ERG Helps EPA Review Record Number of Water Infrastructure Funding Requests

ERG proudly supported EPA’s recent review of a record 62 letters of interest from potential water infrastructure projects nationwide. Borrowers requested $9.1 billion in loans from EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program to finance a wide array of water and wastewater projects—including repair, rehabilitation, and replacement of aging treatment plants and pipe systems and construction of new infrastructure for desalination, water recycling, and drought mitigation. ERG has helped the WIFIA program develop processes to evaluate project applications since 2016. This year, our team of nearly 20 engineers and scientists played a more active role, helping EPA screen the technical merits of many of the applicant projects. Within a two-week period, we ran screening reports to identify federal cross-cutting authorities, completed preliminary evaluations of potential environmental impacts, and conducted preliminary engineering reviews that assessed project design, schedule, costs, and readiness. Our quick turn-around support will enable EPA to prioritize projects and announce funding recipients this fall.