Section 116761.

Planning and preliminary engineering studies, project design, and construction costs eligible for funding under this chapter shall be established by the department and may include any of the following:

(a)  Reasonable costs for the construction, improvement, or rehabilitation of facilities of the public water system, which may include water supply, treatment works, and all or part of a water distribution system, if necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter.

(b)  Reasonable costs associated with the consolidation of water systems, including, but not limited to, reasonable facility fees, connection fees, or similar charges.

(c)  Reasonable costs of purchasing water systems, water rights, or watershed lands.

(d)  Operation and maintenance costs only to the extent they are used in the startup and testing of the completed project. All other operation and maintenance costs shall be the responsibility of the supplier and shall not be considered as part of the project costs.

(e)  Reasonable costs of establishing eligibility for funding under this chapter that were incurred before the department entered into a commitment to fund the project under this chapter.

(f)  The acquisition of real property or interests therein only if the acquisition is integral to a project, and as otherwise limited in the federal act.

(Added by Stats. 1997, Ch. 734, Sec. 15. Effective October 7, 1997.)