EPA Invites 55 New Projects To Apply For WIFIA Loans To Improve Water Quality

Projects will provide water infrastructure upgrades for 30 million Americans while creating over 40,000 jobs

Washington — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that 55 new projects in 20 states are being invited to apply for approximately $5.1 billion in Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loans. This funding will help finance over $12 billion in clean water and drinking water infrastructure projects to protect public health and improve water quality in communities across the United States.

“EPA built one of the greatest financing tools for investing in America’s water infrastructure in history when it stood up the WIFIA program in 2018,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “These 55 new projects will facilitate $12 billion in water infrastructure to help address some of the most pressing challenges faced by water systems across this country.”

Since the first WIFIA loan closed in 2018, EPA has announced 41 WIFIA loans that are providing $7.8 billion in credit assistance to help finance $16.8 billion for water infrastructure while creating more than 38,800 jobs and saving ratepayers $3.7 billion. EPA received 67 letters of interest from both public and private entities in response to the 2020 WIFIA Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA). After a robust statutorily required review process, the WIFIA Selection Committee chose 55 prospective borrowers’ projects to submit applications for loans and placed three prospective borrowers on a waitlist.  

The WIFIA program is expanding its geographic scope by inviting entities from Alabama, Iowa, Ohio, Texas, and West Virginia for the first time. Four prospective borrowers that submitted letters of interest in response to a previous WIFIA Notice of Funding Availability resubmitted them for 2020 and have been invited to proceed in the 2020 funding round. Seven borrowers who have already received a WIFIA loan or are in the process of closing a loan have been invited to apply for additional financing. This action complements EPA November 2020 announcement that California, Iowa, and Rhode Island were invited to apply for a total of $695 million in loans through EPA’s new state infrastructure financing authority WIFIA (SWIFIA) program.

