Section 663.110  Definitions

Unless specified otherwise all terms shall have the meanings set forth in the Environmental Protection Act (Act) [415 ILCS 5] and the regulations adopted under that Act (35 Ill. Adm. Code:  Subtitle F) and the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 300j-12 et seq.).

For the purposes of this Part, PWSLP materials and loan agreements, the following definitions apply:

Act – The Environmental Protection Act [415 ILCS 5].

Addenda – Documents issued by the loan applicant after advertisement for bids, which modify or interpret the contract documents, drawings, and specifications, by additions, deletions, clarifications or corrections.

Agency – Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. [415 ILCS 5/19.2(a)]

BABA Act – The portion of the BIL Act at Sections 70901 through 70952 (Public Law 117-58, 41 U.S.C. 8301 note) also known as Build America Buy America Act.

BIL Act – The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (Public Law 117-58) also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 or IIJA.

Billed Customers – The customers receiving a bill who are responsible for paying for water services.

Binding Commitment – A legal obligation between the Agency and the loan recipient to provide financial assistance from the PWSLP to the loan recipient, specifying the terms and schedules under which assistance is provided. The loan agreement will be considered a binding commitment.

Census Tract – The small relatively permanent statistical subdivisions of a county.  Census tract information is available on the website of the US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

Change Order – A written order by the loan recipient to the contractor authorizing an addition, deletion or revision in the work within the general scope of the contract documents, or authorizing an adjustment in the contract price or contract time.

Community Water Supply –A public water supply which serves or is intended to serve at least 15 service connections used by residents or regularly serves at least 25 residents.  [415 ILCS 5/3.145]

Construction – Any one or more of the following which is undertaken for a public purpose: preliminary planning to determine the feasibility of the public water supply, engineering, architectural, legal, fiscal or economic investigations, or studies, surveys, designs, plans, working drawings, specifications, procedures or other necessary actions, erection, building, acquisition, alteration, remodeling, improvement or extension of public water supplies, or the inspection or supervision of any of the foregoing items. [415 ILCS 5/19.2(d)]

Contract Documents – The contract, including but not limited to advertisement for bids, information for bidders, bid, bid bond, agreement, payment bond, performance bond, notice of award, notice to proceed, change order, drawings, specifications, and addenda.

Dedicated Source of Revenue – The type of security and the basis of legal authorization that are dedicated by legislative enactment or other appropriate authority, along with the applicable revenue source pledged for repayment and recorded in an account for the purpose of loan repayment, which is sufficient to repay the principal and interest on the loan.

Design – All administrative, legal, and engineering tasks, subsequent to Project Plan approval but prior to advertisement for bid proposal, associated with receiving approval of a loan application.  This may include the following, as applicable:  surveys, designs, plans, working drawings, specifications, soil investigations, and any other tests or process determinations required to establish design criteria, and development of user charge systems and water use ordinances.

Director – Director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

Disadvantaged Community – A community water supply system that has a lead service line inventory in accordance with Section 17.12(d) of the Act, has lead service lines that need replacement, and has submitted an application for funding for a project area where the median household income is less than 100% of the State average median household income.  A disadvantaged community determination will be made for each application submitted to the Agency.

Facilities – Equipment or operating systems that are constructed, installed, or established to serve the particular purpose of improving or augmenting sustainability for public water supplies and public water supply facilities in a watershed.  Facilities may involve stand-alone projects or be involved as component pieces of public water supplies and public water supply projects. 

Fixed Loan Rate – The simple annual fixed rate on the loan.

Fund − The Water Revolving Fund as authorized by Section 19.3 of the Act, consisting of the Water Pollution Control Loan Program, the Public Water Supply Loan Program, and the Loan Support Program. [415 ILCS 5/19.2(b)]

Initiation of Loan Repayment Period – The date in a loan agreement or amendment that establishes the beginning point of the loan repayment period.

Initiation of Operation – The date specified by the loan agreement on which use of the project began operation for the purposes that it was planned, designed, and constructed.

Intended Use Plan – A plan which includes a description of the short and long term goals and objectives of the Public Water Supply Loan Program, project categories, discharge requirements, terms of financial assistance and the loan applicants to be served. [415 ILCS 5/19.2(e)]

Iron and Steel Products – The following products made primarily of iron or steel: lined or unlined pipes and fittings, manhole covers and other municipal castings, hydrants, tanks, flanges, pipe clamps and restraints, valves, structural steel, reinforced precast concrete, and construction materials.

Lead Service Line – A service line made of lead or service line connected to a lead pigtail, lead gooseneck, or other lead fitting.  A galvanized service line, for purposes of this Part, is considered a lead service line if it ever was or is currently downstream of any lead service line or service line of unknown material. 

LSLR Capitalization Grant – The actual federal funds received by the Agency for deposit into the PWSLP as a result of the capitalization grant agreement with USEPA for lead service line replacement under the BIL Act.

LSLR Capitalization Grant Agreement – The agreement entered into each federal fiscal year between the Agency and USEPA for the purpose of providing a grant to capitalize the PWSLP and enable the Agency to provide assistance for lead service line replacement projects.

