OREGON Small municipalities (not more than 3,500 population) certified by the State sanitary authority (the pollution control agency within the State board of health) as being in need of "sewerage systems" and unable to sell their bonds on the public market or to obtain satisfactory offers therefor, may apply to the State bond commission for financing the costs of the projects (purchase their bonds). A "State sewer bond revolving fund" of $1,655,000 has been established for this purpose. Background The Oregon legislation on this subject was first enacted in 1949, and has been amended and extended in 1951, 1953, 1955, 1957, and 1959. The 1949 act applied to municipalities of not more than 2,500 population and apportioned the sum of $1,500,000 in a revolving fund known as "State sewer bond reveloving fund" (ch. 500, laws of 1949). The act of 1951 transferred, as of October 1, 1951, from this fund the sum of $750,000 to the general fund of the State for general State purposes (ch. 299, laws of 1951). The 1953 act made it applicable to municipalities of not more than 3,500 population (ch. 287, laws of 1953). A further act in 1953 amended the appropriation sections of the 1949 and 1951 acts by appropriating to the revolving fund the total of $1,750,000 (ch. 459, laws of 1953). The act of 1955 transferred the sum of $60,000 from the State sewer bond revolving fund to the State sanitary district sewer bond fund to be used by the bond commission for investment in bonds of sanitary districts which have an assessed valuation of not more than $250,000 and which are unable to sell their bonds at interest not in excess of 4 percent (ch. 577, laws of 1955). An act of 1957 increased this amount to $70,000, and a further act of 1957 increased it to $95,000 (ch. 702, laws of 1957 and ch. 14, special session, laws of 1957). The 1959 act transferred the remaining uninvested and uncommitted funds from the State sewer bond revolving fund to a new sanitary district sewerage system revolving fund. The new fund is to be used in purchasing the bonds of any sanitary districts, with a valuation in excess of $750,000 which has not been able to sell its bonds at a rate below 5 percent interest. Repayments of principal are to be recredited to the State sewer bond revolving fund to be used to aid municipalities as originally provided (ch. 425, laws of 1959). PENNSYLVANIA Municipalities and municipal authorities which have provided sewage treatment facilities since 1937 are to receive from State funds annually an amount up to 2 percent of the cost of those facilities "toward the cost of operating, maintaining, repairing, replacing and other expenses relating to sewage treatment facilities." The program is administered by the State department of health. To date, $13,080,000 has been appropriated for this purpose (laws of Pennsylvania, 1953, Act No. 330). Funds have also been appropriated to the department of health for grants of a share not to exceed 50 percent of the cost of planning waste treatment works by municipalities, municipal corporations, and private corporations (laws of Pennsylvania, 1945, Act No. 82-A). VERMONT A fund of $2 million (established by a State bond issue) was authorized to encourage water pollution control at the local level through State aid for the construction of sewage treatment plants by municipalities. Each municipality after having voted funds in a specific amount to construct or substantially improve a sewage treatment plant may make application to the State water conservation board for State aid. After reviewing the application and plans and finding that the facilities are necessary and of proper type, the board shall award 20 percent of the cost of construction not including any amount derived from private sources (Act No. 293, laws of Vermont, 1957; Acts Nos. 128 and 260, laws of Vermont, 1959). The Vermont State Water Conservation Board may make available to any municipality in the State such assistance as may be requested of it in matters relating to surveys, studies, and plans for pollution abatement works (Act No. 184, laws of Vermont, 1957). STATE LEGISLATION PROVIDING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO INDUSTRIES FOR WASTE TREATMENT FACILITIES ARKANSAS Allows a credit on severance taxes to oil producers who install underground salt water disposal systems (House bill No. 102, approved February 18, 1959). NEW HAMPSHIRE Exempts industrial waste treatment facilities from local taxation for 25 years (laws of 1955, ch. 196). NORTH CAROLINA Provides for rapid amortization for tax purposes of industrial waste treatment works permitting their write-off in 5 years and in addition, exempts industrial waste treatment facilities from local taxation forever (laws of 1955, ch. 1100). VIRGINIA Provides for accelerated amortization for tax purposes of industrial waste treatment facilities which would permit their write-off in 5 years (laws of 1954, ch. 516). WISCONSIN All equipment installed to abate or eliminate water or air pollution is exempt from local taxation for 5 years, provided the