Program Overview
The Massachusetts Clean Water Trust (the Trust) and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) provide grant funds to qualifying applicants annually for the preparation of Asset Management Plans (AMP) for existing drinking water, wastewater, and/or stormwater infrastructure. The Trust will provide a grant award of $150,000 or 60% of eligible project cost, whichever is less. The eligible entities will provide the remaining amount with In-Kind Services (IKS), a capital contribution, or an SRF loan.
MassDEP will give priority to small communities and utilities (population less than 10,000 or small systems that service connections of less than 3,300), first-time AMP grant applicants, and AMP proposals that address the core components of an AMP, including an inventory and condition of current assets, level of services, criticality analysis, life cycle costs, and long-term financial planning.
Grant Funding
The Trust will provide a maximum award of $150,000 or 60% of the total estimated planning cost, whichever is less, with the applicant providing the remaining amount with In-Kind Services (IKS), a capital contribution, or an SRF loan. Therefore, the minimum local matching contribution (local match) that the applicant will be required to make is 40% of the total estimated cost. The IKS match is a contribution of the applicant’s staff time spent actively working on the proposed project’s Scope of Work (SOW) activities.
The IKS contribution is limited to 50% of the local match, with the exception that small systems will be allowed to increase their IKS up to 70% of the required local match. Small systems may request a waiver to increase the IKS contribution to cover 100% of the required local match. The waiver request must justify the increase and is subject to review by MassDEP and approval by the Trust’s Board of Trustees.
While it is highly recommended that IKS be utilized to the greatest extent possible, it is not required. The applicant may choose to provide cash contributions to fulfill any fraction of their matching contribution. The cash contributions can originate from sources including (but not limited to) a 5-year 2% interest SRF Planning Project loan and/or funds available from operational or reserve accounts.
Program Goals
AMP grants will assist with completing, updating or implementing an asset management program for drinking water, wastewater, and/or stormwater utilities. Additionally, the program is aimed at assisting State Revolving Fund applicants with meeting federally required Fiscal Sustainability Planning.
The following are the goals of the AMP Grant Program:
- Improve upon existing maintenance practices to ensure the regular replacement of mechanical systems prior to failure.
- Develop and identify equipment replacement costs to establish and evaluate annual budget line items.
- Outline the annual cost effects on a rate charge system and line items in annual budgets when an asset management plan is established.
- Establish an inventory of existing equipment that will allow a replacement program to be developed.
- Provide an AMP that will ensure that the operational continuity of the water resource infrastructure systems is in place to protect public health and the environment.
- Assist with acquiring computer software and hardware for data collection, to track and organize asset management priorities more efficiently.
- Promote cybersecurity assessments to address vulnerabilities in the water systems and to protect public health and the environment.
Eligible Entities and Activities
Eligible Entities are those defined as Eligible Borrowers in MGL Chapter 29C, and includes: any city, town, special district, or other existing municipal governmental sub-unit which owns and controls a drinking water, wastewater, stormwater or water re-use treatment or conveyance system, or any public water system (PWS). An eligible entity will be referred to as the “applicant”, in this document.
Funding Eligible Activities
Work Required to complete core components of an Asset Management Plan:
Asset Inventory & Condition
- Creating/expanding an inventory
- Verifying available information and documenting condition of existing assets
- Assessing remaining useful life, value, and replacement costs
- Mapping/labeling asset location
Level of Service
- Establishing Level of Service Goals (customer demand, source water quality, regulatory requirements, climate change & resiliency, energy and water conservation, etc.)
- Analyzing performance data
- Communicating with staff and public
Criticality/Risk Analysis
- Determination of critical assets
- Likelihood/consequence of failure determination
- Cybersecurity assessment
- Climate change/ flooding/sea level rise and resiliency analysis
- Criticality matrix
- Prioritization of asset replacement/rehabilitation
Life Cycle Cost Analysis
- Accounting for Capital, Operation, Maintenance & Replacement Costs
Funding Analysis
- Creation of sustainable financial structure to meet full cost of providing level of service in the long-term
- Review of funding options
- Review and revision of existing rate structure
- Preparation of budget/ CIP
Final Report
- Preparation of final report
- Public Education/Meetings
Asset Management Software & Training
- Purchase, installation, integration of Asset Management software
- Training and technical support
Additional information, including an expansion of these topics and what are ineligible activities, can be found in the grant program description documents provided by MassDEP
Application Process
All forms and program details for the current year may be found on MassDEP's SRF Application and Forms webpage.
Applicants must file an online Project Evaluation Form (PEF) during the SRF Annual Project Solicitation period (mid-May to end-July). Before filling out the PEF, each applicant should determine if they will be filling out a Clean Water PEF or a Drinking Water PEF. If the project covers only drinking water utilities, the applicant should submit the Drinking Water PEF. Further instructions for submitting the PEF and program specific guidance are provided in the grant program guidance documents
The highest-ranking proposals will be recommended for funding as indicated on the draft IUP. The final grant recipients will be listed in the Final Intended Use Plan.