EPA Invites 39 Projects To Apply For WIFIA Loans To Finance $10B In Water Infrastructure Upgrades

Loans will help make critical investments in communities to improve water quality for 22 million Americans

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is inviting 39 projects in 16 states and D.C. to apply for Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loans. Together, the selected borrowers will receive WIFIA loans totaling approximately $5B to help finance over $10B in water infrastructure investments and create up to 155,000 jobs.

“Through WIFIA, EPA is playing an integral role in President Trump’s efforts to improve and upgrade our nation’s water infrastructure and ensure all Americans have access to clean and safe water,” said EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “This year, EPA will help finance over $10B in water infrastructure investments that will create up to 155,000 jobs, upgrade aging infrastructure, reduce lead exposure, and improve the lives of millions of Americans across the country.”

EPA’s WIFIA loans will allow large and small communities across the country to implement projects to address two national water priorities – providing for clean and safe drinking water including reducing exposure to lead and other contaminants and addressing aging water infrastructure.

EPA received 62 letters of interest from both public and private entities in response to the 2018 WIFIA Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA). After a robust, statutorily required review process, the WIFIA Selection Committee chose the following 39 prospective borrowers’ projects to submit applications for loans:

• City of Phoenix; Water Main Replacement Program; $49M (Arizona)
• San Mateo-Foster City Public Financing Authority; San Mateo Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade and Expansion Project; $277M (California)
• Coachella Valley Water District; Coachella Valley Stormwater Channel Improvement Project; $22M (California)
• Poseidon Resources (Channelside) LP; Carlsbad Intake Project; $32M (California)
• City of Stockton Public Financing Authority; Regional Wastewater Control Facility Modifications Project; $53M (California)
• Silicon Valley Clean Water; SVCW RESCU; $181M (California)
• City of Sunnyvale; Sunnyvale Cleanwater Program Phase 2; $166M (California)
• San Juan Water District; Hinkle and Kokila Reservoir Rehabilitation and Replacement; $12M (California)
• City of Los Angeles; Donald C. Tillman Advanced Water Purification Facility; $185M (California)
• Inland Empire Utilities Agency; RP-5 Expansion Project; $138M (California)
• Sanitation District No. 2 of Los Angeles County; Joint Water Pollution Control Plant Effluent Outfall Tunnel; $426M (California)
• City of Antioch; Brackish Water Desalination Project; $32M (California)
• Coachella Valley Water District; North Indio Regional Flood Control Project; $29M (California)
• District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority; Comprehensive Infrastructure Repair, Rehabilitation and Replacement Program; $144M (District of Columbia)
• Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority; Florida Keys Imperiled Water Supply Rehabilitation; $45M (Florida)
• North Miami Beach Water; NMB Water Regional Potable Water Improvements; $62M (Florida)
• Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department; Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) Electrical Distribution Building Upgrade; $343M (Florida)
• Tohopekaliga Water Authority; Accelerated Gravity Sewer Assessment and Rehabilitation Project; $32M (Florida)
• Pinellas County Utilities; Water Reclamation Facility Improvements; $13M (Florida)
• DeKalb County Government; Priority Areas Sewer Assessment & Rehabilitation Program (PASARP) Consent Decree Packages; $251M (Georgia)
• City of Atlanta; North Fork Peachtree Creek Tank and Pump Station; $55M (Georgia)
• City of Wichita; Northwest Water Treatment Facility (NWWTF); $270M (Kansas)
• City of Frontenac; Water Supply, Treatment, Distribution and Storage Improvements and Additions; $5M (Kansas)
• Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District; Upper Middle Fork Pump Station (UMFPS); $44M (Kentucky)
• Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District; Ohio River Flood Protection Pump Station Capacity Upgrade; $118M (Kentucky)
• Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District; Morris Forman Biosolids Processing Solution; $88M (Kentucky)
• American Water Capital Corporation; St. Louis Area Water Main Replacement and Lead Abatement Program; $84M (Missouri)
• Kansas City Missouri Water Services Department; Blue River WWTP Biosolids Facility Project; $51M (Missouri)
• American Water Capital Corp. (AWCC)-Joplin; Joplin Water Supply Reservoir – Joplin, Missouri; $103M (Missouri)
• City of Cortland; City of Cortland Clinton Avenue Gateway Project; $9M (New York)
• Monroe County; Frank E. Van Lare Secondary Treatment Upgrades; $15M (New York)
• Brunswick County; Northwest Water Treatment Plant 36 MGD Improvements Project; $74M; (North Carolina)
• Enid Municipal Authority; Enid KLWS Pipeline; $53M (Oklahoma)
• City of Hillsboro and Tualatin Valley Water District; Willamette Water Supply Program (WWSP); $617M (Oregon)
• City of Lancaster; Sewer System Improvements; $22M (Pennsylvania)
• Narragansett Bay Commission; CSO Phase III Facilities; $251M (Rhode Island)
• City of Memphis; T.E. Maxson Wastewater Treatment Facility Process and Biosolids Upgrades Program; $144M (Tennessee)
• City of Seattle; Ship Canal Water Quality Project; $197M (Washington)
• City of Waukesha Water Utility; Great Lakes Water Supply Project (Great Water Alliance [GWA] Program); $116M (Wisconsin)

Of the selected projects, 12 projects will reduce lead or other drinking water contaminants and 37 will address aging infrastructure. 8 prospective borrowers submitted letters of interest in response to the 2017 Notice of Funding Availability, resubmitted them for 2018, and are now invited to proceed in the 2018 funding round. To learn more about the 39 projects that are invited to apply, visit https://www.epa.gov/wifia/wifia-selected-projects.

Background
Established by the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014, the WIFIA program is a federal loan and guarantee program at EPA that aims to accelerate investment in the nation’s water infrastructure by providing long-term, low-cost supplemental credit assistance for regionally and nationally significant projects. To date, EPA has issued four loans totaling over $1B in WIFIA credit assistance. Combined, these four projects will create over 5,000 jobs.

According to EPA's estimate of national drinking water and wastewater needs, over $743B is needed for water infrastructure improvements. EPA’s WIFIA program plays an important part in fulfilling this need and in the President’s Infrastructure Plan, which calls for expanding project eligibility.

For more information about the WIFIA program, visit: https://www.epa.gov/wifia.