The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) is set to provide one of the largest amounts of federal funding the U.S. water infrastructure sector has ever received.

“We've never seen funding like this in the water sector, so there's a lot of excitement around what the BIL provides,” said Juan Diaz-Carreras, WSP USA Southern California/Nevada district water business line leader.

Over the life of the BIL, $55 billion will fund 20 programs managed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and another $10 billion will fund 12 programs managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior. The funding is a mix of grants and low interested loans.

“I think one of the interesting things that the BIL is trying to do in the water sector is to really push innovation for initiatives like lead reduction, new technologies, using stormwater as a water supply resource, and how to look at reuse in fresh ways,” Diaz-Carreras said. “The new programs are oriented around innovative ideas and ways to support underserved and historically disadvantaged communities, rural communities and tribal governments.”

New water infrastructure grant and loan programs in the BIL include:

• Lead Reduction Grant Program
• Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Grant Program
• Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Grant Program
• Public Treatment Connection Grant Program
• New Tech Grant Program

The BIL is also boosting its support of several existing EPA grant and loan programs, including:

• Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act
• Clean Water State Revolving Fund
• Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
• Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities

“Existing programs are receiving large increases in their funding allotments,” Diaz-Carreras said. “It's really interesting how they're tweaking those programs to make the money more accessible and encourage more folks to apply for it.” The BIL also directs that the State managed revolving fund programs provide a certain amount of loan forgiveness, essentially transforming those programs into partial grants programs.

While they are eager to distribute the money to worthwhile water infrastructure projects, there still need to be plans in place that demonstrate a project’s merit to apply and qualify for the funding. This includes provisions that address disadvantaged communities.

“There is an emphasis in the water sector, and across the BIL, to reach communities that haven't historically accessed these funding sources and are trying to really get projects going in those areas,” Diaz-Carreras said. “The BIL creates an aura of possibility around it and allows for disadvantaged communities, which may have been neglected in the past, to benefit from investments in things like green infrastructure and removal of lead pipes.”

In addition, many of these funding options in the past were loans that would need to be repaid; so many projects that would have qualified and filled a need were placed on the backburner over concerns about making those repayments.

Now, projects that have been on hold may be perfect candidates for loans that have a long payback period that will not need to be paid back until years after construction is completed, as well as grants that will not require any repayment.

“This money could be there for those projects, and it could be just what is needed to get those projects going,” Diaz-Carreras said. “A nice package of funding can be developed that accelerates the implementation of projects that will create water infrastructure that is affordable to build and keeps costs down for rate payers.”

One of the areas of opportunity surrounds the repurposing of stormwater as a part of a community’s water infrastructure.

“There are effective ways to reuse stormwater as a resource instead of just pushing it out into the ocean,” Diaz-Carreras said. “A lot of innovations that really push the envelope in how we’re using water are happening in these programs. Collectively the programs are pushing that we be good stewards of water and maximize our efficiency in water usage to the benefit of our communities and the environment.”

Future Ready® agencies that create plans where repurposing of stormwater plays an integral role will not only increase their chances of securing funding through BIL but will also reap the benefits of turning something that was previously discarded into an environmental asset.

(Note: These program details are updated through mid-July 2022.)

This is the fourth article in a six-part series offering a sector-by-sector review of what's been happening with BIL funding, and how to make the most of these opportunities. This series covers the BIL’s impact on:

• Part 1: Climate, Resilience & Sustainability (CRS) and Equity
• Part 2: Highways, Bridges and Electric Vehicles
• Part 3: Transit and Rail
• Part 4: Water
• Part 5: Energy
• Part 6: Aviation and Maritime Infrastructure

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