The Legislature finds and declares that small rural communities are unable to take advantage of various local, state, and federal facility development programs due to their lack of technical expertise, staff, and seed money. The Legislature finds and declares that changing state and federal regulations relative to the provision of domestic water and waste water disposal are creating an extra hardship upon rural areas. The Legislature further finds and declares that the provisions of this chapter are necessary in order to provide assistance to rural areas so that they may take advantage of existing programs and develop self-help expertise enabling them to assist themselves in the future.