Certification Criteria

Technical

The Technical criteria contain elements necessary to establish the project’s technical feasibility. The project is required to satisfy the following:

Project Description

The sponsor shall provide:

• A description of the geographic location and general profile of the community, as well as of the specific project location in relation to the 
  border.
• A description of the scope of the project, cost and site layout indicating the project details and other information that will visually reflect the 
  project.
• The status of development and a schedule of pending project development activities.
• A list and schedule of construction components to be implemented.

Technical Feasibility

To demonstrate the project’s technical feasibility, the sponsor shall provide a description of the selected technology or the technology under consideration; the methodology for technology selection; and documentation related to the technical development of the proposed project, such as feasibility studies, engineering design, or applicable design criteria.

The project sponsor may be required to have a review conducted by an independent engineer. This review will be conducted in coordination with the North American Development Bank.

Land Acquisition and Rights‐of‐Way Requirements

Project sponsors shall provide documentation of land and right‐of‐way acquisition or demonstrate the ability to acquire the necessary property or permissionsin a timely manner to implement, operate and maintain the project. Documentation such as property deeds, contracts for sale, eminent domain authority or others shall be provided.

Management and Operations

The project sponsor must demonstrate the capacity to implement the project as well as operate and maintain the environmental infrastructure, with appropriate/sufficient budgeting to cover opeartion and maintenance expenses. Appropriate information related to project management and institutional capacity shall also be provided.

Environmental

The Environmental criteria contains elements to verify compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations, as well as establish the anticipated environmental results and potential health benefits to be achieved by the proposed project. To accomplish this, a project is required to satisfy the following:

Compliance with Applicable Environmental Laws and Regulations

BECC is not a regulatory agency and will not require any additional permits or regulatory authorizations. Project sponsors must:

• Identify all local, state, and federal environmental and cultural resource (i.e., historical, archeological, and ethnic resources) requirements applicable to the project and necessary to achieve regulatory or funding authorizations.
• Demonstrate the project’s compliance or ability to comply with all such regulatory requirements, including permits and environmental clearances.
• A schedule of pending environmental tasks and authorizations.

Documentation, such as regulatory agency findings or rulings, project authorizations, or a description of compliance activities and the status of meeting compliance requirements shall be provided. BECC may assist the sponsor in coordinating the process with the applicable agencies.

Environmental Effects/Impacts

Based on the information and clearances provided by the sponsor, BECC, in consultation with the sponsor, will prepare a description that will document:

• The existing human and/or environmental health conditions proposed to be addressed by the project, as well as the evaluation of the no‐action alternative.
• The anticipated direct or in‐direct environmental benefits expected to be achieved by the project.
• The mitigation of risks to the environment for the proposed project.
• If applicable, natural resource conservation measures for the project, such as green building practices, water conservation, waste reduction/reuse/recycling, clean and efficient energy, and other clean technologies.
• If applicable, the anticipated direct or indirect human health benefits expected to be achieved by the project.
• If applicable, any transboundary environmental effects.

The project sponsor shall provide BECC with all information, documents and input necessary to support the evaluation of compliance with this criterion.

Upon implementation of a project, the anticipated environmental and/or human health benefits will be assessed pursuant to Section VI (Results Measurement and Closeout), in consultation with the sponsor.

Financial

The purpose of the Financial criteria is to ensure that a project meets financial standards in terms of viability, security and legal structure. In accordance with its own procedures and guidelines, NADB conducts a detailed financial analysis that seeks to ensure that the project has sufficient revenues, equity, grants or other financial support at the time of funding to provide a demonstrable and reasonable assurance of loan repayment.

In consultation with the sponsor, NADB documents project costs, sources of revenue, use of funds and any potential rate impacts. Additionally, NADB prepares a detailed loan document for submittal to its Board of Directors, in consideration of certification and financing approval.

Projects seeking loan financing from NADB must comply with NADB loan policy guidelines available at www.nadb.org.