Request By:
Mr. James R. Ramsey
Executive Director
Office for Investment and Debt Management
Finance and Administration Cabinet
318 Capitol Annex
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Frederic J. Cowan, Attorney General; Nathan Goldman, Assistant Attorney General
In your letter to the Attorney General you state that the Commonwealth of Kentucky through the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet has applied to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a capitalization grant pursuant to the Water Quality Act of 1987, 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq. The EPA has requested that you receive an Opinion from this Office as to whether Kentucky has the authority to comply with the requirements of Title VI of the Act.
Title VI of the Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1381 - 1387, allows the Administrator of the EPA to enter into an agreement with a state whereby the state may receive a capitalization grant if it agrees to comply with the federal statutes. These requirements include, inter alia, that grant moneys be deposited in a water pollution control revolving fund.
Chapter 124 of the 1988 Kentucky Acts (H.B. 217) established the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority. Section 11 specifically authorizes the Authority to enter into an agreement with the EPA for the grant. It also establishes a revolving fund for the grant money which fund shall be administered by the Authority under an agreement with the Natural Resources Cabinet. Section 11 also authorizes the state, through the Authority or the Cabinet, to comply with the requirements of Title VI of the Act.
Additionally, KRS 224.033(12) authorizes the Cabinet to accept, receive and administer grants from the federal government.
Based on these provisions, it is our opinion that the state has the authority to comply with the requirements of Title VI of the Act. Furthermore, the Cabinet may enter into the grant agreement with the EPA which agreement would bind the state to the terms and conditions of the capitalization grant.
We can find no conflict between H.B. 217 and any other state law.