The Corps Water Infrastructure Financing Program (CWIFP) enables local investment in infrastructure projects that enhance community resilience to flooding, promote economic prosperity, and improve environmental quality. Through the CWIFP, USACE will accelerate non-federal investments in water resources infrastructure by providing long-term, low-cost loans to creditworthy borrowers.
The CWIFP is authorized by the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) which was signed into law on June 10, 2014 as part of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014. The Act established a federal credit program to be administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for eligible water and wastewater infrastructure projects. Additional information about EPA’s WIFIA program can be found here.
Key Features of CWIFP:
- Long-term, low-cost credit assistance for water resource infrastructure projects
- Funding of up to 49% of project costs
- Augments other public or private funding and financing sources
- Requires a dedicated source of repayment (i.e. state or local taxes, user fees, etc.)
- Available to projects or group of projects with eligible costs in excess of $20 million
- Infrastructure that is non-federally owned, operated, and maintained
USACE has taken significant steps to plan for this program and now that appropriations have been received, we will work expeditiously to issue loans to qualified non-federal borrowers. The draft program rule for CWIFP was published in the Federal Register on June 10, 2022. A final rule is expected to be published as soon as Spring of 2023, allowing for the program to accept loan applications shortly thereafter. USACE is working closely with the EPA to coordinate resources to implement this critical program.
CWIFP is part of the Revolutionize USACE Civil Works initiative to expedite delivery of our nation's infrastructure by improving partnerships, synchronizing actions, developing new tools, and streamlining activities.