State Agencies Supporting Water System Partnerships

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Division of Public Water Supplies

State Policies and Programs Regarding Water System Partnerships

PRIORITIZING MANAGERIAL PARTNERSHIPS

35 Il Adm Code Part 681 “Procedures and Requirements for Determining Loan Priorities of Projects in the Public Water Supply Loan Program” states that projects that will correct public health violations will receive 20 points, and projects that will extend drinking water services to areas currently served by private wells will receive 15 points. These scores can be augmented by the points assigned through the Service Continuation Scoring Sheet (Appendix A of Part 633). This scoring sheet rewards 1 bonus point for systems that participate in “area local cooperative management and emergency response activities.”

OPERATOR SHARING

35 Il Adm Code Part 681 outlines the rules for the Operator Certification Program. The duties and obligations of contract operators are listed in Section 681.1000. Contracts between water systems and operators must stipulate how often the operator will be on site. Illinois Rural Water Association prepared a template contract that meets the requirements of the regulation.

TMF ASSESSMENTS

As part of Illinois’s Capacity Development Strategy, a TMF assessment has been developed. The evaluation of financial capacity includes the following questions: “Does your long-term planning incorporate analysis of alternative strategies that may offer cost savings to customers, such as consolidation with neighboring water systems, or sharing of operations and management expenses with other nearby water systems?”

Helpful Links to State Resources 

• Capacity Development Program: https://www2.illinois.gov/epa/topics/drinking-water/field-operations/Pages/capacity-development.aspx
• Illinois Administrative Code: http://www.ilga.gov/commission/jcar/admincode/titles.html
• Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Public Water Supply Users: https://www2.illinois.gov/epa/topics/drinking-water/public-water-users/Pages/default.aspx
• Operator Certification: https://www2.illinois.gov/epa/topics/drinking-water/operator-certification/Pages/default.aspx
• Guide to Hiring a Contract Operator: http://www.epa.state.il.us/water/operator-cert/drinking-water/publications/copguide.pdf