The Carroll County Water Authority has received Georgia Environmental Protection Division approval for a new water line project, with the EPD finding that the project will, if approved for funding, have no significant impact on the environment.

The project would extend new water mains into various parts of the county, the locations of which have not been disclosed by the Water Authority. The scope of the project, however, is significant, involving 125,000 linear feet of piping and coming at a price tag of $3.6 million.

The project would be paid for with a loan from the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund, an account that was subsidized by the recent federal stimulus plan.

Before the authority can receive approval for the loan, though, the EPD had to certify the project as environmentally sound.

According to the notice, signed by Brad Addison, program manager of the watershed protection branch of the EPD, the project will maximize the good done for the county and minimize the bad.

“The overall impact of the proposed project will be beneficial,” according to the notice, dated July 27. “There will be no significant adverse secondary impacts associated with this project. Consequently, a preliminary decision not to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement has been made.”

The reason no such statement will be prepared for this project rests mainly on the fact that project activity is anticipated to impact the environment only so far as it may disturb the dirt along roadways, but won’t have an otherwise negative environmental impact.

Following the issuance of the notice, the public has 30 days to comment on the decision, and following that process, the project can be placed on the agenda for the next meeting of the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority board of directors.

Carroll County Water Authority Director Matt Windom said he anticipates the project to be on the agenda for the September meeting of the board, with a decision on the funding to be made at that time.

“It’s a milestone,” Windom said. “We’ve been working for the last 30 days or so to try and get everything in to get the notice of [no significant environmental impact]. We couldn’t have moved on to the next level without it.”

If the authority qualifies for the loan, it will receive the entire $3.6 million at 40 percent debt forgiveness. This means, after the stimulus funds are applied and the debt partially forgiven, the organization would only have to pay back just under $2.2 million over the 20-year life of the loan.