EPA Received 43 WIFIA Letters of Interest

EPA issued a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) on January 10th (with a deadline of April 10th) to solicit letters of interest from prospective borrowers seeking WIFIA credit assistance.  In an April 2nd press release, EPA announced that the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program received 43 letters of interest from prospective borrowers for projects to update our nation’s water infrastructure.
In this first round, EPA will use up to $17 million of budget authority, appropriated by Congress, to provide approximately $1 billion in credit assistance to finance over $2 billion in water and wastewater infrastructure investment.  Prospective borrowers requested more than $6 billion in credit assistance to support over $12 billion in total infrastructure investment.  EPA plans to communicate with the states where these letters originated this week or next week to allow for the right of first refusal for funding these projects through the State Revolving Loan Funds (SRFs).
EPA received letters from entities seeking loans for the program from all over the country, demonstrating the high demand from businesses seeking to invest in the economy and local communities.  WIFIA credit assistance can be used for a wide-range of projects, from drinking water treatment to seawater desalination and drought mitigation to water recycling.  About a third of prospective borrowers indicated they plan to co-finance their projects with other funding tools available through EPA, the Drinking Water or the Clean Water SRFs.  WIFIA works separately from, but in coordination with, the SRF programs to provide subsidized financing for infrastructure projects.  By combining the benefits of the WIFIA and SRF programs, more communities can benefit from innovative loans and financing.