Environmental infrastructure projects can be complex, expensive to develop and
difficult to manage. The need to maximize the operating conditions of existing
utility systems is critical. However, many local governments and utilities in
border towns in both countries, especially in small, low-income communities,
have neither the solid institutional structure nor the financial capacity to
undertake studies and implement reforms that would enable them to meet community
needs adequately. Moreover, lack of funds for project development assistance in
all sectors in which NADB operates inhibits the development of projects that
could be eligible for funding by NADB.
To
help address these needs, NADB uses a limited portion of its retained earnings
to provide technical assistance to project sponsors for the purpose of
strengthening their financial performance and ensuring the long-term
sustainability of their infrastructure.
Objective
The
purpose of the Technical Assistance
Program (TAP) is to provide assistance for studies and other
capacity-building measures aimed at achieving the effective and efficient
operation of utilities, state and local governments and their agencies, as well
as other project sponsors involved in water, wastewater, and solid waste
management and all other sectors in which NADB operates. In addition, TAP
provides assistance for infrastructure development by providing funding for
design and related studies needed to prepare projects for construction.
To ensure the efficient use of funds and the
coordinated development of projects, the program is implemented in close
consultation with other development programs, including the technical assistance
programs administered by the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC).Eligibility
TAP grant assistance supports utilities, state and local governments and
their agencies, and other sponsors of projects that have been certified by the
BECC or sponsors who are actively developing specific projects for certification
by BECC and financing by NADB.
Projects must be located within 100 kilometers north of the international
border in boundary in the four U.S. states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and
California and within 300 kilometers (about 186 miles) south of the border in
the six Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, Chihuahua, Sonora,
and Baja California.
In consultation with BECC, NADB will ensure that strong
candidates for certification have priority for TAP funding.
Use of Funds
Assistance may be provided for project development or for activities that
strengthen institutional capacity and create a solid financial foundation for
the development of infrastructure projects to be certified by BECC and financed
by NADB. These activities include:
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Project design and related development studies.
This area
includes, among others, needs assessments, feasibility studies, facility plans,
financial analyses, environmental assessments, preliminary design, final design,
preparation of bid documents and preparation of BECC certification documents.
Public participation activities necessary for BECC certification may also be
eligible for funding.
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Financial Studies.
This area includes user fees and rate structures, as
well as development of user registries, credit ratings, socioeconomic studies
and financial analyses.
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Analyses of administrative operations.
This area includes regional planning studies, water
loss audits, system sectionalization and modeling, line surveys, mapping, urban
cadastral system studies related to municipal planning reforms, technical
diagnostic studies, energy audits, clean energy resource assessments and
evaluations, urban public transportation planning, urban public transportation
demand studies, and evaluations of electromechanical equipment.
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Legal and regulatory analyses. This area includes the review of legal and regulatory frameworks, land use policy studies, and analyses of the privatization process.
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Information and management system studies.
Ordinarily, TAP funds will not be used to purchase
software and equipment related to a TAP study. However, the purchase of such
software or equipment may be approved when a project sponsor commits and
provides 30% of the cost of such software or equipment and the training
necessary to utilize it.
General Funding Terms
Grants may be awarded in amounts up to US$250,000. In the case of regional
projects involving more than one community, the grant award may be increased up
to US$350,000. Assistance will be
subject to the availability of funds.
A
cash contribution of at least 25% of the cost of the work being funded by the
TAP award must be provided by the project sponsor or other project partner.
In
accordance with standard banking practices, TAP assistance may be subject to
reimbursement, partially or fully, as part of a NADB lending package. In the
event that a project does not obtain loan financing from NADB, the entire TAP
grant shall be reimbursed by the sponsor, except in the case of poor
communities. If the project is financed with a loan, the entire TAP grant will
not be reimbursed.
All private-sector project sponsors, without exception, must agree to reimburse
the funds within a timeframe established by NADB at the time of funding.
Operations
NADB
shall determine if a proposed study should be procured directly by NADB or the
project sponsor based on the type of study and the capacity of the sponsor to
undertake the procurement. In either case, the procurement of any goods and
services under the program shall be carried out in accordance with NADB
procurement policies and procedures.
NADB
will sign a letter agreement with the sponsor in which the obligations of both
parties will be specified. Committed cash contributions from the sponsor will be
used first for payment of consultant costs, followed by NADB’s approved TAP
grant.
Upon
completion of each study, sponsor and NADB will devise an implementation plan
that addresses the results and recommendations of the study, and will evaluate
the performance of the consultant and the effectiveness of the study.
Receiving technical assistance through the TAP program
does
not imply or guarantee NADB
project financing.
For more detailed information about this program, see
TAP Operating Guidelines (pdf)
