Good morning: A member is wondering if it would be a permissible use under ARPA to use funds for the construction of a jail addition given the impacts on COVID to their detainees. In reviewing the interim final rule and FAQs, I would think this would be permissible as a capital investment in a public facility to help implement COVID-19 mitigation tactics. But I was wondering if anyone has looked into this or has a different (or the same) take? Here's the FAQ and interim final rule provision I saw that led me to this conclusion. FAQ 2.1 What types of COVID-19 response, mitigation, and prevention activities are eligible? A broad range of services are needed to contain COVID-19 and are eligible uses, including vaccination programs; medical care; testing; contact tracing; support for isolation or quarantine; supports for vulnerable populations to access medical or public health services; public health surveillance (e.g., monitoring case trends, genomic sequencing for variants); enforcement of public health orders; public communication efforts; enhancement to health care capacity, including through alternative care facilities; purchases of personal protective equipment; support for prevention, mitigation, or other services in congregate living facilities (e.g., nursing homes, incarceration settings, homeless shelters, group living facilities) and other key settings like schools; ventilation improvements in congregate settings, health care settings, or other key locations; enhancement of public health data systems; and other public health responses. Capital investments in public facilities to meet pandemic operational needs are also eligible, such as physical plant improvements to public hospitals and health clinics or adaptations to public buildings to implement COVID-19 mitigation tactics. https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/SLFRPFAQ.pdf (This same notation is included in the interim final rule on p. 26790: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2021-05-17/pdf/2021-10283.pdf) Thanks for your thoughts on this. Amanda Amanda Kellar Karras Deputy General Counsel / Director of Legal Advocacy P: (202) 466-5424 x7116 Email: akarras@imla.org [facebook icon]<https://www.facebook.com/InternationalMunicipalLawyersAssociation/>[twitter icon]<https://twitter.com/imlalegal>[linkedin icon]<https://www.linkedin.com/company/international-municipal-lawyers-association-inc./> [logo]<https://imla.org/> 51 Monroe St. Suite 404 Rockville, MD, 20850 www.imla.org<http://www.imla.org/> Plan Ahead! IMLA's 86th Annual Conference<https://imla.org/annual-conference/>, Sept. 29-Oct. 3, 2021 in Minneapolis, MN!