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Committee approves updates to planning-grant rules for drinking water and wastewater facilities
Summary
The committee approved updates to IDAPA 58.01.22 to streamline the planning-grant rules that guide grant eligibility and priority scoring for drinking-water and wastewater facility planning. DEQ staff said changes remove duplicative language, add priority criteria and clarify when planning grants are not used for emergency response.
The Senate Resources & Environment Committee approved proposed updates to IDAPA 58.01.22, the DEQ rule governing planning grants for drinking-water and wastewater facility planning, following a presentation by Jerry Henry, division administrator for Drinking Water Protection and Finance at DEQ.
Henry told the committee the rewrite was part of the governor's zero-based regulation review and sought to reduce duplicative language and reorganize the chapter for clarity. Notable changes include updated priority-rating criteria, explicit guidance for when user charges exceed affordability thresholds (2% of median household income), and removal of a priority points category tied to public-health emergencies (DEQ noted planning grants are not an appropriate mechanism for emergency response and those issues are handled through loan programs and intended-use plans).
Committee members asked about changes in phrasing from "shall" to "must" and "will." DEQ staff and the vice chair said that wording updates are part of broader state rule modernization and consistency efforts rather than changes in substantive requirements. DEQ said negotiated rulemaking included virtual and in‑person sessions and public comment; the docket proceeded to committee with no substantive last-minute changes recorded.
Action: Senator Harris moved to approve docket 58-0122-2401; Senator Guthrie seconded and the motion passed by voice vote.
DEQ said the planning-grant rules are designed to mirror SRF (State Revolving Fund) eligibility and were updated to improve transparency, add minimum fee guidance for subsurface sewage permitting (in related rules), and align with federal funding and eligibility criteria.
