Agricultural Best Management Practice. A defined procedure that may be implemented by an agricultural producer in order to operate in a more environmentally responsible manner. Ag BMPs involve planting and/or harvesting methods, use of cover crops or installation of animal waste storage or rotational grazing facilities etc. Twenty-two (22) Agricultural BMPs that relate to structures or facilities that will result in water quality improvement are eligible for funding by Virginia Clean Water Revolving Loan Fund's Agricultural BMP program. Agricultural Best Management Practices improve water quality by reducing the run off of excess nutrients, top soil or animal waste from agricultural land

Allowability refers to whether or not the loan recipient can use VCWRLF loan funds for certain types of expenses. The topic is discussed in Section 1, Allowability of Expenses, in the Procedural Guidelines For Virginia's Wastewater Revolving Loan Fund booklet.

Construction Assistance Program. The unit within the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality that administers the loan programs which are included in the Commonwealth's revolving loan fund ( Virginia Clean Water Revolving Loan Fund VCWRLF ). Loan programs which are administered by the DEQ Construction Assistance Program include: Wastewater, Brownfield, Land Conservation and Agricultural BMP projects. Officially, the Construction Assistance Program ( CAP ) is the Department of Environmental Quality's Office of Construction Assistance ( OCA )

Categorical Exclusion. For wastewater loan projects which meet certain specified criteria a loan recipient may request a Categorical Exclusion form the Environmental Assessment. If DEQ grants a Categorical Exclusion, the loan recipient does not have to prepare and submit an Environmental Assessment. Categorical Exclusions are relative to projects which do not have significant environmental impacts due to the nature of the work and/or the size of the project

Cost-effective Analysis. The selected alternative for wastewater treatment facility loans funded by the VCWRLF are required to be the least expensive and environmentally sound projects that are capable of meeting required effluent limitations. Evidence which fulfills this requirement is normally provided in the evaluation of alternatives part of the Preliminary Engineering Proposal ( PEP )

Disbursement Request. The term which is most commonly used to refer to documentation submitted by a loan recipient in order to receive funds for loan eligible labor, equipment, materials and/or services which have been provided. A complete Disbursement Request must include a Requisition For Disbursement letter which is signed by an authorized representative of the borrower, a Schedule 1 Form which itemizes project budget, current and previous loan disbursements. Copies of all invoices for which loan funds are being requested must also accompany a Disbursement Request

Environmental Assessment. A document, prepared by the loan recipient or their designee, which addresses the beneficial and adverse direct and indirect environmental impacts of the selected treatment facility and/or collection system project alternative. The Environmental Assessments provide sufficient data and analysis for DEQ to determine whether a Statement of Environmental Review ( SER ) or Environmental Impact Statement ( EIS ) should be issued for the project

Environmental Impact Statement. If significant adverse comments are received during the public notice period of a Statement of Environmental Review and those comments are not satisfactorily addressed DEQ will issue a Notice of Intent to publish an Environmental Impact Statement. The loan recipient must publish the NOI and develop an Environmental Impact Statement which addresses the critical environmental impacts of the project, the alternatives to consider, and the prevention or mitigation measures to be taken. Upon completion of the Environmental Impact Statement the loan recipient must provide a coApril 11, 2006blic hearing. When public and governmental agency concerns have been satisfactorily addressed DEQ will issue a Record of Decision ( ROD )

Finding Of No Significant Impact. An environmental clearance issued by some federal government agencies when it is determined that a proposed project will not result in adverse environmental effects

Infiltration/Inflow. Infiltration is water that enters a sewer system from the ground by such means as defective pipes or pipe joints and leaking manholes, etc. Infiltration occurs during periods of saturated soils and high ground water levels. Inflow is water which is discharged to a sewer system from such sources as roof, basement or area drains, defective manhole covers, cross connections between storm and sanitary sewerApril 6, 2006after precipitation events. Prior to loan funding, the loan recipient must demonstrate that the collection system is not subject to excessive infiltration/inflow

Interim Project Evaluation. A site visit and memo by the VCWRLF Regional Engineer that provides routine monitoring of loan funded construction projects. The Interim Project Evaluations ( IPE ) are conducted approximately once per month from the beginning of construction until the Final Evaluation and ensure compliance with program requirements, adequate project management, construction according to the approved plans and specifications and that loan disbursements are being made for work/materials that are in place

Natural Resources Conservation Service. A federal agency within the United States Department of Agriculture that provides farmers with technical assistance with implementation of conservation practices and administers the EQIP cost-share assistance program

Operation, Maintenance and Repair. The total annual expenses relative to operating, maintaining and repairing a publicly owned wastewater treatment facility and/or collection systems

On-site wastewater disposal includes all wastewater treatment and disposal systems for single family, multiple family, clustered residential or commercial developments that are not connected to centralized wastewater collection systems. On-site treatment systems include treatment works with surface or subsurface discharge, recycle and reuse, or evaporation systems. Existing on-site wastewater disposal systems, considered for repair and/or replacement under the state funding initiative, can be further defined as small volume wastewater systems that provide inadequate treatment and/or disposal of wastewater generally within the immediate vicinity of its origin

Preliminary Engineering Proposal. A document which is required by the Virginia Sewage Regulations. Usually prepared by the consulting engineer, hired by the loan recipient. The PEP assesses the current facilities, projects future needs, develops alternatives, assesses the environmental impact of the proposed alternatives, provides cost estimates and presents a selected alternative

