PROGRAM The Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program accelerates investment in our nation's water infrastructure by providing long-term, low-cost supplemental loans for regionally and nationally significant projects. FY 2017 SELECTION ROUND NUMBER OF PROJECTS SELECTED: 12 TOTAL LOAN AMOUNT REQUESTED: $2.3 billion for loans ranging from $22 to $625 million TOTAL WATER INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT SUPPORTED: $5.1 billion for projects costing from $45 million to $1.3 billion ESTIMATED PRIVATE INVESTMENT IN PROJECTS: $1 billion ESTIMATED STATE REVOLVING FUND INVESTMENT IN PROJECTS: $700 million NUMBER OF PEOPLE IMPACTED: 20 million in 9 states, including small, medium and large communities TYPES OF BORROWERS: Private and public entities, including a State Revolving Fund (SRF) program TYPES OF PROJECTS: Wastewater collection and treatment, drinking water distribution and treatment, stormwater management, and water recycling projects. WIFIA APPLICATION PROCESS PHASE 1: PROJECT SELECTION • On January 10, 2017, EPA announced the amount of funding available and solicited letters of interest from prospective borrowers. • In April 2017, EPA received 43 letters of interest in response to this request. • EPA reviewed these letters of interest following the framework established in the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014. The assessment includes an eligibility screening, a preliminary creditworthiness assessment, a preliminary engineering feasibility analysis, and a selection criteria scoring. • On July 19, 2017, EPA announced the 12 projects selected to continue with the application process. PHASE 2: PROJECT APPROVAL • After an invitee applies for WIFIA credit assistance, the WIFIA program conducts a detailed financial and engineering review in order to develop the terms and conditions for the project. • Once a mutually agreeable term sheet is developed, the Administrator approves the loan and executes the term sheet. PHASE 3: NEGOTIATION AND CLOSING • Based on the term sheet, the WIFIA program finalizes the terms of credit assistance. • At closing, the Administrator and the borrower execute the credit agreement, which is the binding legal document that allows the borrower to receive WIFIA funds. £\ United States Environmental Protectio Agency WEBSITE: www.epa.gov/wifia EMAIL: wifia@EPA.gov ------- |