Integrated Planning in Action

Funding Integrated Plan Implementation

EPA's Integrated Municipal Stormwater and Wastewater Planning Approach Framework helps
municipalities meet clean water goals while prioritizing infrastructure investments with the greatest water
quality improvements and community benefits. The Framework lays out a comprehensive, yet flexible
planning process based on a set of overarching principles. EPA created a series of fact sheets—including
this one—to inform municipalities interested in integrated planning.

After developing and finalizing an integrated plan, a municipality will likely need to make a significant
financial investment to complete the planned projects on schedule. This fact sheet provides basic
guidance on determining the total cost of plan implementation and finding funding sources.

Identify and budget for full infrastructure project costs.

A municipality must be able to finance the infrastructure investments
needed to meet the Clean Water Act, other requirements, and serve residents.
A comprehensive integrated plan budget should include all life cycle capital
costs (i.e., labor, equipment, and materials) as well as long-term operations and
maintenance.

Assess options for funding integrated plan projects.

Wastewater and stormwater capital projects are often financed from
enterprise funds derived from sewer or stormwater utility fees or tax revenues.
Through the financial capabilities analysis process (see EPA's Determining
Requirements and Drivers fact sheet for more information), a municipality
can identify a more affordable schedule for system improvements—that is, a
way to increase fees more gradually than it might need to under a traditional
planning approach.

w ...we don't have to
worry about double-
digit rate increases
that we were looking
at [before integrated
planning]. "

—John Newsome,
Administrator,
Columbus, Ohio,
Division of Sewerage
and Drainage

BI*UE
PRINT

COLUMBUS

Clean streams.

Strong neighborhoods.

Columbia, Missouri

Mr

Columbia's Wastewater



and Stormwater Integrated

Management Plan included



a budget of $1.04 billion:



78 percent for wastewater



improvements and 22



percent for stormwater



improvements.



Federal and state grants and low-interest loans
can also be used to fund infrastructure projects.
Grant and loan program eligibilities vary, but
integrated planning supports many current EPA
grant and loan priorities, such as improving water
quality, support for underserved communities, and
resiliency. For example, the Water Infrastructure
Finance and Innovation Act loan program supports
projects that protect communities against extreme
weather events and prioritize projects that serve
underserved communities with water resource
challenges.


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Municipalities should identify potential funding
sources during plan development and if a plan will
use grant or loan funding, it should be written to
meet the requirements for those grants or loans
(see EPA's Getting Started fact sheet). Different
funding mechanisms can be coordinated to
ensure that projects recommended in the plan are
implemented affordably.

Below is a list of EPA and other federal programs
that can fund grants or loans for projects that may
be included in an integrated plan.

Visit program websites for more information,
including eligibility details. Search for more
opportunities at EPA's Clearinghouse for
Environmental Finance.

Programs tailored for small or underserved communities are
marked with the following icon.

EPA grants

¦	Water Pollution Control (Section 106) Grant Program. Section 106
grants provide funding to build and sustain effective water quality
programs that ensure the health of our nation's water bodies.

¦	Section 319 Nonpoint Source Management Program. States,
territories, and tribes receive grant money that supports a wide
variety of activities including technical assistance, financial
assistance, education, training, technology transfer, demonstration
projects, and monitoring to assess the success of specific nonpoint
source implementation projects.

¦	Urban Waters Small Grants Program. The program helps local
residents and their organizations, particularly those in underserved
communities, restore their urban waters in ways that also benefit
community and economic revitalization.

¦	Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grants Program. This new program provides
funding for critical stormwater infrastructure projects in communities including stormwater,
green infrastructure, combined sewer overflows, and sanitary sewer overflows.

EPA loans

¦	Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF'. The CWSRF program is a federal-state
partnership that provides communities low-cost financing for a wide range of water quality
infrastructure projects. Municipalities can contact their state CWSRF coordinators for more
information or to apply. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law mandates that 49 percent of CWSRF
General Supplemental Funding be provided (as grants and forgivable loans) to communities
that meet their states' affordability criteria or for certain project types, consistent with the Clean
Water Act.

Seattle, Washington

Seattle's Plan to Protect Seattle's Waterways included a
budget of $592 miilion: 85 percent for LTCP projects and
15 percent for stormwater projects.

In 2020, Seattle received a $192.2 million Water
Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan to finance
one of the projects in their plan

Boone, Iowa
Boone's Integrated
Wastewater Plan included
a budget of $15.4 million:
65 percent in capital
costs and 35 percent for
operation maintenance.


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A

¦ Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA). The WIFIA program provides long-
term, low-cost supplemental loans for regionally and nationally significant projects.

Other federal grants and loans

U.S. Department of Agriculture: Water and Environmental Programs (WEP). WEP provides
funding for the construction of water and waste disposal systems in rural communities with
populations of 10,000 or less. Funding opportunities include predevelopment planning grants
and water and waste disposal loans and grants.

Federal Emergency Management Agency: Building Resilient Infrastructure Communities
Program (ESRIC). BRIC uses grant funding to support states, local communities, tribes, and
territories as they undertake hazard mitigation projects, reducing the risks they face from
disasters and natural hazards. The program can fund hazard mitigation planning and planning
related activities.

Federal Emergency Management Agency: Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and Pre-Disaster
Mitigation Grant Program. These programs provide funding for mitigation measures that
reduce disaster losses, including projects incorporating green infrastructure solutions.

U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT): Rebuilding American Infrastructure with
Sustainability and Eguity (RAISE) grant program. The RAISE program allows USDOT to invest
in road, rail, transit, and port projects that would be more difficult to support through traditional
USDOT programs, such as projects with green infrastructure elements.

Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) Revolving Loan Fund. The RCAP Revolving
Loan Fund provides short-term financing to eligible applicants for pre-development costs
associated with new water and wastewater projects.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development: Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant
Program. This program offers loans and grants for rural communities with populations of
10,000 or fewer to finance acquisition, construction, or improvement of sewer and stormwater
collection, transmission, treatment, and disposal systems.

U.S. Department of the Treasury: American Rescue Plan Act Coronavirus State and Local
Fiscal Recovery Funds. These funds provide a substantial infusion of resources to help turn
the tide on the pandemic, address its economic fallout, and lay the foundation for a strong
and equitable recovery. They are available for making necessary investments to support vital
wastewater and stormwater infrastructure.

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si

Economic Development Administration: Fiscal Year 2020 Public Works and Economic
Adjustment Assistance Program. The program provides investments in planning under
the Administration's Public Works program to advance economic prosperity in distressed
communities.

You can also reach out to EPA's Municipal Ombudsman to learn more about tailored technical assistance
and funding options: https://www.epa.gov/ocir/municipal-ombudsman.

For more information, please visit EPA's Integrated Planning website.
EPA-832-F-22-006

*>EPA


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