1. (a) Applicants. Eligible applicants may apply for grants to develop an initial scope of work or to develop or revise regional water plans.

2. (b) Activities. Those activities directly related and necessary to the development or revision of regional water plans are eligible for funding within the limits established in §355.99 of this title (relating to Funding Limitations), with the exception of:

   1. (1) activities for which the board determines existing information or data is sufficient for the planning effort including:

      1. (A) detailed evaluations of cost of water management strategies where recent information for planning is available to evaluate the cost associated with the strategy;
      2. (B) evaluations of groundwater resources for which current information is available from the board or other entity sufficient for evaluation of the resource;
      3. (C) determination of water savings resulting from standard conservation practices for which current information is available from the board;
      4. (D) revision of the state population and demand projections;
      5. (E) revision of state environmental planning criteria for new surface water supply projects; and
      6. (F) collection of data describing groundwater or surface water resources where information for evaluation of the resource is currently available;
   2. (2) activities directly related to the preparation of applications for state or federal permits or other approvals, activities associated with administrative or legal proceedings by regulatory agencies, and preparation of engineering plans and specifications;
   3. (3) activities related to planning for individual system facility needs other than identification of those facilities necessary to transport water from the source of supply to a regional water treatment plant or to a local distribution system;

   4. (4) costs associated with administration of the plan's development, including but not limited to:

      1. (A) compensation for the time or expenses of regional water planning groups members' service on or for the regional water planning group;
      2. (B) costs of administering the regional water planning groups;
      3. (C) costs of public notice and meetings, including time and expenses for attendance at such meetings;
      4. (D) costs for training;
      5. (E) costs of reviewing products developed due to this grant;
      6. (F) costs of administering the regional water planning grant and associated contracts; and
   5. (5) analyses of benefits and costs of water management strategies unless the water management strategy must receive a state or federal permit, the regional water planning group has completed the water management strategy analysis required in §357.7(a)(7) of this title (relating to Regional Water Plan Development), and the regional water planning group demonstrates to the satisfaction of the executive administrator that these analyses are necessary to determine which water management strategy to select.

3. (c) Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this section, the following administrative costs are eligible for funding in reasonable amount and as limited by contract as long as the regional water planning group either certifies that the expenses are eligible for reimbursement and are correct and necessary during a public meeting or delegates this responsibility to the regional water planning group chairperson, who will certify requests for reimbursement as an administrative function:

   1. (1) travel expenses for regional water planning group voting members who are not eligible for reimbursement from their employer as determined by the executive administrator if the travel expenses are incurred in relation to attendance at posted meetings and other travel authorized by the executive administrator. Expenses will be reimbursed in amounts consistent with the travel regulations set out for state employees in the current General Appropriations Act;
   2. (2) costs associated with providing translators deemed necessary by the regional water planning groups;
   3. (3) direct costs, not including personnel costs, for placing public notices in newspapers for the public hearings required by §357.12(a)(3) and (4) of this title (relating to Notice and Public Participation);
   4. (4) the cost of postage for mailing notices to mayors, county judges, special or general law districts, river authorities, public utilities, and holders of water rights pursuant to §357.12(a)(5) of this title; and
   5. (5) the direct costs, not including personnel costs, of providing copies of information to both voting and non-voting members of the regional water planning group if that information is relevant to their work on the regional planning group.
4. (d) Bylaws. The board may not approve funds for a regional water planning area until a copy of the adopted bylaws of the regional water planning group that meet the requirements of §357.4(l) of this title (relating to Designation of Regional Water Planning Groups) has been filed with the executive administrator.
5. (e) Subcontracting. A grant recipient or subcontractor of a grant recipient may obtain professional services, including the services of a planner, land surveyor, licensed engineer, or attorney, for development or revision of a regional water plan only if the grant recipient or subcontractor of a grant recipient has secured such services on the basis of demonstrated competence and qualifications through a request for qualifications process.

Source Note:The provisions of this §355.93 adopted to be effective March 11, 1998, 23 TexReg 2330; amended to be effective January 6, 1999, 24 TexReg 161; amended to be effective October 5, 1999, 24 TexReg 8564; amended to be effective July 10, 2001, 26 TexReg 5036; amended to be effective April 11, 2006, 31 TexReg 3057.