The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Financing America’S Drinking Water
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United States Office of Water EPA-816-R-00-023 Environmental Protection (4606) November 2000 Agency The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Financing America’s Drinking Water DWSRF —A Report of Progress Financing America’s The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Drink- ing Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program is a significant tool available to states to fund high-priority infrastructure projects and state and local activities needed to ensure the provision of safe and affordable drinking water. The DWSRF program is well on its way toward meeting the goal of helping to ensure that permanent institutions exist in each state to provide financial support for drinking water needs for many years to come. Through June 30, 2000: : EPA has provided more than $2.7 billion in grants to all 50 states and Puerto Rico to capitalize revolving loan funds for infrastructure projects and to fund state and local activities. : States have made close to 1,200 “As a result of this program, low-interest loans totaling more we now provide safer than $2.3 billion for needed drinking water to over 2,000 drinking water infrastructure projects to meet public health and people. We would not have compliance objectives. gotten this far without the : Seventy-five percent of all loans Drinking Water State have gone to small water systems. Revolving Fund.” : States have reserved $445 million for activities that support their —Stan Bullard drinking water programs, enhance Vice President of Camp Verde the management ability of water Arizona Water System which received a loan to address high systems, and protect sources of arsenic levels in its drinking drinking water. water source A New Era in Drinking Water Financing roviding safe, clean drinking water to EPA distributes DWSRF funds to each of Pthe 254 million people served by the 50 states and Puerto Rico in the form of approximately 54,000 community water capitalization grants. To date,* EPA has systems in the United States is an important awarded more than $2.7 billion in DWSRF goal of federal, state, and local officials. grants for drinking water projects and state While our drinking water is among the and local activities. States use the grants to safest in the world, the owners and operators capitalize revolving loan funds from which of the nation’s public water systems know low-cost loans and other types of assistance that they must make significant infrastruc- are provided to eligible systems to finance ture improvements to continue supplying the costs of infrastructure projects. States safe drinking water to their customers. A must provide matching funds equal to at 1995 EPA survey of drinking water infra- least 20 percent of each grant. To date, state structure needs identified a 20 year need of matching funds have added more than $540 more than $138 billion. Approximately one- million to the program. Loan repayments quarter ($37.2 billion) of this total national made by assistance recipients return to the need is for small systems, which serve up to revolving 3,300 people. loan fund and provide Many public water systems, particularly a continuing small water systems, have difficulty obtain- source of ing affordable financing for infrastructure financing for improvements. Recognizing this fact, infrastruc- Congress established the Drinking Water ture projects. State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program as part of the Safe Drinking Water Act The 1996 SDWA Amendments also (SDWA) Amendments of 1996. Congress included new regulatory requirements and authorized $9.6 billion in new federal grants other provisions that emphasize comprehen- to help ensure that the nation’s drinking sive public health protection through water remains safe and affordable. The preventing drinking water contamination DWSRF program was modeled, in part, problems. To give states the financial after the Clean Water State Revolving Fund resources for this new emphasis, each state (CWSRF) program initiated in the late was given the flexibility to set aside up to 31 1980s under the Clean Water Act. The percent of its DWSRF grant to fund CWSRF program has provided more than activities that support its drinking water $30 billion in assistance from $18 billion in program, enhance the managerial capabili- federal funds for projects addressing waste- ties of water systems, and protect sources of water treatment and non-point sources of drinking water. pollution. *Data included in this report are from a wide variety of sources, including: DWSRF program information (through June 30, 2000); EPA’s 1995 Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey (EPA 812-R-97-001); and the Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) FY99Q4 Frozen Database (national data for community water systems). Financing Infrastructure Projects tates have loaned more than $2.3 Eligible projects are those needed to main- Sbillion to eligible water systems for tain compliance with health-based standards projects ranging from the installation or or otherwise further the public health upgrade of treatment facilities to the protection goals of the SDWA, such as DWSRF Loans Made creation of new installation and replacement of failing water systems treatment and distribution systems. As needed to EPA’s survey of drinking water infrastruc- address public ture needs showed, there is a tremendous health con- need associated with drinking water projects cerns. Since throughout the country. In New York the first loan alone, more than 1,250 projects totaling was made to $4.6 billion have been identified by systems the Town of that have indicated an interest in receiving Williamsburg, funds. To ensure that the most critical Pennsylvania in infrastructure needs are met, each state has April 1997, developed a priority system for funding approximately projects. States must give priority to eligible 1,200 loans projects that: (1) address the most serious have been risks to human health, (2) are necessary to made. Seventy-five percent of these loans ensure compliance with the requirements of were made to small systems (40 percent of total assistance). More than one-third of Eligible the projects receiving loans have been Project Categories completed, and communities nationwide Treatment G Projects to maintain compliance with regulations are enjoying the benefits of a safer, more for contaminants that cause acute and chronic affordable supply of drinking water as a health effects. result. Transmission and Distribution G Installation or replacement of transmission and distribution mains. Eligible Systems and Source Projects G Rehabilitation of wells or development of sources to replace contaminated sources. Publicly and privately owned community Storage water systems and nonprofit noncommu- G Installation or improvement of eligible storage nity water systems can receive DWSRF facilities. funding. To focus on the needs of small Consolidation G Consolidation of water supplies if a water supply systems, Congress required that states has become contaminated or if a system is provide a minimum of 15 percent of their unable to maintain technical, financial, or managerial capacity. funds to systems serving 10,000 people or Creation of New Systems less. Most states have far exceeded this G Creation of new community water systems to replace contaminated sources or to consolidate minimum requirement. existing systems that have technical, financial, or managerial difficulties. 2 the SDWA, and (3) assist systems most in additional assistance to complete a project. need on a per household basis. States rank The DWSRF program provides states with the projects and then offer loans to those additional flexibility to address these with the highest priority. systems. A state may take Financing Tools Available an amount equal to 30 Through the DWSRF Flexible Financing Tools percent of its capitalization G Low-interest loans between 0 percent and the Promote Results grant to provide additional market rate with a 20 year repayment period. A wide range of tools to fund infrastructure loan subsidies (e.g., G Refinance or purchase local debt to reduce a projects are available to states through the principal forgiveness, community’s cost of borrowing. DWSRF program. The most significant negative interest rate loans) G Purchase insurance or guarantee local debt advantage of the DWSRF program is that it to communities which are to improve credit market access or reduce interest rates. allows states to offer loans to water systems classified as “disadvan- at below-market interest rates. The savings taged” based on G Leverage program assets by issuing bonds to increase the amount of funds available for from lower interest rates can be significant affordability criteria projects. for a community. For example, a water developed by the state. A G Provide disadvantaged assistance by taking system receiving a $5 million loan at a 2 state may also extend loan an amount equal to 30 percent of a capitaliza- tion grant for loan subsidies or extending the percent interest rate, as opposed to a 6 terms for these systems to repayment period to up to 30 years. percent interest rate, would save $2.5 up to 30 years. Another million over the course of its 20 year method for making loans more affordable is repayment period. to coordinate DWSRF funds with other sources of funding. Other federal financial Using program assets as security, a state can assistance programs (e.g., the U.S. Depart- also issue bonds to “leverage” its program. ment of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Over time, leveraging can generate a Development program and the U.S. significant amount of additional funding Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) for projects. More than ten states are using Community Development Block Grant the assets of the program to leverage in their program) are available to assist water DWSRF programs so that they can meet systems in addressing drinking water the demand for financial assistance. For infrastructure needs. Many states also have example, leveraging has enabled New York their own assistance programs for drinking to make more than $460 million in loans water improvements.