Funding
EPA Announces New WIFIA Funding for Water Infrastructure Projects
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the availability of funding to provide an estimated $6 billion in Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loans in 2019.
Infrastructure Funding Chances, Opportunities Looking Up in 2019
It's uncertain whether infrastructure legislation will be approved in 2019, but the good news is that any bill will likely include water projects. This was not the case last year, when spending talk centered on roads and bridges instead of water and sewer construction.
2009 Stimulus Lessons and Infrastructure Investment
by Robert Carpenter Editor-in-Chief Early proposals for high-dollar infrastructure investment has created a unique buzz of excitement not heard since the much ballyhooed stimulus of 2009. Then, a President Obama-sponsored $800 billion stimulus package was passed. While there was much ado about aid..
Big New Dollars for Rural Broadband Companies
Broadband infrastructure was one of the big winners in the fiscal 2018 appropriations bill President Trump signed in late March. That bill included $600 million for rural broadband deployment through a new pilot program to be administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Servi..
Texas Water Development Board Now Accepting Applications for SWIFT Funding
The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) has opened the application period for the 2018 funding cycle of the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas (SWIFT) program. The application period began on Dec. 8, 2017 and ends Feb. 2, 2018. “The TWDB has committed $5.6 billion in financial assistance to..
TWDB Approves $1+ Billion For Improvement Projects
The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) approved more than $1 billion in financial assistance from the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas (SWIFT) program to be distributed to 10 project sponsors across the state. The projects, all recommended in the 2017 State Water Plan, include water line..
EPA Finalizes WIFIA Fee Rules, Congress Provides Additional Funding
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took another major step toward issuing its first credit subsidies for water infrastructure projects. It published a final rule in June, specifying fees it would charge counties and cities expected to vie for money in the first round of funding under the Wate..
House Committee Considers Drinking Water Spending
The House committee with authority for approving drinking water infrastructure funding has begun a legislative effort to reauthorize the 1996 law which created the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF). Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said both Rep..
Budgets For EPA Water Infrastructure Grants Endangered
President Trump’s intention to drastically cut the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other departments and agencies, could have a major impact on the agency’s two key water infrastructure programs, the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs). Early leaks of..
Underground infrastructure Remains A Ghost In The Politics Of Infrastructure Stimulus Discussions
by Robert Carpenter, Editor-in-Chief I’ve been waiting patiently. Listening intently, viewing all the footage, reading the reports and still I’m not seeing it. There has been virtually no mention of underground infrastructure in any of the coverage and discussions of the pending infrastructure stim..
Water Research Foundation Publishes Report On Infrastructure Funding
The Water Research Foundation (WRF), a leading sponsor of innovative research supporting the water community, has published a new report to help utilities assess several new and emerging capital financing alternatives. The report indicates that while new options may help, utilities still need suffic..
Trying To Gauge The Trump Bounce Effect
by Robert Carpenter Editor-in-Chief Before the November presidential and congressional elections, remember how all the so-called financial experts and talking heads kept telling America that if, by some fluke, Donald Trump was elected president, the stock market would plummet, the economy would slo..
EPA Announces WIFIA Program For Financing Large Water Projects
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the new Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program that will provide long-term, low-cost credit assistance in the form of direct loans and loan guarantees to creditworthy water projects. WIFIA provides another option for ..
New Year, New Hope For Underground Infrastructure
By Robert Carpenter, Editor-in-Chief Despite assurances for several years now by the President that our country’s economy was in great shape, I never bought into that. There always seemed to be a dark cloud following our markets. The November presidential election proved that many people of the Un..
Water Pipe Funding Assured by Congress
Congress will approve new funding for “emergency” repair and construction of underground water pipes with unacceptably high lead content when it approves a Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) bill in either November or December. But numerous questions remain about the new program established in ..
Agreement Reached To Create More Green Infrastructure In San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Baykeeper and the city of San José announced a legal agreement to make the Bay Area’s largest city a greener one. As part of the agreement, San José has committed to make significant future environmental investments by implementing more stormwater capture projects, or “green infrastruc..
Texas Water Development Board adopts 2017 State Water Plan
On May 19, the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) unanimously voted to adopt the 2017 State Water Plan. Conservation strategies are by far the most frequently recommended strategy in the plan, accounting for over one quarter of strategy supplies in 2070. The capital costs associated with impleme..
Texas Water Development Board Approves $32.1 Million in Rural Water Assistance
The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) has approved more than $32 million in financial assistance for rural water projects. The projects receiving funding include: $24.68 million to the city of Cameron for wastewater and water system improvements $6.35 million to the Bastrop County Water Cont..
Editor's Log: The Right Candidate
by Robert Carpenter Editor-in-Chief Waving a wallet in front of a desperate, starving man without any intent of opening up that wallet and sharing money is a very cruel action. But as the United States presidential primaries kick into full swing, candidates are displaying a similar tendency. Some ..
$5 Million Awarded To Resolve Critical Water Needs at San Antonio Military Base
The Texas Military Preparedness Commission (TMPC) voted to grant $5 million to help resolve critical water needs aboard Joint Base San Antonio, TX (JBSA), under the command of United States Air Force Brig. Gen. Robert D. LaBrutta, Commander. The additional support in vital resources will ensure San ..
- OSHA cites Florida contractors for trench safety violations at sewer and excavation sites
- Biden-Harris administration invests $849 million in aging water infrastructure, drought resilience
- Cadiz to reuse steel from terminated Keystone XL pipeline for California groundwater project
- Lynchburg, Va., breaks ground on largest-ever Blackwater CSO tunnel project
- West Virginia approves $67 million for water, sewer projects