In the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019, signed by the President on February 15, 2019, Congress provided $60 million in budget authority for the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 (WIFIA) program to cover the subsidy required to provide a much larger amount of credit assistance. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) estimates that this budget authority may provide approximately $6 billion in credit assistance and may finance approximately $12 billion in water infrastructure investment, while covering increased costs associated with implementing a larger program. The purpose of this notice of funding availability (NOFA) is to solicit letters of interest (LOIs) from prospective borrowers seeking credit assistance from the EPA.
The EPA will evaluate and select proposed projects described in the LOIs using the selection criteria established in statute and regulation, and further described in this NOFA as well as the WIFIA program handbook. This NOFA establishes relative weights that will be used in the current LOI submittal period for the selection criteria and outlines the process that prospective borrowers should follow to be considered for WIFIA credit assistance.
In addition, the EPA reserves the right to make additional awards under this announcement, consistent with Agency policy and guidance, if additional funding is available after the original selections are made.
Dates:
The LOI submittal period will begin on April 5, 2019 and end at 11:59 p.m. EDT on July 5, 2019.