EPA awards New York $220 million for water infrastructure improvements

As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency celebrates its 50th anniversary year and this month’s anniversary theme of “successful partnerships,” the agency announced it has awarded $220 million to New York for State Revolving Funds (SRFs) to assist with water infrastructure projects that help protect surface water and provide safe drinking water to communities throughout the state.

“EPA’s continued commitment to investing in our state and local partners’ infrastructure projects helps ensure residents have affordable access to safe drinking water and cleaner waterways,” EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez said. “These funds will provide critical upgrades to help modernize New York’s water infrastructure needs while protecting human health and the environment. These grants represent a longstanding and fruitful partnership between EPA and states.”

EPA awarded $175 million to the New York Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) program, administrated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and the New York State Environmental Facilities Corp. (NYSEFC). The CWSRF program provides low-interest loans and principal forgiveness for the improvement of water quality protection infrastructure projects, including modernizing aging wastewater infrastructure, implementing water reuse and recycling and addressing stormwater, which are designed to protect New York’s lakes, rivers and the Atlantic Ocean. 

EPA awarded $45 million to the New York Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program, administrated by the New York State Department of Health and the NYSEFC. The DWSRF program provides low-interest loans and principal forgiveness for the construction of drinking water infrastructure projects and for the administration of small system technical assistance, source water protection, capacity development, and operator certification. The DWSRF program aims to protect people’s health by reducing exposure to contaminants in drinking water.

This action supports EPA’s 50th anniversary celebration and its February theme of protecting America’s waters – including surface water protection, safe drinking water and water infrastructure investments.

Background

Under the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund programs, EPA provides funding to all 50 states and Puerto Rico to capitalize SRF loan programs. The states and Puerto Rico contribute an additional 20% to match the federal grants. The 51 SRF programs function like infrastructure banks by providing low-interest loans to eligible recipients for drinking water and clean water infrastructure projects. As the loan principal and interest are repaid over time, it allows the state’s DWSRF and CWSRF to be recycled or “revolve.” As money is returned to the state’s revolving loan fund, the state makes new loans to other eligible recipients. These funds can also be combined with EPA’s WIFIA loans to create a powerful, innovative financing solution for major infrastructure projects.

For more information, visit https://www.epa.gov/dwsrf and https://www.epa.gov/cwsrf.