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State Revolving Funds and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act 101

One of the Caucus’ key priorities this year (and for the next few years) will be to help to ensure equitable implementation of the water provisions included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act). The $43 billion that will be distributed over the next 5 years as State Revolving Funds (SRFs) is an unprecedented supplement to existing annual SRF funding – in terms of the amount and in designating 49% to go out as grants and forgiveness loans. States have the most control over how these loans are distributed. That said, the EPA’s Office of Water released the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law SRF Implementation Memorandum to states this morning to help ensure that these funds reach the communities that need it the most. It’s up to the states now to act on their recommendations (and up to us to hold states accountable). This EPA Office of Water memo (check it out!) will guide collaborative implementation with state, territorial, local, and Tribal partners of the $43 billion in State Revolving Fund (SRF) investments through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Additionally, EPA released a press statement including quotes and statements of support from a range of stakeholders and organizations. This is a huge amount of federal funding that could do a lot of good if we can get the implementation right. If we do nothing, we risk leaving a lot of money on the table (i.e. states may not even distribute all the SRF funding they receive) AND we risk the money not actually reaching the communities that need it the most.

  • What can you do to help ensure communities in your state benefit from the funding?
    •  Spread the word! Make sure your community and other communities within your state know about this money! If you have a relationship with your water service provider, make sure THEY know about the money and that there will be more opportunities for technical assistance to help reduce the burden of developing projects and applying for this funding.
       
    • Join state-level advocacy efforts: There are several ways in which states determine how their SRFs flow. For example, they set the definition of “disadvantaged community,” they develop their Intended Use Plan (IUP) process every year to outline the projects they are planning to fund with SRFs; and they create the SRF application procedures. State-level advocacy around each/all of these points could help to ensure that the barriers for overburdened communities to access these funds are lowered so that they benefit, not only from this influx of federal investment but forever (i.e. SRFs have existed and will exist long before/after this influx).
       
    • Please see attached slides that we reviewed at the start of our last Training and Participatory Learning event, which may provide some helpful background on State Revolving Funds. 

Resources

  • Trainings and convenings on SRFs
    • Sign up for River Network’s 3 part training series on unpacking the fundamentals of SRFs starting next week (part 2 is on Mar 29)!
       
    • Email Yasmin (yasmin@policylink.org) if you would like to join the SRF Advocacy Forum monthly calls and listserv (co-convened by Alliance for Great Lakes, EPIC, River Network, and PolicyLink). It’s a nascent (but growing!) national network and a great way to learn about SRFs and connect to other advocates in your region and state!
       
    • WECR Caucus working group on SRFs: In late March/early April, we’ll start convening a WECR Caucus working group on SRFs.  If interested, please fill out our workgroup interest form.
       
    • Julian Gonzalez (EarthJustice) recently started convening a regular call on lead service line replacement ($15 billion set aside in the BIL/IIJA through SRFs for lead service line replacement). Please reach out to him directly at  jgonzalez@earthjustice.org if you (or people you know) would like to be connected to LSL replacement advocacy.
       
  • Additional resources: