Feds Announce $7.5B in Loans for PFAS Containment, Infrastructure Upgrades
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced $7.5 billion in available Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) funding. This innovative low-interest loan program helps communities invest in drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure while saving millions of dollars and creating good-paying local jobs. To date, EPA’s WIFIA program has announced $19 billion to help finance 109 projects across the country. These projects are creating over 60,000 jobs. Today’s announcement furthers the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to ensuring all people and all communities have access to clean and safe water.
EPA is currently accepting letters of interest for WIFIA loans. Prospective borrowers can also receive technical assistance to develop a funding request that meets the WIFIA program’s requirements. This assistance will help small and disadvantaged communities benefit from WIFIA funding.
For this new round of funding, EPA has identified priority areas such as: increasing investment in economically stressed communities; making rapid progress on lead service line replacement; addressing PFAS and emerging contaminants; mitigating the impacts of drought, and supporting water innovation and resilience.
Background
Established by the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014, the WIFIA program is a federal loan program administered by EPA. The WIFIA program’s aim is to accelerate investment in the nation’s water infrastructure by providing long-term, low-cost, supplemental credit assistance for regionally and nationally significant projects. The WIFIA program has an active pipeline of pending applications for projects that will result in billions of dollars in water infrastructure investment and thousands of jobs for local communities.
