a primary owner type of state, local government, public utility, or private. This final rule establishes the process by which the Corps will administer such credit assistance, including the assessment of fees, and also sets forth the policies and procedures that the Corps will use for receiving, evaluating, approving applications, and servicing and monitoring direct loans and loan guarantees.[2] ”

    Summary of provisions

    The following is a summary of the provisions of the rule:[1]

    A. Borrower Eligibility

    The borrower must be a corporation; a partnership; a joint venture; a trust; a State, or local governmental entity, agency, or instrumentality; a tribal government or consortium of tribal governments; or a State infrastructure financing authority.

    B. Project Eligibility

    Among more technical provisions, eligible projects must be safety projects to maintain, upgrade, and repair dams identified in the National Inventory of Dams.

    Eligible projects may receive assistance with the following four types of project costs:

    1. The cost of development activities, such as planning, design, engineering, and pre-construction
    1. The cost of construction and repair activities
    1. The cost of the acquisition of property and equipment
    1. The cost of capitalized interest necessary to meet market requirements

    C. Application, Creditworthiness, and Fees

    The application process has two steps:

    1. A preliminary application to determine which projects will be invited to continue the application process
    1. A more detailed application to provide the Corps with materials necessary to underwrite the proposed WIFIA assistance

    The Corps must also determine that every funded project is creditworthy. The Corps may charge fees to recover all or a portion of the Corps' cost of providing credit assistance and the costs of conducting engineering reviews and retaining expert firms, including an application fee, transaction processing fee, annual servicing fee, optional credit subsidy fee, and enhanced monitoring fee.

    D. Reporting Requirements

    At minimum, any recipient of the WIFIA credit must provide the Corps with an annual project performance report and audited financial statements.

    Significant impact

    See also: Significant regulatory action

    Executive Order 12866, issued by President Bill Clinton (D) in 1993, directed the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to determine which agency rules qualify as significant rules and thus are subject to OMB review.

    Significant rules have had or might have a large impact on the economy, environment, public health, or state or local governments. These actions may also conflict with other rules or presidential priorities. Executive Order 12866 further defined an economically significant rule as a significant rule with an associated economic impact of $100 million or more. Executive Order 14094, issued by President Joe Biden (D) on April 6, 2023, made changes to Executive Order 12866, including referring to economically significant rules as section 3(f)(1) significant rules and raising the monetary threshold for economic significance to $200 million or more.[1]


    The text of the Credit Assistance and Related Fees for Water Resources Infrastructure Projects rule states that OMB deemed this rule economically significant under E.O. 12866:

    “ This rule has been determined significant under E.O. 12866.[2] ”

    Text of the rule

    The full text of the rule is available below:[1]

    See also

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Federal Register, "Credit Assistance and Related Fees for Water Resources Infrastructure Projects," May 22, 2023
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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