$527 billion. Since March, the Federal government has aligned over $527 billion in combined funding for water-related infrastructure projects. Detailed across hundreds of pages of legislation, there are many current and planned financing vehicles through which State agencies, public utilities, and various government entities can obtain funds to support their water-related infrastructure priorities over the next few years. 

120Water’s policy team has been keeping a close eye on these policy initiatives and distilled key takeaways below to build further awareness of as well as facilitate access to these funding sources. 

Emergency funds to government entities eligible for water/wastewater usage 

The American Rescue Plan Act (H.R. 1319) was signed into law on March 11, a $1.9 trillion emergency stimulus package in response to the economic and health impacts of COVID-19. Part of this stimulus package is the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, a $350 billion program aimed to help State, county, local, territorial, and tribal governments address some of the fiscal chasms and project delays they grappled with as a result of COVID-19.

*generally speaking, entities with population greater than 50K inhabitants

+generally speaking, entities with population less than 50K inhabitants

In May, the U.S. Treasury issued guidance that outlined six eligible funding areas, including ‘Water and Sewer Infrastructure.’ Effectively, projects that are eligible to receive funding from Clean Water and/or Drinking Water State Revolving Funds are eligible for Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program funding.

Funds are available now, and entities can request funds directly from the U.S. Treasury via their Request Funding webpage.

Senate and House of Representatives agree to substantially reauthorize SRFs

The U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives passed their own bills to reauthorize the Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Funds over the next 5+ years: 

• On April 29, the U.S. Senate passed the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act (S. 914)
• On July 1, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the INVEST in America Act (H.R. 3684)

State Revolving Fund (SRF) grants are eligible to be used for any water program that works to achieve the objectives of the SDWA, including Lead and Copper Rule-related projects. Below is a breakdown of the proposed SRF reauthorizations reflected in both passed bills. 

Unique to the Senate’s bill is it also proposes to reauthorize SWIFIA $5 million annually for the next five years, 2022 through 2026. Unique to the House’s bill is the creation of a new SRF capitalization grant for lead service line replacements. 

The next step is for the House and Senate to convene to negotiate the differences between their respectively-passed bills; once this negotiation is complete, the compromise agreement will go to the President for signature to become law. 

Water Infrastructure a priority of proposed Infrastructure Plan framework

On June 25th, President Biden announced support on a bi-partisan framework for a $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan. In the plan, $55 billion has been earmarked for water infrastructure projects, specifically targeting lead service line replacements. 

A prerequisite to facilitate lead service line replacements, a key component of the Lead and Copper Rule Revision, is the generation and management of a service line inventory on both the public and private sides. For more information on service line inventorying and replacement, download our free Inventory Guide. 

If you have specific questions about how you can obtain or leverage funds to support your water-related priorities, 120Water can help. Set up a conversation with one of our experts to learn more about opportunities to leverage funds to invest in water programs to protect your community. 

Marcus Hagberg

Account Manager, 120Water

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Marcus Hagberg

Account Manager