April 20, 2018 — On April 20, the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program issued its first-ever loan to King County, Washington. This loan will finance close to half the cost of construction for the Georgetown Wet Weather Treatment Station, which is designed to reduce the amount of untreated wastewater and stormwater entering the Duwamish River by over 95%. It is also expected to create nearly 1400 jobs.
In an email Andrew Sawyers, Director of EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management explained, “When constructed, the station can treat up to 70 million gallons of combined rain and wastewater a day that would otherwise have discharged directly to the Duwamish without treatment during storm events.”
A day earlier, on Thursday, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt visited Whiting, Indiana, and announced the $436 million loan EPA is awarding the state to upgrade its water systems through the WIFIA program. In a statement, the EPA stated that the money would flow through the state “once all needed processes are complete.” Earlier this year, the loan cleared a preliminary EPA environmental review.
Both loans are a part of the 12 that the EPA selected through its first round of financing through the WIFIA program, which provides low-cost financing for drinking water, wastewater and reuse projects.
In late March, the WIFIA program received $63 million in funding in the FY2018 Omnibus bill, which was signed into law by the President. This more than doubles the program’s funding from 2017.
WIFIA credit assistance can be used for a wide range of projects, including:
- Wastewater conveyance and treatment projects;
- Drinking water treatment and distribution projects;
- Enhanced energy efficiency projects at wastewater and drinking water facilities;
- Desalination, aquifer recharge, alternative water supply, and water recycling project; and
- Drought prevention, reduction, or mitigation projects.
For more information about WIFIA and this funding announcement, visit: https://www.epa.gov/wifia (Bloomberg Environment, 4/19/18)
