The following are wastewater project evaluation criteria:

1. (1) Public health and safety.

   1. (i) Direct human impact due to onlot system malfunctions or inadequately treated sewage.
   2. (ii) Severity of individual or public water supply contamination.
   3. (iii) Degree of impact on public bathing areas.
   4. (iv) Severity of safety hazards from deteriorated facilities.

2. (2) Environmental impact.

   1. (i) Damage to fish and aquatic life.
   2. (ii) Loss of boating and recreation opportunity.
   3. (iii) Impact on industrial water supply uses.
   4. (iv) Impact on crop irrigation.
   5. (v) Degradation of streams used for stock watering.
   6. (vi) Reduction in pollution required in section 117 of the Water Quality Act of 1987 (33 U.S.C.A. § 1267), known as the Chesapeake Bay Agreements.

3. (3) Economic development.

   1. (i) Development activity and job creation/retention resulting directly or indirectly from the project.
   2. (ii) Opportunity to use other State programs, such as the Business Infrastructure Development, Site Development and Community Facilities programs, to fund the project.
   3. (iii) Degree of local distress in the county where the project is located.

4. (4) Compliance.

   1. (i) Enforcement status of the project.
   2. (ii) Existence of overload conditions.

5. (5) Adequacy, efficiency and social impact.

   1. (i) Extent that reorganization or consolidation of facilities will be accomplished.
   2. (ii) Population directly affected.
   3. (iii) Median household income in comparison to Statewide median.
   4. (iv) The ongoing ability of the applicant to operate and maintain the project facilities and system.
   5. (v) An increase in the reliability of service.
   6. (vi) Efficiency of the proposed solution when compared with other alternatives.

Cross References

This section cited in 25 Pa. Code § 103.5 (relating to preparation of project lists); 25 Pa. Code § 963.7 (relating to application procedure); and 25 Pa. Code § 963.11 (relating to eligible costs).