1. (a) Municipalities, community water systems and non-profit, non-transient non-community water systems whose testing shows exceedance of the PFAS drinking water standards as established in RSA 485:16-e shall be eligible to apply for financial assistance from the PFAS RLF for remediation efforts begun after September 30, 2019, as specified in RSA 485-H:3.
2. (b) The construction costs of a project shall be determined as eligible if the applicant demonstrates that the criteria stated in RSA 485-H:3, I and II, reprinted in Appendix C, are met.
3. (c) Costs of operation and maintenance (O&M) shall be determined as eligible to the extent they are directly and solely related to operating and maintaining infrastructure that was funded with PFAS RLF funds or that would have been eligible for such funding if it had been available and sought, regardless of when the infrastructure was constructed.
4. (d) The applicant shall demonstrate that reasonable efforts were made to obtain and use funds for any project costs or portion of project costs from any liable or potentially liable third party prior to receiving financial assistance from the PFAS RLF.

5. (e) The applicant’s demonstration of reasonable efforts pursuant to (d) above, shall include, but is not limited to:

   1. (1) Maintaining and making available to the department any records the applicant has that are related to the liability or potential liability of any party;
   2. (2) Responding to inquiries from the department related to identification of any liable or potentially liable party unless doing so would violate or waive a privilege;
   3. (3) Answering questions and providing sworn testimony if requested by the department, or the N.H. department of justice, in any action to receive compensation from or pursuing any other remedy against any liable or potentially liable party, unless doing so would violate or waive a privilege;
   4. (4) Provide the department with all settlement communications between the applicant and a liable or potentially liable third party, provided that doing so would not waive confidentiality;
   5. (5) Providing the department with an opportunity to participate in settlement discussions with any liable or potentially liable third party, provided that doing so would not waive confidentiality; and
   6. (6) If the department or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency identifies an entity as a responsible party (RP) or potentially responsible party (PRP), the applicant shall contact the RP or PRP in writing and request payment for, at a minimum, any costs for which the applicant requests from the PFAS RLF.

6. (f) In order to ensure that an applicant does not receive loans or grants for any project or portion of a project proposed to remediate contamination caused by the negligence of the applicant, the applicant shall, at a minimum, provide to the department the following:

   1. (1) Any documents or other information resulting from an audit, consultant report, investigation, or otherwise within the possession of the applicant indicating that the applicant caused or may have caused the PFAS contamination that the project is intended to address;
   2. (2) Copies of any lawsuits, orders, allegations, complaints, or other documents asserting that the applicant caused the PFAS contamination that the project is intended to address; and;
   3. (3) Any other documentation or information related to PFAS requested by the department.

Source. #13164, eff 1-26-21; ss by #13289, INTERIM, eff 10-30-21, EXPIRES: 4-28-22; ss by #13372, eff 4-21-22