Per page 1 of the DuPage County Water Quality Improvement Program Grant Proposal Packet, “Expenses incurred or activities occurring prior to approval of funding by DuPage County are not eligible for reimbursement or to meet cost-share requirements.”
- If expenses or activities have occurred prior to approval of WQIP funding, those costs are not eligible.
Per page 1 of the DuPage County Water Quality Improvement Program Grant Proposal Packet, “… individual applicants may propose Federal or State or other grant resources to meet the applicant cost share requirement.”
- Funding sources from other entities, such as Federal, State, or private grant funding may be included in the applicant’s cost-share. This includes Federal funding under the ARPA program.
Per page 1 of the DuPage County Water Quality Improvement Program Grant Proposal Packet, “Projects that are required to be implemented as part of a development permit are not eligible for funding assistance.”
- DuPage County fee-in-lieu funding may not be included in the applicant’s cost-share, as fee-in-lieu funds are collected to meet the requirements of development permits.
There is no minimum size limit for WQIP Grant program. However, per page 1 of the DuPage County Water Quality Improvement Program Grant Proposal Packet, “Highest consideration will be given to projects that provide a water quality benefit on a regional scale.”
As this is a competitive grant program, we cannot provide assistance in completing the PLET or other water quality models or calculations.
Per page 1 of the DuPage County Water Quality Improvement Program Grant Proposal Packet, “Grant reimbursement is only allowable for construction costs.” While vegetation maintenance is not a reimbursable cost, any project that includes native vegetation should include a plan for maintenance and establishment. Per page 3 of the DuPage County Water Quality Improvement Program Grant Proposal Packet, “If utilizing native plants, please provide applicable establishment and long-term maintenance plans.”
Per page 1 of the DuPage County Water Quality Improvement Program Grant Proposal Packet, “Estimates of load reductions must be determined using an IEPA or DuPage County approved methodology.” This may include Illinois EPA models: Region 5 model, STEPL, or PLET. More information can be found on the Illinois EPA website.
Additional models, such as the US EPA’s Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) may also be used. If you would like to use a model not listed above, please confirm with DuPage County Stormwater that the model is acceptable before submitting.
The mention of “dollar value of reduced damages” on page 1 of the DuPage County Water Quality Improvement Program Grant Proposal Packet is not intended to be construed as a requirement for this grant. Rather this is a generalized example of a quantifiable benefit. Other examples of quantifiable benefits are “gallons of stormwater treated” or “number of visitors educated per day”.
The Project Description should be a general description of your project, usually a paragraph or two. The bulk of your project's information should be submitted in the "Detailed Project Description" attachment. A conceptual design should be included at a minimum. However, an application will be rated higher if a full design has been completed. Per page 3 of the DuPage County Water Quality Improvement Program Proposal Packet, under "Project Prioritization Criteria", an application is rated on Readiness to Proceed" based on if a project is "shovel ready, has completed design, permitting and land acquisition aspects." While all of these components are not needed for the project to be eligible, higher ratings will be given to projects that are ready to proceed upon awarding of grant funds.