Preliminary Engineering Report. Same document as a Preliminary Engineering Proposal ( PEP ). Required by the Virginia Sewage Regulations, the document is usually prepared by a consulting engineering firm, hired by the loan recipient. It contains a description of the existing facilities, projects the future wastewater treatment needs, proposes alternatives for meeting those needs, assesses the environmental impact of the alternatives and provides cost estimates. Both PER and PEP are used to describe the document but the use of Preliminary Engineering Report ( PER ) is probably more common

Requisition. At term that refers to documentation submitted by a loan recipient in order to receive loan funds for loan eligible labor, equipment, materials and/or services which have been billed. The term Disbursement Request is more commonly used in the loan program when referring to loan applicant requests for loan funds. A complete Requisition (Disbursement Request) must include a Requisition For Disbursement letter which is signed by an authorized representative of the borrower, a Schedule 1 Form which itemizes previous and current loan disbursements and balance remaining and copies of all invoices for which loan funds are being requested

Record of Decision. If significant adverse comments were provided during the public comment period for a Statement of Environmental Review ( SER ) the loan recipient would have to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement ( EIS )which addressed the public environmental concerns. After the Environmental Impact Statement adequately addressed public and government agency environmental concerns, DEQ would issue a Record of Decision ( ROD ) which listed the mitigation and/or prevention measures that must be taken in order for the loan recipient to proceed with the project, using loan funding by the VCWRLF. The loan conditions related to the Record of Decision would be monitored by DEQ and if the loan recipient failed to comply with the conditions DEQ would withhold loan funding until compliance with the conditions was achieved

Sewage Collection and Treatment regulations. Now known as the Virginia Sewage Regulations. See VSR definition

Statement of Environmental Review. A document prepared by DEQ and provided to the loan recipient when the Environmental Assessment indicated that significant adverse environmental impacts would not occur as a result of the project or that adverse environmental impacts had been eliminated by changes to the project. Upon receipt, the loan recipient issues Public Notice of the Statement of Environmental Review and a 30 day public comment period is provided. If there is no public response or if adverse comments are satisfactorily addressed DEQ will issue an Approval of the Statement of Environmental Review and the VCWRLF environmental review requirement is fulfilled. However, if significant adverse comments are received during the public notice period the loan recipient must prepare an Environmental Impact Statement ( EIS )

State Revolving Fund. The Federal Water Quality Act of 1987 established a State Revolving Fund ( SRF) Capitalization Grant Program. Federal Capitalization Grants are awarded to states for deposit in a State Revolving Loan Fund. Form that fund, states provide loans to local governments for wastewater treatment improvements to publicly owned facilities. Loan repayments then provide a continuing source of revenue which is available to localities for solving water pollution control problems. Virginia's SRF program is the Virginia Water Facilities Revolving Loan Fund ( VWFRLF )

Sewer Use Ordinance. Adopted by the local governing body to regulate use of the publicly owned treatment facilities and/or collection system. An acceptable Sewer Use Ordinance ( SUO ) is required by the loan program because it ensures the loan recipient has the legal authority to control wastewater entering their system to protect the investment, enhance treatment process stability and improve effluent quality

Virginia Clean Water Revolving Loan Fund. This is the Commonwealth of Virginia's State Revolving Loan Fund ( SRF ). The fund was established by the Virginia General Assembly to provide a long term, renewing source of funding for wastewater treatment improvements. The fund is separate, permanent, and perpetual, and was originally dedicated solely to wastewater treatment improvements at publicly owned facilities. In recent years the General Assembly expanded the scope of the fund to allow loans for Brownfield remediation, Land Conservation and Agricultural BMP projects. Several variations of the fund's name are commonly encountered but the preferred version is Virginia Clean Water Revolving Loan Fund ( VCWRLF ). Perhaps the most descriptive variation, it links the state's revolving fund to it's origin, the Federal Water Quality Act (a.k.a. Clean Water Act). Other variations of the funds name you may encounter are: Virginia Revolving Loan Fund ( VRLF ), Virginia Water Facilities Revolving Loan Fund ( VWRLF ), Virginia Revolving Fund ( VRF ) and even the generic term State Revolving Fund ( SRF ) is used, primarily by federal government agencies

Virginia Revolving Fund. Not frequently encountered, the term means the same as Virginia Clean Water Revolving Loan Fund ( VCWRLF ) and Virginia Water Facilities Revolving Fund ( VWFRLF ) and Virginia Revolving Loan Fund ( VRLF )

Virginia Revolving Loan Fund. Often used in documentation and references, the term means the same as Virginia Clean Water Revolving Loan Fund ( VCWRLF ) and Virginia Water Facilities Revolving Fund ( VWFRLF ) and Virginia Revolving Fund ( VRF )

Virginia Sewage Regulations. Document which details the State standards required for the design of wastewater treatment facilities. Formerly referred to as SCAT or Sewage Treatment and Collection regulations

Virginia Water Facilities Revolving Loan Fund. The term is used interchangeability with Virginia Clean Water Revolving Loan Fund. See ( VCWRLF ) in this Glossary

Water Quality Improvement Fund. In 1997 the Virginia General Assembly passed the Water Quality Improvement Act which established the Water Quality Improvement Fund ( WQIF ). The fund provides grants for the purpose of reducing the amount of nutrients entering the Chesapeake Bay. Both non-point sources such as agricultural operations and point source discharges such as wastewater treatment facilities are eligible for grants from the Water Quality Improvement Fund ( WQIF ) . The Virginia Clean Water Revolving Loan Fund ( VCWRLF ) programs are not part of the Water Quality Improvement Fund