Neighbor News
Mass Clean Water Trust Defaults ARRA Wind Turbine Loan
Falmouth Massachusetts default failure to repay loan according to terms
Mass Clean Water Trust Defaults ARRA Wind Turbine Loan
Falmouth Massachusetts default failure to repay loan according to terms
In order to build the town of Falmouth second wind turbine called Falmouth Wind II the federal EPA working with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection brokered a loan between the Town of Falmouth and the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that had been deposited in the Massachusetts State Revolving Fund.
Find out what's happening in Falmouthfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The 5 million in ARRA funds were specifically designated for Green projects and wastewater treatment plants.
Under Federal Law and the PRA, project regulatory agreement loan agreement, the Town must maintain Wind II as an "energy efficiency" project, as described in EPA guidelines dated March 2, 2009, in order to benefit from the financial subsidy provided by the Trust under ARRA and the Trust's Clean Water State Revolving Fund program.
Find out what's happening in Falmouthfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
According to the project regulatory agreement if Falmouth Wind II fails as an energy-efficient project the balance of the 5 million dollar loan is due plus 2 percent interest.
Falmouth Wind II Federal EPA loan agreement: See Exhibit D3; EPA Memorandum March 2, 2009, Award of Capitalization Grants with Funds Appropriated by P.L. 111-5, the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009", Appendix 7, p. 43
The Massachusetts courts shut down the turbines in June of 2017 in which case the ARRA funds are federal taxpayers funds which should never have been used to create a danger to public health or safety. The turbines have been deemed a nuisance by the courts.
As of August 9, 2017, at the Executive Committee Meeting Massachusetts Clean Water Trust notified the Town of Falmouth the Board's decision to convert the loan that financed the Wind II turbine into a zero-percent loan and give the town credit for principal during the time that Wind II was operating as an energy-efficient project, with the remaining balance paid through 2029.
The Executive Committee Meeting of the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust erred extending the loan with no interest. The funds are regulated by federal regulations.
The Town of Falmouth is using Green Energy funds designated from the federal ARRA funds to operate day to day functions of the town finances.
According to federal regulations and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection project regulatory agreement the balance of the $4.865 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds should be returned to Massachusetts Clean Water State Revolving Fund for other Green Energy projects as Falmouth Wind II has not been an energy-efficient project since shut down by the courts in June of 2017.
Amount due is 3.5 million plus 2 percent interest.
----------------------------------------------------------------
State Revolving Fund Annual Report 2010
Clean Water Commitments ARRA Green
Massachusetts Water Pollution Abatement Trust Clean Water Commitment Activity - 7/1/2009 to 6/30/2010
CWSG-09-36 Falmouth Wind Turbine and Photovoltaic Installation 4,865,000 2/1/2010
The Massachusetts Water Pollution Abatement Trust (the Trust) in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental (MassDEP) provides low interest loans to municipalities and other governmental entities to finance water quality improvement and public health related projects.
This is accomplished through two programs – the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires reporting on both of the programs through the Clean Water SRF Annual Report and the Drinking Water SRF Biennial Report.
These reports have been combined into this report, which covers State Fiscal Year 2010. Since its inception in 1989, the SRF loan program has provided more than $4.4 billion in Clean Water loans and nearly $1.2 billion in Drinking Water loans to 280 Massachusetts communities.
In FY 2010, the Trust provided funding for 107 clean water projects totaling $672 million and 71 drinking water projects totaling $259 million The SRF loan program receives funding from the EPA in the form of an annual grant, supplemented by state matching funds and funds paid back by previous borrowers.
The Trust, in turn, leverages these funds through the sale of bonds, resulting in a much larger pool of money to loan to borrowers.
In February 2009 the US Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, (ARRA). The Trust received $185 million in ARRA funds of which nearly $178 million was allocated to construction projects and $7.4 million was allocated for administrative expenses.
The Trust was able to leverage these funds into 115 loans totaling over $770 million in construction project financing. MassDEP and the Trust met all statutory deadlines for committing the funds to projects and through the end of fiscal year 2010 the Trust has disbursed 51% of the ARRA funds.
MassDEP and the Trust chose to distribute all of the ARRA project funds as additional subsidization. Clean Water projects received approximately 12.7% principal forgiveness, Drinking Water projects received approximately 20% principal forgiveness and green projects received 100% principal forgiveness. This method of distribution allowed as many eligible projects as possible to move forward.
