News Update
EPA announces funding for water infrastructure projects
Staff report
Enviro-Net
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the availability of funding to provide an estimated $6 billion in Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loans in 2019.
WIFIA funding addresses modernizing the nation’s aging infrastructure, improving public health protections and creating jobs, according to Administrator Andrew Wheeler.
The new round of WIFIA funding provides up to $6 billion in credit assistance which, combined with other sources, could support $12 billion in water infrastructure projects and create more than 180,000 jobs. For this round of funding, construction-ready projects in three areas were prioritized: water reuse and recycling, reducing exposure to lead and addressing emerging contaminants, and updating aging infrastructure.”
WIFIA loans are available to public and private borrowers for a wide range of drinking water, wastewater, drought mitigation, and alternative water supply projects.
The WIFIA program received $68 million in funding in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2019, which was signed into law on Feb. 15, 2019. This is a $5 million increase in the program’s funding from 2018.
To date, EPA has issued eight loans totaling over $2 billion in WIFIA credit assistance to help finance over $4 billion for water infrastructure projects and create over 6,000 jobs.