EPA's recent award of a $727 million loan for a drinking water project in Portland, OR, is the largest that the agency has issued to date through its Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program, but although EPA officials are aiming to increase interest in WIFIA they are noting a lag in drinking water projects wanting to participate. The program provides federal loans and loan guarantees for a variety of water infrastructure projects, but of the 45 loans awarded to date, only seven of them have gone to drinking water projects, Andrew Sawyers, director of EPA's Office of Wastewater Management, which oversees the WIFIA program, said on a March 5 webinar hosted by the American Water Works Association (AWWA).
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