United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water
(4204)
Washington, DC 20460
EPA 832-F-99-059
October 1999
USDA Loan and Grant Funding
for Small Community
Wastewater Projects
Rural Utilities Service
In the United States Department of Agriculture,
Rural Development administers financial and
technical assistance programs to help rural com-
munities develop safe and affordable sewage treat-
ment and waste disposal systems. The programs
that target wastewater treatment needs are run by
the Water Programs Division of the Rural Utilities
Service (RUS). The Water and Waste Disposal
Loans and Grants Program provides loans, guar-
anteed loans, and grants for water, sewer, storm
water, and solid waste disposal facilities.
Public bodies (e.g., municipalities, counties,
Indian Tribes, nonprofit organizations) serving
rural areas may be eligible for loans or grants from
the water and waste disposal program. The pro-
gram makes assistance available only to rural
areas with 10,000 or fewer people.
Did you know . . . ?
• RUS funding (including jointly funded pro-
jects) between 1992 and 1998 totals over
$3.7 billion.
• Between 1992 and 1998, all 50 states plus
Puerto Rico received some form of RUS
funding, either through a loan, grant or a
combination of loans/grants.
• Florida had the greatest number of sewer
users (73,487) served by wastewater projects,
followed by Pennsylvania and Delaware,
between 1992 and 1998.
Rural Development maintains records on small
communities that are seeking assistance, or that
have already received assistance, from the Agency
for wastewater treatment or disposal needs. Rural
Development may use information from preappli-
cations/applications, loans, grants, guarantees and
borrowers' records to aid in program management
decisions. The information is also available for
Congressional activities.
The following pages provide general information
about the RUS's Water and Waste Disposal Loans
and Grants Program. Grant and loan information
for 1992 through 1998 were extracted from RUS'
database and are presented in Table 1.
Water and Waste Disposal
Loans and Grants
Small communities with wastewater treatment or
disposal needs can apply for loans and grants to
construct, repair or modify waste collection and
waste disposal facilities. To receive loans small
communities must show that they (1) can't get
funds at reasonable rates from commercial
sources, (2) have the capacity to borrow and repay
loans, and pledge security, and (3) can operate and
maintain the affected facilities. Depending on the
economic status of the service area, borrowers
may receive one of three interest rates: the pover-
ty rate (median household income is below pover-
ty or below 80 percent of the statewide metropoli-
tan median and the project is necessary to meet
applicable health or sanitary standards), market
rate (where median household income exceeds the
statewide nonmetropolitan household income), or
the intermediate rate.
-------
Figure 1. RUS Assistance Used for Wastewater Treatment
Total Loan Only
36%
Total Combination
Loans and Grants
57%
— Total Grant Only
7%
Total RUS program funding available through
direct loans was over $691 million in fiscal year
1998 compared to approximately $739.5 million
in fiscal year 1997. Funding for guaranteed loans
amounted to $75 million in fiscal years 1997 and
1998. Funding for grants increased from $500.2
million in fiscal year 1997 to nearly $509.8 mil-
lion in fiscal year 1998.
Between 1992 and 1998, nearly 1 million
(958,221) sewer users were served by grant-
and/or loan-funded wastewater projects. Over the
same time period small communities used a total
of 2,197 RUS loans and grants for wastewater pro-
jects. Small community projects have been funded
though loans, grants, or a combination of loans
and grants. Figure 1 shows the relationship
between the use of loans and grants to fund com-
munity wastewater projects. Over half of the pro-
jects funded by the Water and Waste Disposal
Loans and Grants Program between 1992 and
1998 were funded by a combination, of loans and
grants. More than a third of the projects were
funded by loans only. Only 11 percent of the pro-
jects were funded by grants only. It should be
noted that the authorizing statute limits RUS grant
funds to a maximum of 75 percent of eligible pro-
ject cost.
Figure 2 shows the nationwide distribution of the
$2.8 billion in USDA loans and grants for waste-
water projects. Pennsylvania got the highest num-
ber of USDA wastewater loans and grants between
1992 and 1998 with 133 total loans and grants.
