SECTION 363.1208. Prioritization Criteria

(a) The board will give priority to projects that the legislature has determined shall receive priority for financial assistance from the Water Infrastructure Fund. Applicants who have applied and were eligible for Economically Distressed Areas Program funding under §363.512 of this title (relating to Projects Related to Implementation of the Water Plan), and where sufficient funds are not available in the program to fund the project, will be given priority consideration for funding under this subchapter after projects with legislative priority.

(b) After prioritizing projects under subsection (a) of this section, the executive administrator will prioritize applications based on the number of factors met by the project seeking financial assistance. The following factors shall be considered by the executive administrator when ranking the applications:

(1) projects which have the earliest identified decade of need, as identified in the water plan; and

(2) entities that:

(A) have already demonstrated significant water conservation savings, as determined by comparing the highest rolling five-year average gallons per capita per day since 1980 to the average gallons per capita per day for the most recent 4-year period; or

(B) will achieve significant water conservation savings by implementing the proposed project for which the financial assistance is sought, as determined by comparing the conservation to be achieved by the project with the average gallons per capita per day for most recent four-year period.

(c) If two or more projects receive the same priority ranking, priority will be given to the project having the service area with the lowest median annual household income, weighted by population of each of the areas served, based upon the most current data available from the U.S. Bureau of the Census for all the areas to be served by the project. The median annual household income may also be calculated using data from a survey approved by the executive administrator of a statistically acceptable sampling of customers in the service area completed within the last 12 months.

Source Note: The provisions of this §363.1208 adopted to be effective December 25, 2007, 32 TexReg 9721; amended to be effective April 15, 2009, 34 TexReg 2385; amended to be effective July 11, 2010, 35 TexReg 5897