Billions of Dollars in Federal Funding Announced for Water Infrastructure Projects

The Biden-Harris Administration recently announced that $7.5 billion in funding is now available under the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (“WIFIA”). WIFIA authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”) to administer federal credits for water infrastructure projects. It is a federal lending program that “helps communities invest in drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure while saving millions of dollars and creating good-paying local jobs.” The $7.5 billion in financing includes $1 billion exclusively available through State WIFIA (“SWIFIA”) programs, with the remaining $6.5 billion available through WIFIA. The EPA also announced certain priority areas for funding, including: “increasing investment in economically stressed communities; making rapid progress on lead service line replacement; addressing PFAS and emerging contaminants; mitigating the impacts of drought and supporting water innovation and resilience.” A few examples of how the EPA has previously utilized WIFIA loans to fund infrastructure projects include: a loan issued to the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority to upgrade and replace water infrastructure in an effort to ensure safe drinking water in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; funding provided to the City of Boise, Idaho to improve wastewater treatment processes in the city; and a loan to the City of Chattanooga, Tennessee to improve its wastewater system. State, local, and tribal governments, state infrastructure financing authorities, corporations, partnerships, joint ventures, and trusts, are all eligible to apply for WIFIA assistance. Interested entities may submit letters of interest for WIFIA and SWIFIA loans and then may be invited to apply to the EPA for consideration. Letters of interest are reviewed on a rolling basis and the relevant form is available at https://www.epa.gov/wifia.

West Group Law (“WGL”) is well-positioned to help state and local government entities navigate the WIFIA letter of interest and application process, as well as any subsequent infrastructure project. Our attorneys frequently work on federally funded infrastructure projects and are experts in ensuring compliance with complex requirements at both the state and federal level. WGL attorneys have represented clients in projects involving wastewater treatment plant upgrades, procurement of contractors for operation and maintenance of wastewater treatment plants, procurement of new water treatment plant facilities, including upgrades to existing water treatment plants and the construction of new water treatment plants, sewer plant improvements, sewer expansions, and biosolids processing facilities, among other infrastructure projects. Many of these projects utilize federal dollars, and WGL attorneys ensure compliance with the applicable state and federal program requirements and help pave the way to a successful project.