Most states obtained significantly fewer. The
median number of loans and grants combined per
state is 42.
a
i
1
y -to .
0.
Figure 2. Distribution of Loans/Grants for Wastewater Nationwide (1992-1998)
P/s
OH
I
GA
/
A
K
AL
1
<
A
CA
Z
S?rr
111
L
HI
A
IN MI
]
ID
L,
K
KS
Y
L
1 M
MA
IMD
•
E
to
MN
0
NY
N
MS
MX
1
C
NF NI
NE |NM
Till
OK
OR
PR
TX
T
sr
RI
SD
I
vt
V
ux
\ \
WA
VT
n
wv
WY
State
-------
How Does RUS Funding Compare
to Joint Funding Sources?
For the period from 1992 to 1998, RUS provided
75 percent of the funds used by small communities
for wastewater projects. The other 25 percent was
made up of joint funding. The $3.7 billion in joint
funding included money borrowed from munici-
palities, states/counties, EPA State Revolving
Fund (SRF), Regional Water Authorities, funding
from private and commercial institutions, and
other miscellaneous sources. Figure 3 indicates
that 10 percent of small community wastewater
funding came from states and counties. These
account for nearly half of all non-RUS funding.
Small communities received the fewest dollars for
joint funded wastewater projects from private or
commercial institutions (0.3 percent). Some small
communities do not have the access to private
credit markets that large communities do, so fund-
ing from these sources may be disproportionately
small in this area compared to other funding
sources.
How Does RUS Funding Compare
to EPA Total Need?
According to the EPA 1996 Clean Water Needs
Survey (CWNS), small communities will need
$13.8 billion to meet documented wastewater col-
lection and treatment needs by the year 2016. RUS
has provided approximately $2.8 billion for small
community wastewater projects in the past six
years. It is important to note that this description
of RUS funding includes data from a relatively
brief time period from 1992 to 1998 while the
CWNS provides a 20-year projection of need, so a
direct comparison cannot be provided. But, it's
clear that at current funding levels RUS alone will
not be able to meet all small community waste-
water needs by 2016. It's also clear that the RUS
contribution thus far has been important and its
continued support of small communities is vital,
as is that of other agencies.
Figure 3. Sources of Funding for Wastewater Projects
— 3% Borrower (Municipality)
10% State/County
/-3% EPA (SRF)
1% Regional Water Authority
0.3% Private/Commercial
— 8% Other
Additional copies of this Fact Sheet may be obtained by contacting the Office of Water Resources Center in EPA at' (202) 260-7786 and
referring to the document number EPA 832-F-99-059. You may also visit our Website (http://www.epa.gov/OWM/smaUc.htm) to obtain
other summaries of this information. Additional information regarding the RUS may be obtained by contacting the USDA at (202) 720-
9583 or visiting their Website (http://www.usda.gov/rus).