operation of the facilities does not produce a new income during that period. This law also provides for accelerated amortization for tax purposes of industrial waste treatment facilities, allowing the cost to be written off in 60 months (laws of 1953, ch. 183, ch. 648). STATE OF CALIFORNIA, STATE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD, Re progress report on Federal construction grant program, Public Law 84-–660, 1956-61. Recently, for the information of the State board members, a progress report was prepared on the first 5 years of the construction grant program in California as authorized by the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. The Board directed that the report be distributed to other persons who may be concerned with the construction of sewage treatment facilities. We hope that the enclosed copy of the report will be of interest to you. Very truly yours, PAUL R. BONDERSON, PROGRESS REPORT ON FEDERAL CONSTRUCTION GRANT PROGRAM, PUBLIC LAW 84-660, 1956-61 Early in March the State water pollution control board completed certification of sewage treatment works projects for Federal construction grants in the 1960-61 fiscal year. This concludes the fifth year, and is the midpoint, of the authorized 10-year program. Grants are authorized under provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, Public Law 660, 84th Congress. A 10-year construction grant program became effective initially in the 1956-57 fiscal year. At present grants are limited to 30 percent of the cost of waste treatment plant projects or $250,000 (whichever is smaller) and at least half of the funds must go to municipalities of 125,000 population or less. Before the Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health Service will consider a grant, the project must be approved by the State water pollution control agency (which also determines priority of eligible projects on the basis of financial and water pollution control needs). During the first 5 years of the program California has been allotted slightly more than $2 million annually. Each year grant requests have totaled from $4 to $8 million. This was about three to four times the available funds. The State and regional water pollution control boards have the task of determining which projects should have priority to receive grants. Recently the State board office made a summary of projects which have received construction grants since the inception of the program. The attached tabulations list the projects each with the eligible project cost and the grant amount. In the last column, under "States," "Completed" means construction is completed, "Construction" means construction is underway, and "Certified" means the project has been certified for a grant but construction had not begun at the time the tabulation was prepared. The eligible project cost is for treatment works including interceptor and outfall sewers but does not include associated collection sewers. In the 5-year period a total of $10 million in grants has been made to communities throughout the State for 87 projects costing almost $42 million. The tabulation indicates the water pollution control region where the community is located. A summary at the end of the tabulation shows by region the number of grants made in relation to the number of applications. In some cases unsuccessful communities resubmitted applications in following years. The regional areas and water pollution control board office locations are shown on the attached map. The two figures attached show graphically by fiscal year the number of grants made in relation to the number of applications submitted, and the total amount of grants made in relation to the total of grants requested. On the second figure, the distribution of grants by size of community is indicated. The smaller communities have qualified for the larger share of the available grant funds. Recently the Sewage and Waste Disposal Committee of the Conference of State Sanitary Engineers conducted a national survey of immediate municipal waste treatment needs. In California information was provided by the regional boards on sewered communities and by the State department of public health on unsewered locations. A summary report was issued on March 13, 1961. Data from this report for California and for the United States are shown on the last attached tabulation. For the 1961-62 fiscal year the allocation of grant funds to California is estimated to be $2,499,925. Applications have been received from 61 communities requesting grants totaling more than $8 million. Public Law 84–660 construction grant projects, 1956–61 1956-57 FISCAL YEAR, $2,053,325 ALLOCATION, 81 APPLICATIONS 1957-58 FISCAL YEAR, $2,052,475 ALLOCATION, 64 APPLICATIONS Public Law 84-660 construction grant projects, 1956-61-Continued 1 Grant amounts are subject to reduction depending on actual eligible construction costs. * Estimated grant with present balance of available funds. Project is eligible for an estimated maximum grant of $204,640 depending on savings from prior projects. |