Loan – A loan made from the Public Water Supply Loan Program to an eligible applicant as a result of a contractual agreement between the Agency and such applicant. [415 ILCS 5/19.2(c)]

Loan Agreement – The contractual agreement document between the Agency and the loan recipient that contains the terms and conditions governing the loan issued from the PWSLP.

Loan Applicant – The community water supply that has applied for a loan from the PWSLP under this Part.

Loan Procedures – The procedures for issuing loans from the PWSLP as set out in this Part.

Loan Recipient – The community water supply that has been provided a loan from the PWSLP under this Part.

Local Government Unit – A county, municipality, township, municipal or county sewerage or utility authority, sanitary district, public water district, improvement authority or any other political subdivision whose primary purpose is to construct, operate and maintain wastewater treatment facilities, including storm water treatment systems, or public water supply facilities or both. [415 ILCS 5/19.2(g)]

Material Inventory – A water service line material inventory developed by a community water supply in accordance with SDWA or Section 17.12 of the Act.    

Maximum Contaminant Level or MCL – The maximum permissible level of a contaminant in water that is delivered to any user of a public water supply.

Median Household Income or MHI – The median household income is the American Community Survey 5-year estimate from the US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

Operating Agreement – The agreement between the Agency and USEPA that establishes the policies, procedures, and activities for the application and receipt of federal capitalization grant funds to capitalize the PWSLP and enable the Agency to provide assistance for lead service line replacement projects.

Person – Any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company, limited liability company, corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, political subdivision, state agency, or any other legal entity, or their legal representative, agent or assigns. [415 ILCS 5/3.315]

Principal – The total amount of funds distributed to loan recipients for eligible project costs.

Privately Owned Community Water Supply – An investor-owned water utility, if under Illinois Commerce Commission regulation and operating as a separate and distinct water utility; a not-for-profit water corporation, if operating specifically as a water utility; and a mutually owned or cooperatively owned community water system, if operating as a separate water utility. [415 ILCS 5/19.2(h)]

Project – The activities or tasks the Agency identifies in the loan agreement for which the loan recipient may expend loan funds.

Project Area - All census tracts in which the project identifies lead service line replacement.

Project Priority List – An ordered listing of projects developed in accordance with the priority system described in 35 Ill. Adm. Code 663.340 that the Agency has determined are eligible to receive financial assistance from the PWSLP.

PWSLP – The Public Water Supply Loan Program as authorized by Section 19.2 of the Act.

Public Water Supply – All mains, pipes and structures through which water is obtained and distributed to the public, including wells and well structures, intakes and cribs, pumping stations, treatment plants, reservoirs, storage tanks and appurtenances, collectively or severally, actually used or intended for use for the purpose of furnishing water for drinking or general domestic use and which serve at least 15 service connections or which regularly serve at least 25 persons at least 60 days per year. A public water supply is either a "community water supply" or a "non-community water supply". [415 ILCS 5/3.365]

Responsible Bid – A bid that demonstrates the apparent ability of the bidder to successfully meet all the requirements specified in the contract documents. Information necessary to demonstrate responsibility may be corrected or submitted after bid opening.

Responsive Bid – A bid that complies with all meaningful or material aspects of the contract documents.  The bid must constitute a definite and unqualified offer to meet the material requirements of the contract documents including any terms that affect price, quality, quantity or time of delivery, or are clearly identified in the contract documents to be complied with at the risk of bid rejection for nonresponsiveness.  Bid defects resulting in a nonresponsive bid may not be corrected after the bid opening.

SDWA – The Safe Drinking Water Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.).

Service Line – The piping, tubing, and necessary appurtenances acting as a conduit from the water main or source of potable water supply to the building plumbing at the first shut-off valve or 18 inches inside the building, whichever is shorter.

Service Population – The number of people served by the loan applicant. 

Small System – A community water supply that regularly serves water to 3,300 or fewer persons.

Social Security – A program administered by the United States Social Security Administration providing continuing income after retirement to workers and their families.  For purposes of this Part, the social security rate is the percentage of the population, in any given census tract, receiving social security benefits.

Source of Revenue – All revenues of the loan applicant that are sufficient to repay the principal and interest (as calculated by the fixed loan rate) on the loan.

Subagreement – A written agreement between the loan recipient and another party, and any tier of agreement under that written agreement, to furnish services, supplies, or equipment necessary to complete the project for which a loan is provided, including construction contracts, contracts for personal and professional services, and purchase orders.

SSI or Supplemental Security Income – A program administered by the United States Social Security Administration providing monthly aid to aged, blind, and disabled individuals.  For this purpose of this Part, the supplemental security income rate is the percentage of the population, in any given census tract, receiving supplemental security income.

Unemployment Rate – The annual average unemployment rate calculated by the Illinois Department of Employment Security, Economic Information and Analysis Division.

Useful Life – The estimated period during which a public water supply facility is intended to be operable, as certified by the project's consulting licensed professional engineer.

USEPA – The United States Environmental Protection Agency.

User Charge – A charge levied on the users of a public water supply to produce adequate revenues for the operation, maintenance, and replacement of the public water supply.