Legislation introduced in the House of Representatives on November 30 would extend the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program through the 2024 fiscal year while dramatically increasing the program’s authorized funding levels.
Sponsored by Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), H.R. 4492 would reauthorize WIFIA for five years beyond its currently scheduled expiration in 2019. In addition, the bill would double the program’s FY18 authorization from $45 million to $90 million, before ramping up authorized funding levels to $140 million by 2024.
H.R. 4492 would leave the current structure of WIFIA largely intact, though it would give EPA new authority to work with the Army Corps of Engineers to consider applications for water resource projects that are currently outside the scope of EPA’s WIFIA program. These include projects intended to address flood damage reduction; hurricane and storm impacts; and coastal, inland harbor or intercoastal waterway navigation improvements. Under the existing WIFIA statute, these types of projects are eligible for funding through a separate Army Corps-administered WIFIA program, but the Corps has taken no steps to make this program operational. To jumpstart these projects, H.R. 4492 would fold their eligibility into EPA’s existing WIFIA, while increasing the program’s funding authorization and maintaining statutory language that requires EPA to ensure that “a diversity of project types and geographical locations” are selected for funding each year. EPA and the Corps would be required to work together to evaluate any applications that seek funding for these water resource projects, while EPA would continue to independently evaluate applications for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects that are currently eligible for the program.
AMWA’s Legislative Committee recently provided positive feedback on the legislation. The association subsequently met with Rep. Mast’s staff and plans to offer its support for the bill.
Congress created WIFIA in 2014 and this year appropriated the first funding for EPA to issue loans under the program during the 2017 fiscal year. EPA has invited 12 projects to formally apply for funding during this first phase, and the agency is aiming to finalize these loans in the coming months.