On April 4 EPA announced that it is seeking applicants for up to $5.5 billion worth of new loans and credit assistance through the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program. Community water systems and other prospective borrowers have until noon Eastern Time on July 6 to submit a letter of interest to the agency.
According to EPA’s formal Notice of Funding Availability, this round of funding will focus on projects that provide for clean and safe drinking water, including by reducing lead exposure in drinking water systems, as well as projects that repair, rehabilitate, and replace aging infrastructure and conveyance systems. However, all types of projects eligible for WIFIA assistance will be considered.
To help potential borrowers navigate the process, EPA has updated the WIFIA program website to include resources such as application materials (including a new letter of interest form) and an updated WIFIA program handbook. The agency also plans to host several webinars during the letter of interest submittal period that will provide an overview of the WIFIA program and explain the process for submitting and evaluating letters of interest.
This latest round of loan funding was made possible by the FY18 omnibus appropriations bill that was recently signed into law by President Trump. That measure provided $63 million to the WIFIA program, including $55 million that can be leveraged into loans and credit assistance. EPA expects to leverage these funds at a 100-1 ratio, leading to $5.5 billion in available loan funds. And because these loans may cover up to 49 percent of a project’s total cost, EPA forecasts the assistance could support approximately $11 billion in total water infrastructure investment.
Last year EPA invited 12 water projects to formally apply for a total of $2.3 billion worth of WIFIA loans made available by FY17 funds appropriated by Congress. On April 20 the agency announced that it had issued the first of those loans, in the form of $134.5 million to King County, Washington.