EPA Announces $24 Million WIFIA Loan to Modernize and Expand Wastewater Facilities in Northern Oregon

EPA Announces $24 Million WIFIA Loan to Modernize and Expand Wastewater Facilities in Northern Oregon

October 10, 2024

SEATTLE - Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a $24 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan to the City of Sandy in northern Oregon. This WIFIA loan will support the city's plan to modernize their wastewater facilities and increase capacity to protect water quality in local waterways.

"Clean and safe water is essential to vibrant communities. Through WIFIA and the Biden-Harris Administration's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA is working with states and communities to upgrade water infrastructure to protect public health and the environment while creating jobs," said EPA's Principal Deputy Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water Bruno Pigott. "EPA's is proud to partner with the City of Sandy and finance nearly 80% of the project to reduce costs while strengthening local waters."

"This EPA low-cost financing is an investment in clean waters entering the Sandy and Columbia Rivers," said EPA Region 10 Administrator Casey Sixkiller. "We're proud to partner with the City of Sandy to chart an affordable path forward to improve water quality, protect human health, and safeguard the natural environment for critical species."

The City of Sandy will use this funding to improve the quality of surrounding waterways by renovating its wastewater treatment and collection system. EPA's funding will help the city rehabilitate its collections system, upgrade the treatment plant, and design and plan a new outfall to the Sandy River. Through developing its wastewater infrastructure, the city will increase water resiliency and capacity to meet wastewater discharge permit requirements. These enhancements will help prevent sanitary sewer overflows to Tickle Creek, a tributary that feeds into a regional drinking water source. Additionally, the City of Sandy will expand facility services to meet increasing customer demand.

"The City of Sandy is pleased to secure this critical component of our funding package for Sandy Clean Waters, our wastewater system improvement project," said City Manager Tyler Deems. "We are fortunate to have partners at the EPA who understand that financial assistance from the federal government is vital to ensuring that utility rates remain affordable for residents of our small town while we complete these capital investments."

A community of 13,000 residents, the City of Sandy will receive WIFIA financing for nearly 80% of its project costs, a flexibility offered to small community borrowers. This WIFIA loan, combined with $7 million in funding from the Oregon Clean Water State Revolving fund, will provide low-cost, flexible financing for this critical wastewater infrastructure project. With this WIFIA loan, the city will save an estimated $2.6 million and create about 80 jobs.

Since its creation, EPA's Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program has announced over $20 billion in financing to support $44 billion in water infrastructure projects that are strengthening drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure while creating over 140,000 jobs.

Learn more about the EPA's WIFIA Program and water infrastructure investments under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Background

Established by the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014, the WIFIA program is a federal loan program administered by the EPA. The WIFIA program aims to accelerate investment in the nation's water infrastructure by providing long-term, low-cost supplemental credit assistance for regionally and nationally significant projects. The WIFIA program has an active pipeline of pending applications for projects that will result in billions of dollars in water infrastructure investment and thousands of jobs.

EPA is currently in its 8th selection round for WIFIA financing. In this round, EPA is offering $6.5 billion through WIFIA, and $1 billion through SWIFIA, which is a loan program exclusively for State infrastructure financing authority borrowers. EPA is currently accepting letters of interest for WIFIA and SWIFIA loans. Learn more about submitting a letter of interest for a WIFIA loan.

In addition to WIFIA loans, there are many federal funding resources available for communities and utilities to improve vital water and wastewater resources. President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is a once-in-a-generation investment in our nation's infrastructure and competitiveness.