‘CNMI govt met its $17.8M funding obligation for CUC projects’

Tenorio

The CNMI government has met its funding obligation in the total amount of $17.8 million to complete Stipulated Order No. 2 projects of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.

Deputy attorney general Lillian Ada Tenorio, counsel for the CNMI government, disclosed that the CNMI deposited $5 million into the court registry established by the U.S. District Court for the NMI on Dec. 31, 2014.

In CNMI’s grant funding status report filed in federal court, Tenorio said to meet the 2015 obligation of $2.8 million, the CNMI filed on Feb. 13, 2015, a notice with the court of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Authorization to Proceed for funding SO2 projects for the sum of $2,648,082 for the SO2 Pipeline Construction Project.

Tenorio said an additional sum of $251,988 was pledged upon the CNMI’s filing of a subsequent notice of ATP from DOI on Feb. 14, 2015.

With the filing of the third notice of ATP, the deputy AG said, the CNMI had satisfied its funding obligation of providing $2.8 million for SO2 projects.

With respect to the 2016 obligation of $5 million, Tenorio said the government filed its first notice of ATP from DOI for funding SO2 projects for the sum of $3,887,161 on March 3, 2016.

She said a second notice of ATP from DOI for the sum of $382,225 for Engineering and Environmental Management Company’s (EEMC) construction management was filed on March 9, 2016.

She said DOI issued a third notice of ATP for the sum of $730,614 for the Tank 103 clean out, inspect, and repair project.

On the 2017 obligation of $5 million, Tenorio said the CNMI filed its notice of ATP from DOI for $777,000 on March 22, 2017.

She said the second notice of ATP for $4,019,000 was filed on March 28, 2017 and third such notice for the remaining $204,000 was filed on March 30, 2017.

Tenorio said the final $5 million funding for 2018 was satisfied with the filing of the notice of ATP for $5 million.

On the status of DOI grant funding, Tenorio said the funding for 2015 and 2016 has been exhausted, while as of Dec. 31, 2018, the funding for 2017 and 2018 grants has not been fully expended and remain available to fund task orders.

On the 2015 DOI grant, Tenorio said the funding was approved for SO2 projects CUC pipeline construction (approved sum of $2,648,082) and EEMC support (approved sum of $151,958).

With respect to the 2016 DOI grant, she said the funding was approved for SO2 projects CUC pipeline construction project (initially approved for $3,887,161), EEMC construction management (initially approved amount for $382,225), and the Tank 103 clean out, inspect and repair project (initially approved for $730,614).

On the 2017 DOI grant, Tenorio said the funding was allocated for the following SO2 projects—the development of a Facility Waste Management Plan for Power Plants 1 and 2 project (Phase 1) (approved amount of $777,000), the Tank 103 repair project (approved amount of $4,019,000), and the EEMC construction management (approved amount of $204,000).

In 2017, DOI approved an additional $110,984 for the CUC Pipeline Construction project from a previous DOI grant.

Pertaining to the 2018 DOI grant, Tenorio said the entire funding has been allocated to fund SO2 projects for the EEMC construction management, the CUC Pipeline Smart Pigging, Facility Drainage, and Facility Waste Management Phase II.

The deputy AG said the CNMI has no pending grant applications for SO2 projects having satisfied its funding obligation under the final order, with the filing of the notice of ATP for 2018 DOI grant funding.