1. (a) The board shall determine the counties that are affected as that term is defined in Texas Water Code, §16.341, based on and subject to the receipt of annual statistics found by the executive administrator to be sufficiently reliable to make such determination. Within 60 days of the receipt of the necessary statistics to determine the state average of per capita income and unemployment rate, the executive administrator shall submit for publication in the Texas Register a list of affected counties. Political subdivisions in the affected counties identified on this list shall be eligible to apply to the board for funds to pay for all or part of the cost of facility engineering in economically distressed areas, including plans and specifications, until the next list of eligible counties is published in the Texas Register.

2. (b) Political subdivisions must meet the appropriate requirements of this section before the board may consider an application for financial assistance for facility planning.

   1. (1) A county within which the political subdivision applying for assistance is wholly or partially located must have adopted the model subdivision rules required by the Texas Water Code, §16.343. Copies of the model subdivision rules are available upon request from the Texas Water Development Board, Director, Border Project Management Division, P.O. Box 13231, Austin, Texas 78711.
   2. (2) A municipality which applies for financial assistance or within which a political subdivision applying for assistance is wholly or partially located must have adopted the model subdivision rules required by the Texas Water Code, §16.343, if the economically distressed area to be served is partially or wholly located within the incorporated limits of the municipality.
   3. (3) A political subdivision applying for facility planning assistance must have any required certificate of public convenience and necessity (CCN) that includes the project area and that is for the same type of service to be addressed in the proposed facility planning study; or, as an alternative, the applicant may submit an executed interlocal agreement with the holder of the applicable CCN which authorizes the applicant to provide the applicable services for the facility planning area.
   4. (4) A district or a nonprofit water supply corporation may apply for assistance from the board if the eligible county or municipality in which the economically distressed area is located do not intend to apply for financial assistance for the same project in the same area and the eligible county or municipality approves by resolution the district's or nonprofit water supply corporation's submittal of an application for financial assistance.

   5. (5) A political subdivision shall have submitted for review:

      1. (A) an annual audit for the most recent fiscal year of the political subdivision and financial statements for the three previous complete months;
      2. (B) the most recent order or resolution establishing the rates and charges for the utility service for which the planning will be performed;
      3. (C) the current capital improvement plan for the utility service for which the planning will be performed;
      4. (D) an executed contract with the consulting engineer to prepare the facility plan and sufficient documentation to establish that the political subdivision complied with §355.77 of this title in procuring the services of the consulting engineer; and
      5. (E) evidence that the county commissioners court has prepared a map showing the part of the county, outside the limits of the municipalities, in which the different types of on-site sewage disposal systems may be appropriately located and the parts of the county in which the different types of systems may not be appropriately located.
3. (c) Political subdivisions must meet the appropriate requirements of this section before the board may provide financial assistance for facility planning. If, after submission of a facility planning assistance application, the county average per capita income increases or the average unemployment rate decreases so that the county no longer meets the definition of affected county in §355.70 of this title (relating to Definitions), the political subdivision submitting the application will continue to be eligible for financial assistance provided the application is not substantially amended.
4. (d) If the applicant is a local governmental entity as defined in the Health and Safety Code, Chapter 366, then before the board provides financial assistance for facility planning, the applicant must provide satisfactory evidence that it has taken and will take all actions necessary to receive and maintain a designation as an authorized agent of the commission as set forth in that chapter.

Source Note:The provisions of this §355.72 adopted to be effective October 11, 1991, 16 TexReg 5329; amended to be effective May 6, 1992, 17 TexReg 3001; amended to be effective April 13, 1995, 20 TexReg 2392; amended to be effective February 11, 1999, 24 TexReg 765; amended to be effective February 10, 2000, 25 TexReg 800; amended to be effective November 7, 2000, 25 TexReg 10925.