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Table 1. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Utilities Service (RUS) -
Wastewater Assistance from 1992-1998 for Small Communities (population < 10,000)*
I
STATE
AK
AL
AR
AZ
CA
CO
CT
DE
FL
GA
HI
IA
ID
IL
IN
KS
KY
LA
MA
MD
ME
Ml
MN
MO
MS
MT
NC
ND
NE
NH
NJ
NM
NV
NY
OH
OK
OR
PA
PR
Rl
SC
SD
TN
TX
UT
VA
VT
WA
Wl
WV
WY
Totals
TOTAL
POPULATION
SERVED BY
ALL
PROJECTS
(1992-1998)
33,952
43,305
36,847
89,428
88,627
30,995
75,961
38,186
172,748
92,096
1,634
36,831
11,736
34,605
96,799
19,474
78,233
119,523
82,957
33,495
140,922
133,802
39,774
33,032
94,843
14,407
77,488
16,118
23,655
14,071
89,879
36,426
46,018
113,146
126,576
88,330
112,013
217,893
247,480
4,640
139,191
6,983
98,596
117,028
18,834
128,480
31,936
62,347
54,030
64,159
457
3,609,986
TOTAL SEWER
USERS
SERVED
BY WASTE
WATER
PROJECTS
(1992-1998)
1,279
5,848
10,895
17,940
29,890
7,642
8,931
49,955
73,487
25,140
220
7,884
8,402
12,201
24,702
2,685
11,922
40,984
11,303
6,240
14,392
38,629
14,046
12,736
24,100
3,582
24,471
994
10,955
5,469
37,655
4,402
8,187
4,112
18,316
35,504
48,234
62,109
46,202
194
33,798
3,031
16,636
33,923
3,566
44,18'
7,376
15,853
11,966
16,033
16
958,221
TOTAL
NUMBER
OF
LOANS/
GRANTS
50
27
56
34
43
21
18
14
56
59
1
87
13
70
81
25
66
53
30
22
50
79
42
66
39
18
53
10
21
9
23
19
13
79
104
61
44
133
92
3
38
18
45
77
14
56
16
50
56
41
2
2,197
TYPE OF ASSISTANCE
(NUMBER OF PROJECTS)
Loan Only
2
9
38
12
24
9
12
12
5
11
0
27
7
26
19
6
15
34
18
9
25
24
15
12
11
3
17
3
3
1
8
7
10
42
37
24
16
54
29
0
15
10
15
13
3
23
2
20
10
11
0
758
Grant Only
44
1
6
14
4
3
0
1
8
0
0
15
: 3
7
7
5
3
1
1
2
5
6
2
4
1
0
4
4
3
0
0
8
1
: 1
3
2
5
10
1
1
1
6
31
3
5
2
1
9
1
C
248
ombination
Loans
and Grants
4
17
12
15
9
6
1
43
48
1
45
3
37
55
14
48
18
11
11
20
49
25
50
27
15
3
15
8
15
4
2
36
64
35
25
7^
53
2
7
24
33
8
12
29
37
29
2
1,191
TOTAL RUS
FUNDING
$35,386,400
$23,792,700
$23,763,346
$46,218,343
$101,575,540
$1 1 ,944,300
$25,768,290
$51 ,561 ,500
$96,983,180
$100,251,700
$2,362,500
$27,436,260
$10,953,700
$38,191,680
$131,686,030
$12,550,710
$45,745,500
$53,553,600
$70,630,215
$32,841 ,050
$43,741 ,950
$163,904,900
$35,664,020
$45,499,620 ,
$40,540,800
$19,415,400
$90,785,499
$2,841 ,400
$1 1 ,070,700
$13,876,500
$62,933,070
$22,966,700
$16,939,800
$67,927,673
$150,738,216
$33,244,050
$93,510,530
$298,768,600
$159,133,328
$682,400
$52,949,650
$6,117,370
$27,896,700
$104,170,333
$10,742,600
$103,074,265
$10,859,450
$95,190,637
$65,044,326
$43,804,500
$419,000
$2,837,650,531
(continued)
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Table I. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Utilities Service (BUS) -
Wastewater Assistance from 1992-1998 for Small Communities (population < 10,000)*
STATE
AK
AL
AR
AZ
CA
CO
CT
DE
FL
GA
HI
IA
ID
IL
IN
KS
KY
LA
MA
MD
ME
Ml
MN
MO
MS
MT
NC
NO
NE
NH
NJ
NM
NV
NY
OH
OK
OR
PA
PR
Rl
SC
SD
