State Revolving Funds Resources
Join the SRF State Advocates Forum here. Have a suggested resource to add? Reach out to Erin Kanzig, Drinking Water Program Director, at ekanzig@rivernetwork.org.
The Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs) form the largest source of federal funding for water infrastructure. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (also referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, or BIL) allocated historic levels to both SRF programs.
SRF Program Basics
- NEW! River Network’s Self-Paced SRF Advocacy Training Series puts the SRF Advocacy Toolkit into action, breaks down how SRFs function, what projects can use SRF dollars, and includes advocacy examples and recommendations, along with tools local and state groups can use.
- The SRF State Advocates Forum includes fact sheets on DWSRF, CWSRF, lead service line replacement projects, the importance of “disadvantaged communities” and “affordability criteria” definitions and project ranking, and more.
- EPA’s Water Finance Clearing House is a robust centralized resource of financing options at community, tribes, state, and federal scope.
- EPA Drinking Water State Revolving Fund website
- State DWSRF Contacts
- Addressing Water Affordability with the Drinking Water SRF (EPA, January 2017)
- Developing Water System Partnerships with the DWSRF (EPA, August 2021)
- Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Eligibility Handbook EPA, 2017. The EPA prepared a detailed handbook to address DWSRF eligibility, especially on emerging types of projects such as green projects, which are explored in “Appendix B” of the handbook.
- EPA Clean Water State Revolving Fund website
- State CWSRF Contacts
- Asset Management Plans and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (EPA, February 2021)
- EPA interactive tool showing funding to states, Tribes, and territories for 2022 through IIJA.
- The Info Hub of the Council of Infrastructure Financing Authorities (CIFA) includes fact sheets and backgrounders on SRFs, as well as program details by state.
- Meet River Network’s Equitable Water Infrastructure Toolkit video provides a high-level overview of the toolkit, which explores SRFs.
- SRFS 101- Watch the 3 part series The Fundamentals of SRF Administration & Influencing Equitable Infrastructure in Your Community from River Network
- State Revolving Fund Switchboard by Spring Point and Southwest Environmental Finance Center features a repository of documentation and tools related to State Revolving Funds across all 50 states and Puerto Rico, including IUPs, Project Priority Lists, Loan Ranking Criteria, and Annual Reports.
- Let the Dollars Flow: Streamlining Illinois’ State Revolving Fund – recommendations from Metropolitan Planning Council
Funding Green Infrastructure
- Leveraging SRFs for Innovative Water Infrastructure Investment webinar, WaterNow Alliance (June 2021)
- Examples of comments to states regarding their Intended Use Plans (IUPs) from WaterNow Alliance, encouraging use of the Green Project Reserve:
- Leveraging State Revolving Funds for Green Infrastructure Projects webinar, EPIC (October 2021)
- Unlocking state revolving funds to finance resilience across the Great Lakes, Katy Hansen, Shaun Roberts, and Sanjiv K. Sinha, Environmental Consulting & Technology, Inc. (January 2022)
- EPA Clean Water State Revolving Fund website
- EPA Clean Water SRF webinars includes:
- Using State Revolving Funds to Build Climate-Resilient Communities. Ben Chou, Becky Hammer, and Larry Levine, NRDC (2014)
Funding Wastewater Projects
- EPA Clean Water SRF webinars includes:
- Many additional resources can be found in the SRF State Advocates Forum’s Resource Bank.
Addressing Affordability & Equity
- EPA’s guidance to states on the equitable implementation of CWSRF and DWSRF provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law/IIJA.
- EPIC’s takeaways of EPA’s guidance provides a helpful overview.
- A 50-State Survey of State Policies and Decision Makers to Help Ensure Federal Investments Go to “Disadvantaged Communities” Under Biden’s J40 Initiative, by Lawyers for Good Government. This report includes analysis of states’ DAC definitions related to water infrastructure (October 2022)
- Funding Disadvantaged Communities with the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (EPA, June 2016)
- How Equity Isn’t Built Into the Infrastructure Bill – and Ways to Fix It, Carlos Martin, Andrew Perry, and Anthony Barr, The Brookings Institute (December 2021)
- Georgetown Climate Center’s Equitable Adaptation Legal & Policy Toolkit includes a section on Funding Options for Resilient and Equitable Water Resources Investments.
- Equitable Water Infrastructure Toolkit River Network, 2021- Dives into SRFs and other equitable water infrastructure topics.
- Racial disparities afflict EPA drinking water funds, 2021 report by E&E News on EPIC’s analysis of SRF funding.
- Environmental Policy and Innovation Center’s Drinking Water Equity: Analysis and Recommendations for the Allocation of State Revolving Funds (2021)
- Protecting Drinking Water in the Great Lakes: A Primer on Existing State Policies and Using the Safe Drinking Water Act. Nick Leonard, Katie Rousseau, and Oday Salim, Great Lakes Environmental Law Center and American Rivers. (2019)
- Using the State Drinking Water Revolving Fund to Facilitate Lead Service Line Replacement in Michigan: State Case Studies and Recommendations. University of Michigan Water Center (June 2019)
- The Next Test for Environmental Justice Policy? Defining ‘Disadvantaged Communities.’ Emily Pontecorvo, Grist (July 2021)
Leveraging SRFs through Partnerships
- EPA State and Foundation Water Partnerships webinar provides examples of how coordination between funding agencies occurs and discusses opportunities for state-level agencies to partner with foundations on water infrastructure investments. (2021)
- EPA Clean Water SRF webinars includes:
- WaterNow Alliance’s Tap into Resilience Toolkit is an interactive resource for utility decision makers, management, and staff, includes a “What are my financing options” section.
Technical Assistance
- Pro Bono Capacity-Building Technical Assistance Program – Environmental Protection Network offers pro bono assistance to communities and non-profits to translate regulator processes into lay language, advice on navigating regulatory or grants programs, connecting groups to others in EPN’s network, and identifying contacts at regulatory agencies.
- Drinking Water 1-2-3 Technical Assistance program – Metropolitan Planning Council offers technical assistance and on-the-ground implementation of best practices in drinking water management.
- The Technical Assistance section of River Network’s SRF Advocacy Toolkit can direct you to more information about Environmental Finance Centers and other TA providers.
EPA Regional Contacts for SRF Section Chiefs
Visit our interactive webpage to find your regional contact!
To learn about the full range of programs funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (aka the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, or BIL) please see the IIJA resource page.
