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American Recovery and The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) or “the Stimulus Package” was recently made available to the State of Arkansas. The ARRA presents Arkansas with a remarkable opportunity to advance projects and initiatives that will promote jobs and future growth within our State. Governor Mike Beebe has emphasized a need for expediency and accountability of these funds. As a recipient of stimulus funds, the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission (Commission) is committed to meet his standards while upholding the laws governing the allocation and use of said funds. The Governor has promised Arkansans that this process will be completely transparent, and the Commission will uphold that promise to the fullest. Arkansans should expect a timely and accurate accounting of every federal dollar received by our State. The Commission will provide assistance to water, wastewater, and non-point source projects which will proceed quickly to construction, creating jobs and furthering the objectives of the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. Stimulus funds were made available to the Commission through existing funding branches of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ARRA Section 1511 requires either the Governor, mayor, or other chief executive, as appropriate, to certify that the infrastructure investment has received the full review and vetting required by law and that the chief executive accepts responsibility that the infrastructure investment is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars. In Arkansas, the Executive Director of the Commission has made that certification. You can see a copy of the certification for the Central Arkansas Water and the Newport projects by clicking here. You can see a copy of the certification for the Batesville, Buffalo Island Regional Water District, Cotton Plant, East Prairie County Water Association, Franklin Sebastian Public Water Authority, Glenwood, Hot Springs, Little Rock, Prairie Grove, Siloam Springs, Smackover and University of Arkansas Experiment Station projects by clicking here.
Stimulus Projects The following is the list of projects that have been approved by the Commission that will be receiving stimulus funds. Click on the project name for more detailed information: Clean Water Projects Amount Received City of Batesville $13,036,500 Little Rock #11 – Presidential Park Wetlands $300,000 City of Newport $2,115,000 City of Prairie Grove $5,885,000 City of Siloam Springs $4,000,000 University of Arkansas Experiment Station $300,000 Total Clean Water $25,636,500 Drinking Water Projects Amount Received Buffalo Island Regional Water District $6,000,000 Central Arkansas Water $2,535,000 City of Cotton Plant $1,550,000 East Prairie County Water Association $600,000 Franklin Sebastian Water Association $9,000,000 City of Glenwood $900,000 City of Hot Springs $3,000,000 City of Smackover $900,000 Total Drinking Water $24,485,000
ARRA Guidance Information The following documents are in Adobe PDF format, unless otherwise noted. General EPA Final ARRA SRF Guidance - 3-02-09 EPA ARRA SRF Q and As - 3-17-09
Buy American Buy American Waiver Process - Final Buy American - De minimis Waiver Buy American - Projects Bid between 10-01-08 and 2-17-09 Waiver Buy American - Substantial Transformation
Green Project Reserve Green Project Reserve Q and As Green Project Reserve - Sewer Projects Green Project Reserve - Water Projects
Reporting Requirements OMB Implementing Guidance for Reports EPA Supplemental Guidance on Measuring and Reporting Job Estimates EPA SRF Tracking and Reporting Guidance EPA Policy Memo on ARRA Reporting - 9-24-09
Recovery Website Links EPA website: http://www.epa.gov/recovery Arkansas website: http://www.recovery.arkansas.gov Federal website: http://www.recovery.gov
If you have any questions please feel free to contact Mr. Mike Chandler of the Commission staff by telephone at (501) 682-0547 or by e-mail at mike.chandler@arkansas.gov.
The Commission will continue to provide the public information concerning the use of ARRA funds and will provide updates to this website periodically. Please visit us again soon.
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