TN
TX
UT
VA
VT
WA
Wl
WV
WY
Totals
JOINT PROJECT FUNDING (SOURCES OF FUNDS OTHER THAN RURAL UTILITIES)
Borrower
(Municipality)
$918,400
$1,186,952
$462,600
$1,833,271
$447,169
$1,034,727
$400,000
$18,700
$2,130,600
$122,505
$393,750
$151,846
$947,190
$1 ,428,634
$2,154,510
$210,400
$1,927,800
$3,595,800
$2,394,600
$196,000
$9,683,400
$2,929,660
$461 ,700
$1,137,300
$712,000
$601 ,700
$1 ,847,865
$181,500
$210,600
$213,403
$291 ,900
$80,000
$669,780
$305,000
$5,610,200
$138,495
$2,680,620
$23,999,421
$12,867,221
$149,800
$366,000
$180,158
$1 ,734,323
$676,460
$2,683,750
$2,040,742
$1 67,750
$4,550,147
$857,593
$2,754,710
$34,000
$102,772,652
State/County
$30,014,300
$2,710,000
$13,462,559
$0
$13,308,532
$4,286,250
$2,400,000
$22,329,675
$8,579,700
$829,600
$393,750
$3,809,400
$4,191,000
$680,450
$17,552,196
$1,197,900
$4,130,200
$749,600
$1 ,492,000
$15,944,986
$20,428,870
$6,271 ,200
$1,681,230
$11,000,960
$780,000
$785,706
$5,01 1 ,300
$430,000
$540,000
$4,501 ,000
$0
$1,940,096
$4,757,000
$7,066,500
$20,799,891
$1,651,955
$13,725,000
$5,419,557
$0
$0
$1 ,700,000
$784,000
$1,887,818
$2,043,300
$17,131,000
$5,295,949
$14,837,824
$51,456,726
$9,150,360
$13,100,928
$365,51 1
$372,605,779
EPA (SRF)
$950,00(
$(
$530,OOC
$C
$c
$c
$905,20C
$1,406,50C
$C
$C
$C
$C
$c
$1 ,356,560
$6,165,920
$0
$5,454,800
$1,192,300
$787,600
$21 ,584,900
$4,582,770
$2,127,800
$1,061,370
$0
$0
$672,200
$0
$0
$282,000
$1 ,500,000
$0
$1,000,000
$800,000
$4,535,000
$5,567,000
$649,365
$10,345,400
$10,319,100
$2,062,000
$0
$0
$254,400
$2,307,030
$0
$1,915,600
$0
$3,060,743
$2,845,069
$0
$16,627,041
$0
$112,847,668
Regional
(Water
Authority)
$796,735
$1,821,79C
$4,991,500
$435,000
$978,000
$2,794,000
$310,000
$4,921 ,600
$2,500,000
$50,000
$2,459,292
$22,057,917
Private/
Commercial
$0
$C
$c
$c
$c
$c
$c
$397,60C
$6,545,150
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$49,000
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$50,000
$285,000
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$1,114,000
$45,000
$0
$50,000
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$252,000
$0
$300,000
$611,700
$1,269,900
$0
$130,000
$0
>1 1,099,350
Other
$2,365,800
$4,145,905
$2,085,900
$17,627,590
$388,OOC
$485,000
$2,815,912
$19,985,000
$3,640,000
$1,391,500
$0
$5,369,000
$1,000,000
$17,738,250
$2,120,550
$1,940,000
$18,222,800
$3,735,035
$3,070,500
$6,556,500
$3,847,400
$1,817,500
$1 ,457,600
$14,486,379
$3,854,268
$3,736,556
$2,024,000
$487,200
$1 ,332,970
$700,000
$160,000
$1 ,500,000
$6,210,448
$9,792,900
$4,667,609
$4,574,250
$10,105,800
$7,983,400
$32,033,200
$0
$6,624,200
$737,500
$10,235,065
$1,768,000
$10,000
$10,645,600
$449,630
$5,008,588
$1,059,301
$19,260,062
$0
$281,252,668
TOTAL JOINT
FUNDING
$34,248,500
$8,839,592
$16,541,059
$19,460,861
$14,143,701
$5,805,977
$6,521,112
$44,137,475
$20,895,450
$4,165,395
$787,500
$9,330,246
$6,138,190
$21 ,203,894
$27,993,176
