The agency is teeing up projects for a new round of loans under a low-cost borrowing program for water and sewer infrastructure
Local governments, agencies and utility companies behind 39 major water and sewer projects in states across the U.S. can move ahead applying for billions of dollars in financing through a federal program that provides low-cost loans for waterworks infrastructure, the Environmental Protection Agency said Friday.
The loans would be available under the agency’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program, or WIFIA for short. EPA estimates that, as funds become available, $6.7 billion in financing will flow to projects worth upwards of $15 billion in 24 states. WIFIA is designed to support regionally and nationally significant projects.
EPA emphasized that 14 of the projects include components meant to help infrastructure better withstand the effects of extreme weather and climate change, and that many also include elements involving cybersecurity and water reuse.
ROUTE FIFTY
by BILL LUCIA
DECEMBER 3, 2021