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<br />7 <br /> <br />In addition, employers are both permitted and encouraged to use Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal <br />Recovery Funds to offer retrospective premium pay, recognizing that many essential workers have not <br />yet received additional compensation for work performed. Staff working for third-party contractors in <br />eligible sectors are also eligible for premium pay. <br />6. Investing in water and sewer infrastructure <br />Recipients may use Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to invest in necessary <br />improvements to their water and sewer infrastructures, including projects that address the impacts of <br />climate change. <br />Recipients may use this funding to invest in an array of drinking water infrastructure projects, such as <br />building or upgrading facilities and transmission, distribution, and storage systems, including the <br />replacement of lead service lines. <br />Recipients may also use this funding to invest in wastewater infrastructure projects, including <br />constructing publicly-owned treatment infrastructure, managing and treating stormwater or subsurface <br />drainage water, facilitating water reuse, and securing publicly-owned treatment works. <br />To help jurisdictions expedite their execution of these essential investments, Treasury’s Interim Final <br />Rule aligns types of eligible projects with the wide range of projects that can be supported by the <br />Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund and Drinking Water State <br />Revolving Fund. Recipients retain substantial flexibility to identify those water and sewer infrastructure <br />investments that are of the highest priority for their own communities. <br />Treasury’s Interim Final Rule also encourages recipients to ensure that water, sewer, and broadband <br />projects use strong labor standards, including project labor agreements and community benefits <br />agreements that offer wages at or above the prevailing rate and include local hire provisions. <br />7. Investing in broadband infrastructure <br />The pandemic has underscored the importance of access to universal, high-speed, reliable, and <br />affordable broadband coverage. Over the past year, millions of Americans relied on the internet to <br />participate in remote school, healthcare, and work. <br />Yet, by at least one measure, 30 million Americans live in areas where there is no broadband service or <br />where existing services do not deliver minimally acceptable speeds. For millions of other Americans, the <br />high cost of broadband access may place it out of reach. The American Rescue Plan aims to help remedy <br />these shortfalls, providing recipients with flexibility to use Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery <br />Funds to invest in broadband infrastructure. <br />Recognizing the acute need in certain communities, Treasury’s Interim Final Rule provides that <br />investments in broadband be made in areas that are currently unserved or underserved—in other <br />words, lacking a wireline connection that reliably delivers minimum speeds of 25 Mbps download and 3 <br />Mbps upload. Recipients are also encouraged to prioritize projects that achieve last-mile connections to <br />households and businesses. <br />Using these funds, recipients generally should build broadband infrastructure with modern technologies <br />in mind, specifically those projects that deliver services offering reliable 100 Mbps download and 100