$3,348,300
$34,776,100
$9,272,735
$7,744,700
$44,282,386
$38,542,440
$13,146,160
$4,661,900
$26,674,639
$6,066,268
$5,796,162
$9,861,165
$1,098,700
$2,365,570
$6,914,403
$451 ,900
$4,520,096
$12,437,228
$21 ,699,400
$40,552,700
$7,059,065
$37,166,820
$47,771 ,478
$46,962,421
$149,800
$8,690,200
$1,956,058
$21 ,085,836
$4,739,760
$21,740,350
$20,782,291
$19,177,647
$65,130,430
$1 1 ,067,254
$54,332,033
$399,51 1
$902,636,034
(continued)
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1. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Utiilities Service (RUS) -
Wastewater Assistance from 1992-1998 for Small Communities (population < 10,000)*
STATE
AK
AL-
AR
AZ
CA
CO
CT
DE
FL
GA
HI
IA
ID
IL
IN
KS
KY
LA
MA
MD
ME
Ml
MN
MO
MS
MT
NC
ND
NE
NH
NJ
NM
NV
NY
OH
OK
OR
PA
PR
Rl
SC
SD
TN
TX
UT
VA
VT
WA
Wl
WV
WY
Totals
RUS LOAN AND GRANT FUNDING
Loan Amount
$4,234,500
$13,061,200
$13,838,096
$30,336,190
$55,632,065
$7,070,300
$16,414,990
$48,357,700
$53,276,000
$49,064,446
$787,500
$10,080,300
$7,878,100
$15,806,000
$81,716,640
$7,789,800
$24,188,000
$31 ,077,800
$51 ,947,365
$18,727,150
$27,777,700
$90,473,000
$18,140,890
$20,278,200
$18,351,300
$10,209,950
$42,939,700
$1,281,900
$7,305,500
$8,473,250
$44,653,150
$5,965,700
$13,029,000
$27,052,100
$85,589,444
$18,337,000
$60,180,200
$183,714,300
$82,882,000
$156,500
$29,155,700
$4,661,120
$16,889,700
$33,638,000
$6,626,500
$60,971,685
$6,670,150
$52,710,347
$29,039,890
$25,461 ,000
$195,500
$1,574,094,518
Grant Amount
$31,151,900
$10,731,500
$9,925,250
$15,882,153
$45,943,475
$4,874,000
$9,353,300
$3,203,800
$43,707,180
$51,187,254
$1,575,000
$17,355,960
$3,075,600
$22,385,680
$49,969,390
$4,760,910
$21 ,557,500
$22,475,800
$18,682,850
$14,113,900
$15,964,250
$73,431 ,900
$17,523,130
$25,221,420 ,
$22,189,500
$9,205,450
$47,845,799
$1,559,500
$3,765,200
$5,403,250
$18,279,920
$17,001,000
$3,910,800
$40,875,573
$65,148,772
$14,907,050
$33,330,330
$115,054,300
$76,251,328
$525,900
$23,793,950
$1 ,456,250
$11,007,000
$70,532,333
$4,116,100
$42,102,580
$4,189,300
$42,480,290
$36,004,436
$18,343,500
$223,500
$1,263,556,013
TOTAL RUS FUNDING PLUS
JOINT FUNDING SOURCES
$69,634,900
$32,632,292
$40,304,405
$65,679,204
$115,719,241
$17,750,277
$32,289,402
$95,698,975
$117,878,630
$104,417,095
$3,150,000
$36,766,506
$17,091,890
$59,395,574
$159,679,206
$15,899,010
$80,521,600
$62,826,335
$78,374,915
$77,123,436
$82,284,390
$177,051,060
$40,325,920
$72,174,259
$46,607,068
$25,211,562
$100,646,664
$3,940,100
$13,436,270
$20,790,903
$63,384,970
$27,486,796
$29,377,028
$89,627,073
$191,290,916
$40,303,115
$130,677,350
$346,540,078
$206,095,749
$832,200
$61 ,639,850
$8,073,428
$48,982,536
$108,910,093
$32,482,950
$123,856,556
$30,037,097
$160,321,067
$76,111,580
$98,136,533
$818,511
$3,740,286,565
* The table does not reflect RUS funding awarded prior to 1992.
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