Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act Program

wifia@epa.gov

The Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act Program (WIFIA) provides secured, direct loans and loan guarantees for eligible water infrastructure projects.

Eligible projects include:

• Wastewater projects that are eligible under the Clean Water State Revolving Fund
• Drinking water projects that are eligible for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
• Projects that enhance energy efficiency in the operation of a public water system or publicly owned treatment works
• Projects for repair, rehabilitation, or replacement of a treatment works, community water system, or aging water distribution or waste collection facility
• A brackish or sea water desalination project, including chloride control, a managed aquifer recharge project, a water recycling project, or a project to provide alternative water supplies to reduce aquifer depletion
• A project to prevent, reduce, or mitigate the effects of drought
• The acquisition of real property or an interest in real property
• A combination of eligible projects listed above

Eligible development and implementation activities:

• Project planning and design
• Project development
• Construction
• Land and/or equipment acquisition
• Financing-related costs

Eligible applicants include:

• Corporations
• Partnerships
• Joint ventures
• Trusts
• State and local governmental entities/agencies
• Tribal governments or consortium of tribal governments
• State infrastructure financing authorities
• Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs

The minimum project size for large communities is $20,000,000.

The minimum project size for small communities (population of 25,000 or less) is $5,000,000. Loan amounts for small communities may not exceed 80% of a project's eligible costs.

In addition, technical assistance may be provided to prospective borrowers, especially small and rural communities, that need support to complete their application.

Links to additional guidance and application instructions are available on the program website.

Begin the process by requesting access to EPA's SharePoint site through an email to wifia@epa.gov.

To request financing, prospective borrowers will submit a letter of interest (LOI) that demonstrates their projects' eligibility, financial creditworthiness, engineering feasibility, and alignment with WIFIA selection criteria. Using the information provided in the LOI, EPA will evaluate and select projects. For the selected projects, prospective borrowers will be invited to apply to EPA.

Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.