After a long, slow warm-up lasting more than three years, the Environmental Protection Agency’s water infrastructure loan program finally is rolling. Since April, EPA has cleared its first four Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, or WIFIA, loans, totaling just over $1 billion, to help build major water projects.
EPA’s WIFIA activity is likely to pick up steam. The agency still has fiscal 2017 funds available for other loans, and more are on the horizon. EPA on Aug. 16 said that for the fiscal 2018 WIFIA round, it received 62 letters of interest from applicants in 24 states and two territories. They requested a total of $9.1 billion, which far exceeds EPA’s $5.5-billion loan capacity for 2018. The agency says it plans to announce the winners in the fall.