The City of Avon Lake Lateral Loan Program: Helping
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Helping communities and businesses access compliance, technical and financial assistance for their environmental needs December 11, 2017 Success Story Inside this Issue The City of Avon Lake Lateral Funding Assistance • Avon Lake Loan Program — 1 Loan Program: Helping • Blueprint Columbus — 8 Homeowners Finance Sewer Pollution Prevention Assistance Repairs • Life Cycle Assessment — 3 • Circular Economy — 3 Challenge Compliance Assistance The City of Avon Lake is a combined • Asbestos Program Transfer — 7 sewer (sanitary and storm) community • New C&DD Registration working through its Long-Term Control Requirements — 7 Plan (LTCP) to separate its sewers by Encouraging Environmental Excellence 2020. While working through sewer Awards separations, the summer of 2011 • Honda R&D Americas, Inc. — 4 became the wettest on record and led • 2017 Winners Recognized — 5 to numerous basement backups. A Features and Other News major contributor to the sewer • Learn the Lingo — 2 surcharges were house laterals with • Training Opportunities — 6 foundation drains that were still Project Specifics • First Sustainability Conference connected and discharging into the a Success — 8 sanitary sewer. To address this issue, Location • Publications — 9 Avon Lake Regional Water is requiring City of Avon Lake that customers eliminate all existing 201 Miller Road For more information go to foundation drain connections and Avon Lake, Ohio 44012 epa.ohio.gov/defa prevent clear water sources from Details Articles in this newsletter may be entering sanitary laterals by 2018 or WPCLF 10-Year Lateral reprinted. As a courtesy, please 2019, depending on their location. Program Loan contact Helen Miller at (614) 644- Solution Cost 2817 or [email protected]. $5 million loan at zero percent In 2017, Avon Lake Regional Water interest. implemented a low-interest Lateral Loan Program to assist private property owners in repairing/replacing their sewer laterals. This program will be another Environmental Impacts tool to help the city comply with its long-term control plan and improve water Removes clear water from the quality in the area. Initially, the city provided some of its local funds to start the sewer system. Reduces program; however, a larger infusion was necessary to fully implement a city-wide basement backups and sewer program. overflows. To assist the city with achieving its goal, Ohio EPA provided a $5 million Economic Impacts capitalization loan at zero percent interest to Avon Lake through its Water Improves project affordability, Pollution Control Loan Fund (WPCLF) program. The city, in turn, will offer significant loan savings. qualifying residents loans up to $4,000 at a two percent interest rate. This loan will The Resource 1 December 11, 2017 be added to residents’ sewer bills to be paid back over a 10-year period. The residents will pay back the city, and the city will repay the loan from Ohio EPA. This program is innovative and differs from a conventional WPCLF loan in that it allows the borrower to create its own revolving funding program, enabling Avon Lake to re-loan the money to private individuals who need financial assistance. Loan repayments, along with the nominal two percent interest rate, will be placed into a revolving fund to be used for future, local wastewater funding needs. Since Avon Lake is the first Lateral Loan Program to be implemented through the WPCLF, a new loan agreement and modified program structure was put into place. Ohio EPA worked in partnership with the Ohio Water Development Authority (OWDA) and the city while developing a new loan agreement. Although the process was challenging, the interagency coordination allowed it to proceed relatively smoothly. The Outcome - Community and Environmental Benefits The Avon Lake Lateral Loan Program allows for the successful repair or replacement of residential laterals, which helps keep rain water out of sanitary sewers. In addition, the program’s low-interest financing provides significant financial relief to the residents and thus makes it more affordable. This initiative also strengthens the city's ability to complete more private property sewer and storm water separation projects, while maintaining compliance with existing permits and its LTCP. From an operational standpoint, the lateral repair/replacement efforts help prevent clear water from entering the sewer system, thus eliminating unnecessary wear and tear on the wastewater treatment plant, as well as the cost for treating clear water. Reducing or eliminating basement backups and overflows of untreated sewage helps protect human health and waterways in Avon Lake and, in turn, Lake Erie. Resources The WPCLF low-interest loan program was created in 1989 as a revolving fund designed to operate in perpetuity and provide below- market interest rate loans as well as other forms of assistance for water resource protection and improvement projects. Specialized services are provided statewide for small and hardship communities. Ohio EPA’s Division of Environmental and Financial Assistance staff have extensive experience providing technical and financial assistance. Our mission is to benefit Ohio’s water resources, drinking water supplies and public health by providing lower-cost financing, economic incentives and project assistance statewide for public and private organizations and individuals. For more information, please contact our office at (614) 644-2798 or visit our website at epa.ohio.gov/defa/ofa. Learn the Lingo Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) — A tool to assign a value to the environmental impact of a product, process or activity through its entire life cycle. Organizations can use it to help label their products or services and educate consumers about their environmental impacts. LCA can also help organizations strategically plan and design products with less environmental impact. Zero Waste to Landfill — A philosophy that encourages the redesign of resource life cycles so that all products are reused. No trash is sent to landfills or incinerators. The Resource 2 December 11, 2017 Life Cycle Assessment – A Tool to Improve Your Environmental Impacts Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool to assign a value to the environmental impact of a product, process or activity through its entire life cycle. Organizations can use it to help label their products or services and educate consumers about their environmental impacts. LCA can also help organizations strategically plan and design products with less environmental impact. LCA analyzes the impact of the product from cradle to grave or until it becomes a feedstock for another product. It reviews a product or service, including the energy and material inputs and outputs, accounting for material wastes, recycling and reuse. Even completing a partial LCA can provide a company insight on opportunities to improve a product or service. LCA examines and provides information about: • Extracting, transporting and processing raw materials that go into a product or service. • Processing, manufacturing and fabricating a product or service. • Transporting or distributing a product or service to the consumer. • Using a product or service by the consumer. • Disposing or recovering a product after its useful life. • Quantifying product and service inputs and outputs. The analysis provides an understanding of each stage of product life. It can help identify inputs or processes that have more harmful impacts. You can use the LCA technique to make choices about specific feedstocks or processes, resulting in a more sustainable product or service. These assessments may help an organization identify where substituting a less hazardous material or improving the energy efficiency of a process can reduce the overall environmental impact of a product or service. When companies use similar LCA techniques, customers can identify preferred products and services by comparing scores to make an informed decision. Completing an LCA can improve a business’ products and services and attract new customers interested in using environmentally preferable products. For more information, go to: • epa.gov/saferchoice/design-environment-life-cycle-assessments • brevard.ifas.ufl.edu/communities/pdf/chapter1_frontmatter_lca101.pdf What is the Circular Economy and How Can Ohio Support It? The circular economy is a system for regenerating and restoring by design. By optimizing resources through reuse and recycling, waste is designed out of the process. Using this business model decreases or eliminates landfill and waste disposal fees, generates new products and services, and provides energy savings. Designers, engineers and business employees at all levels can achieve these goals. Unlike the take, make and dispose model of the linear economy, the circular economy focuses on designing waste out of products and by-products with the intent of being repurposed or reused (Ellen MacArthur Foundation). MillerCoors Brewing in Trenton is an example of a large Ohio manufacturer leading in the circular economy. Landfill free since 2009, MillerCoors recycles or reuses more than 99 percent of the materials involved in its production process. More than 200 million pounds of waste per year is recycled from the brewery. For every five truckloads of beer shipped, one truckload of materials is sent out for recycling, reuse or other beneficial use. For example, MillerCoors sends its spent grain from the brewing process to local farmers for use as animal feed. The Resource 3 December 11, 2017 This spring, Ohio EPA launched a free