After more than two years in limbo, a federal credit-assistance program for water projects is opening its loan window. The Environmental Protection Agency on Jan. 10 announced that it has begun accepting applications for the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program. It could help to fund up to $2 billion in infrastructure projects.
Congress authorized WIFIA in the 2014 Water Resources Reform and Development Act but hadn’t appropriated money to issue loans. Prompted in part by the Flint, Mich., water crisis, Congress appropriated $17 million for WIFIA loans in the stopgap spending bill, enacted on Dec. 10.