AMWA joined the American Water Works Association and the Water Environment Federation on December 13 in writing to Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) to express concerns about a draft bill that could threaten the future of EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program.
The letter is in response to the Securing Required Funding for Water Infrastructure Now (SRF WIN) Act, a draft of which Sen. Boozman has circulated in recent months. The bill would authorize EPA spending $200 million per year for five years on a new SRF WIN program that would exclusively offer opportunities for states to borrow funds to pay for projects listed on their Drinking Water or Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) intended use plans. But the bill offers states more favorable loan terms than are available to communities through the original WIFIA (such as an interest rate cap for SRF WIN loans that is equal to WIFIA’s minimum interest rate, waiving all application fees for SRF WIN applicants, and the opportunity for states to cover all project costs through an SRF WIN loan. WIFIA loans are limited to covering no more than 49 percent of the total cost of a project.
The letter lists additional concerns about the bill. While the SRF WIN bill would extend WIFIA’s authorization for three years at $50 million per year, the letter expresses concerns about a new sunset clause the bill would impose on the program at the end of the 2022 fiscal year. The new sunset provision would force Congress to affirmatively act to keep the program functional beyond 2022, which the letter warns is “an unnecessary threat to the future of WIFIA.” Moreover, the letter notes that the SRF WIN legislation is unnecessary because the existing WIFIA program already allows states to seek a loan to fund multiple projects listed on their SRF intended use plans. In fact, this year EPA invited this type of proposal from the state of Indiana to formally apply for a WIFIA loan.
Based on these and other concerns, the letter states that AMWA, AWWA and WEF “are unable to offer our support to the draft SRF WIN proposal,” but promises to continue to work with Sen. Boozman and others on water infrastructure financing efforts. It is unclear when Sen. Boozman may formally introduce the SRF WIN proposal.