EPA has invited 38 water and wastewater projects to apply for loans totaling $6 billion to spur water infrastructure improvements across the country. The loans, available through the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 (WIFIA), will help local agencies finance more than $12 billion in water infrastructure investments and create almost 200,000 jobs in 18 states.
EPA said eight of the selected projects in the latest round of funding are water reuse or recycling projects, 11 projects will reduce lead or emerging drinking water contaminants, and 33 will address aging infrastructure. The agency received 51 letters of interest from both public and private entities in response to the 2019 WIFIA Notice of Funding Availability.
The prospective borrowers are now invited to proceed in the 2019 funding round. WIFIA is expanding its geographic scope this year by inviting entities from seven additional states to submit applications: Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, North Dakota, Utah, and Virginia.
WIFIA provides long-term, low-cost loans to infrastructure projects considered to be regionally and nationally significant. The projects this year range in cost from $12 million to $930 million.