Environmental Financial Advisory Board (EFAB) Draft Letter (1/28/2020) - Do Not Cite or Quote—
This draft has not been reviewed or approved by the chartered EFAB and does not represent EPA policy.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINANCIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Members
Joanne Throw®, Chair
Brent Anderson
Lori Beary
Janice Beecher
Theodore Chapman
Rudolph Chow
Edwin Crooks
Lisa Daniel
Marie Roberts De La Parra
Yvette Downs
Ted Henifin
Craig Holland
Daniel Kaplan
Suzanne Kim
Pamela Lemoine
James McGoff
Chris Meister
James "Tony" Parrott
Eric Rothstein
Angie Sanchez
William Stannard
Carl Thompson
Richard Weiss
David Zimmer
Designated Federal
Officer
Edward H. Chu
Date
The Honorable Andrew R. Wheeler
Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20460
Dear Administrator Wheeler:
The Environmental Financial Advisory Board (EFAB) is pleased to submit our report, Evaluating
Stormwater Infrastructure Funding and Financing Task Force. This report was developed in
response to Section 4101 of the 2018 America's Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA), which
directed the EPA to establish a Stormwater Infrastructure Funding Task Force. Congress
directed the Task Force "to conduct a study on, and develop recommendations to improve,
the availability of public and private sources of funding forthe construction, rehabilitation, and
operation and maintenance of stormwater infrastructure" to meet the requirements of the
Clean Water Act. This Task Force was convened under the EFAB as a workgroup and the EFAB
approved this report and accompanying recommendations at our public meeting on .
We believe that effective stormwater management is integral to American quality of life. The
construction, rehabilitation, and operation and maintenance of stormwater infrastructure is
widely viewed as a solution to improving water quality in our nation's waterways, reducing
local flooding problems, and enhancing community resiliency. More than 80 percent of the
U.S. population lives in a community that has a stormwater permit and that number continues
to grow.
Stormwater management costs have been steadily increasing at the local level and many
communities do not have a sustainable source of funding for their stormwater programs. The
limited availability of low-cost funding through debt financing, grants, and user fees
exacerbates the growing affordability challenges that many communities face in paying for
their stormwater infrastructure and programs. Stormwater funding is a national problem that
requires action.
The Task Force was charged with the following questions to explore and develop potential
solutions in improving the availability of stormwater funding:
• Identify existing federal, state, and local public and private sources of funding for
stormwater infrastructure.
• Assess how the source of funding affects affordability, including costs associated with
infrastructure finance.
• Assess whether these sources of funding are sufficient to support the capital
expenditures and long-term operations and maintenance costs required to meet
municipalities' stormwater infrastructure needs.
Creative Approaches to Funding Environmental Programs, Projects, and Activities
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Environmental Financial Advisory Board (EFAB) Draft Letter (1/28/2020) - Do Not Cite or Quote—
This draft has not been reviewed or approved by the chartered EFAB and does not represent EPA policy.
The Task Force analyzed the funding needs of communities across the country and the funding sources that can be
used to meet these needs. From this information, the EFAB has six recommendations that are organized underthree
categories: (1) Stormwater funding education and technical assistance, (2) Simplification of existing federal grant
and loan programs and affordability support, and (3) Dedicated federal stormwater funding assistance.
These recommendations are presented as actionable ways to use existing funding, increase accessibility to those
funds, and identify additional funding opportunities. Several of the recommendations include direct engagement by
the EPA with state and local agencies. This two-way exchange will help bridge the gap between the source of clean
water regulations (federal) and the most important source of funding (primarily local). This, in turn, will also greatly
benefit the overall goals of the Clean Water Act, the involved agencies, and the public at large.
EPA is required to submit a report to Congress no later than 18 months after enactment of the 2018 AWIA (by April
2020) describing the results of the Task Force's study and resulting recommendations. We hope this report is helpful
to the EPA and we look forward to your report to Congress on this important matter.
cc: Edward H. Chu, Designated Federal Officer, Environmental Financial Advisory Board
David P. Ross, Assistant Administrator, Office of Water
Benita Best-Wong, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Water
Dr. Andrew Sawyers, Director, Office of Wastewater Management
Raffael Stein, Director, Water Infrastructure Division
Sonia Brubaker, Director, Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center
Sincerely,
Joanne M. Throwe, Chair
Environmental Financial Advisory Board
Rudolph Chow, Co-Chair
EFAB Stormwater Infrastructure
Finance Taskforce
Enclosure
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