1. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Watershed Section Funding
Pete Fastner
Nonpoint Source Funding Coordinator
Watershed Division
February 6, 2017

2. Goals
Learn about the MPCA Clean Water Partnership and Federal Section 319 water funding programs
Answer questions

3. Nonpoint Source Funding Programs
Clean Water Partnership (CWP) loans
Federal Clean Water Act Section 319 ( Section 319) grants
There are two funding programs of the MPCA Watershed Division designed to assist with water quality concerns to the waters of Minnesota

4. CWP Grants No grant funds for 2016 and 2017
The Minnesota Legislature did not allocate funding for CWP grants in the last legislative session.
You can talk to your legislators if you are concerned.

5. CWP Loans Provide local government funding to
identify water quality problems and their sources
direct resources for implementation of water quality protection and improvement projects
Eligible applicants include:
Watershed districts, water management organizations
Regional governmental units (townships, cities & counties)
The Clean Water Partnership Loan program, begun in 1995 is an application process to identify and provide funding for projects that will be most beneficial in meeting the MPCA’s mission of working with Minnesotans to protect, conserve, and improve Minnesota’s water resources.
Local governmental units must be able to exert local controls to complete the tasks for the project.
SWCDs could be an administrative sponsor as long as they partner with a local entity who has taxing authority, such as a county, watershed district or city

6. Eligible CWP projects
Any nonpoint source water pollution project as determined through a local water plan
Implement the best management practices to protect or restore the water body or watershed
Revised state rules for CWP no longer require a diagnostic study and implementation plan before BMP implementation can occur. As long as a waterbody is included in a local water plan it may be considered for funding.
CWP rule allows funding for stormwater activities to be funded

7. SFY 2017 CWP loans $11 million loan only funding available
Request for Proposals (RFP) is currently open on the MPCA website
Proposals are accepted continuously until all money is approved for projects

8. Current loan interest rate is 2%
SFY 2017 CWP loans (cont.)
Current loan interest rate is 2%
Repayment is ten years beginning at the end of the agreement
Loan projects do not need match
310 loan agreements for over $62 million

9. Green Infrastructure Projects
Preserve or restore natural hydrologic processes
Flood control may be a component, but not the primary objective of a project

10. Types of Green Infrastructure
rainwater harvesting and reuse
rain gardens
green roofs
tree boxes
porous pavement
street and parking lot redesign

11. CWP Contact Information
CWP rule 7076 –
For general information on CWP program:
Pete Fastner, (651) or
(800)

12. Section 319 grants
Provides federal grant money for nonpoint source pollution abatement and water resource restoration
Eligible applicants include:
Watershed districts, water management organizations, joint powers
SWCDs, regional governmental units
Colleges, universities
American Indian tribes
Non-profits
Others interested in pollution abatement
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has been providing 319 funding to the MPCA since 1990.

13. 2017 Section 319 funding $2.5 million available
Request for Grant Applications (RFGA) is open until February 17, 2017
Grants executed by winter, and available through August 31, 2021
Grant funding must be matched by local cash or in-kind
Sponsors now wait to start until they have an approved contract – can’t use match before
Stormwater projects that are part of a federal NPDS permit are not eligible for this program.

14. New 319 Requirements There is no ceiling for an application request
Grant funding match 45%
match by local cash or in-kind
Clean Water Fund (CWF) from BWSR may be used as match
As long as the objectives of the CWF and 319 projects overlap or are the same
CWF match could be from the previous year or from the next year
EPA changed the 319 requirements in 2014
MPCA changed some requirements to make the process easier
Grant funding 60%; match funding 40% of total project costs
An applicant could ask for the total $2.5 million available
In determining the funding request an applicant should determine how much work they can complete beginning in the 2018 field season and ending on August 31, 2021 – almost four years

15. New 319 Requirements (cont.)
Only TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) implementation projects will be funded
No longer funding Demonstration, Education or Research projects
TMDL study, TMDL implementation plan and/or WRAPS (Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy) study must be approved by MPCA by December 31, 2016 in order for the project to be eligible for funding
A DER may be a part of an overall implementation project
The project must have an approved TMDL study and approved TMDL implementation plan. If the TMDL implementation plan is not approved, then Implementation Strategy Table from an approved Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy can be substituted

16. New 319 Requirements (cont.)
Project must focus on critical areas for implementation
Geographic areas identified by a watershed model or similar tool
and ultimately confirmed by field observation and/or vetted/confirmed by local partners/stakeholders
Show disproportionately contributing pollutant loads or excess flow to surface waters.
Must have measurable outcomes that include significant pollutant load reductions.

17. Federal 319 Contact Information
EPA website on Section 319:
For general information on the Federal 319 program:
Pete Fastner, (651) or
(800)

18. MPCA Watershed funding website:

19. Questions?