Selected Projects

• Birmingham Water Works (Alabama): Infrastructure Repair and Rehabilitation Project; $147 million
• City of Escondido (California): Lake Wohlford Dam Replacement Project; $42 million
• City of Oxnard (California): Aquifer Storage Recovery Project; $29 million
• City of Palo Alto (California): Regional Water Quality Control Plant Secondary Treatment Upgrades Project; $66 million
• City of San Buenaventura (California): VenturaWaterPure; $125 million
• City of San Diego (California): Pure Water San Diego Program Phase 1: North City Project; $74 million
• City of San Diego (California): Stormwater Capital Improvement Program; $263 million
• City of Santa Monica (California): Sustainable Water Supply Program; $84 million
• City of Vallejo (California): FY20-21 to FY24-25 Capital Improvement Program; $24 million
• East Bay Municipal Utility District (California): Water Treatment Plants Improvements Program; $209 million
• Inland Empire Utilities Agency (California): Regional Wastewater System Improvements Program; $94 million
• Orange County Water District (California): PFAS Treatment Projects; $173 million
• Oro Lomo Sanitary District (California): Sewer Collection System Pipeline Rehabilitation and Replacement Project; $26 million
• Rancho California Water District (California): Vail Dam Seismic and Hydrologic Remediation Project; $42 million
• Sacramento County Water Authority (California): Arden Service Area Distribution System Pipe Realignment and Meter Installation Project; $59 million
• Silicon Valley Clean Water (California): Regional Environmental Sewer Conveyance Upgrade Phase 2; $38 million
• Silicon Valley Clean Water (California): Wastewater Treatment Plant Reliability Upgrades; $70 million
• Union Sanitary District (California): Enhanced Treatment and Site Upgrade Phase 1 Projects; $198 million
• Water Replenishment District of Southern California (California): PFAS Remediation Program; $51 million
• West Valley Water District (California): Oliver P. Roemer Water Filtration Facility Expansion Project; $25 million
• City of Englewood (Colorado): Englewood One Water Modernization Program; $45 million
• City of Fort Lauderdale (Florida): Seven Neighborhood Stormwater Improvements; $104 million
• City of Miami Beach (Florida): Sewer and Stormwater Pump Station Upgrades; $31 million
• City of Orlando (Florida):  Iron Bridge Regional Water Reclamation Facility Pretreatment Improvements and Reclaimed Water Storage and Repump Facility; $18 million
• Miami-Dade County (Florida): North District and Central District Wastewater Treatment Plants Ocean Outfall Legislation Projects; $404 million
• Sarasota County Government (Florida): Bee Ridge Water Reclamation Facility Expansion and Advanced Wastewater Treatment Conversion Project; $132 million
• DeKalb County (Georgia): Water Infrastructure Renewal Program; $253 million
• City of Cedar Rapids (Iowa): Water Pollution Control Facility Improvements; $218 million
• Chicago Department of Water Management (Illinois): Water Main and Lead Service Line Replacement Program; $336 million
• City of Evanston (Illinois): 36”/42” Raw Water Intake Replacement; $27 million
• Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (Illinois): Capital Improvement Projects; $98 million
• City of Bonner Springs (Kansas): Water Supply & Treatment Plant Project; $11 million
• Johnson County Wastewater (Kansas): Wastewater Integrated Management Plan: Foundation Project Delivery Program; $243 million
• Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas (Kansas): Kansas City, Kansas Community-Based Partnership – Stormwater Program; $78 million
• Springfield Water and Sewer Commission (Massachusetts): Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Renewal Program; $252 million
• Baltimore City Department of Public Works (Maryland): Wastewater Rehabilitation Program 2020; $64 million
• Baltimore City Department of Public Works (Maryland): Water Infrastructure Rehabilitation 2020; $29 million
• Howard County (Maryland): Ellicott City Safe & Sound Plan; $83 million
• Johnston County (North Carolina): Wastewater Treatment Improvements Program; $50 million
• Erie County Water Authority (New York): Strategic Plan Improvements Project; $24 million
• Water Authority of Great Neck North (New York): Watermill Lane Emerging Contaminant Water Treatment and Watermain Upgrade Projects; $16 million
• City of Dayton, Department of Water (Ohio): Wastewater Infrastructure Improvements Program; $73 million
• City of Lorain (Ohio): Water Treatment Plant Improvements; $30 million
• City of Gresham and Rockwood Water People’s Utility District (Oregon): Cascade Groundwater Development; $54 million
• City of Sandy (Oregon): Wastewater System Improvements Project – Phase 1; $33 million
• Medford Water Commission (Oregon): Rogue Valley Water Supply Resiliency Project; $58 million
• Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (Pennsylvania): Clearwell Replacement Projects; $128 million
• Metro Water Services (Tennessee): Process Advancements at Omohundro and K.R. Harrington Water Treatment Plants Project; $129 million
• City of Pflugerville (Texas): Water Treatment Plant Expansion; $42 million
• City of Provo (Utah): Aquifer, Storage, and Recovery Program; $34 million
• City of Emporia (Virginia): Water and Sewer Infrastructure Improvement Program; $12 million
• Prince William County Service Authority (Virginia): Booster Pump Station, Water Main Construction, and SCADA System Upgrade; $40 million
• Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (Wisconsin): Waterway Flood Management and Restoration Projects; $126 million
• Weirton Area Water Board (West Virginia): Water Treatment Plant Improvements Project; $12 million
• Weirton Sanitary Board (West Virginia): Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements Project; $12 million

Waitlist Projects

• Santa Clara Valley Water District (California): Pacheco Reservoir Expansion Project; $693 million
• City of Joliet (Illinois): Alternative Water Source Program; $441 million
• Southland Water Agency (Illinois): Southland Water Agency Infrastructure System; $701 million

To learn more about the 55 projects that are invited to apply, visit: https://www.epa.gov/wifia/wifia-selected-projects  

Background on WIFIA

Established by the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014, the WIFIA program is a federal loan and guarantee program administered by EPA. WIFIA’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.