The U.S. EPA received 50 letters of interest in response to the agency’s 2021 Notices of Funding Availability.
According to EPA, the requests totaling $8.2 billion exceed the agency’s $6.5 billion in available financing.
“Investing in water infrastructure protects people from pollution, builds resiliency against climate change, and creates good paying jobs,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan in the EPA press release. “These financing programs have a proven track record of return on investment that delivers powerful economic and environmental benefits to communities across the country.”
EPA received 48 letters of interest for the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program and two letters of interest in response to the agency’s State Infrastructure Financing Authority WIFIA (SWIFIA) program.
These letters of interest cover water infrastructure needs including: reducing lead and emerging contaminants; protecting against the impacts of climate change; updating aging infrastructure; and implementing new or innovative approaches such as cybersecurity and green infrastructure.
Prospective borrowers may include municipal government agencies, corporations, public-private partnerships, and small communities, according to EPA.
Prospective borrowers located in 25 states and Washington, D.C., including four states that are seeking WIFIA loans for the first time sent letters. Borrowers in 46 states, plus the District of Columbia and Guam, have requested WIFIA loans and since the program began in 2017, EPA has received requests totaling over $35 billion.
EPA announced $6.5 billion in available WIFIA and SWIFIA financing Apr. 27, 2021.
EPA will then evaluate the letters for project eligibility, creditworthiness, engineering feasibility, and alignment with WIFIA’s statutory and regulatory selection criteria.
See the full list of letters of interest submitted.
