Compliance Assistance

EPA and other entities have published numerous documents and tools to assist municipal officials as they develop a financing plan. Below are selected sites containing financing information. This is not an exhaustive listing of available financial information providers and resources but rather highlights some resources from the vast array of available tools. Information and resources relating to municipal revenue-generating authority, grants, loans and bonds can be found on the Financing Options link listed on the right side toolbar. While these resources are available to all communities, small communities and tribes can access specialized resources.

Providers

EPA Office of Water – Clean Water State Revolving Fund
This loan program provides funding for the construction of municipal wastewater facilities and implementation of nonpoint source pollution control and estuary protection projects.

EPA Office of Water – Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
This loan program provides funds for drinking water systems to finance drinking water infrastructure improvements. Emphasis is placed on funds to small and disadvantaged communities and to programs that encourage pollution prevention.

Environmental Finance Centers (EFCs)
The nine EFCs are located in multiple centers across the nation. They provide state and local officials and small businesses with advisory services; education, publications, and training; technical assistance; and analyses on financing alternatives.

Environmental Finance Center – Boise State University
This Center assists local and tribal governments and other public water and wastewater systems to increase their use of alternative and innovative approaches to environmental financing, particularly those that provide alternatives to traditional taxation methods. The staff can also assist state and federal agencies with policy and operational finance issues relative to the discovery of least-cost solutions to pollution reduction. This Center also provides low-cost financing software to help communities set water and wastewater rates and plan for future expenditures.

The Local Government Environmental Assistance Network (LGEAN)
This site is a "first-stop shop" providing environmental management, planning, funding and regulatory information for local government elected and appointed officials, managers and staff. LGEAN enables local officials to interact with their peers and others online. In an effort to reach all local governments, LGEAN also manages a toll-free telephone service (877/865-4326).

EPA Office of Compliance Assistance Centers
This site contains links to various centers available to answer questions about environmental regulations based on industry type.

USDA Rural Utility Service
This program provides funding for technical assistance and training for water and waste disposal facilities Funds may be used to identify and evaluate solutions to water and/or sewer problems of associations in rural areas relating to source, storage, treatment, distribution, collection, and disposal.

Department of Commerce Economic Development Agency
The Public Works Program empowers distressed communities to revitalize, expand, and upgrade their physical infrastructure to attract new industry, encourage business expansion, diversify local economies, and generate or retain long-term, private sector jobs and investment.

Resources

EPA Office of Water – Clean Water Financing
This page provides links to multiple financing programs.

EPA Office of Water – Catalog of Federal Funding Sources for Watershed Protection
The Catalog of Federal Funding Sources for Watershed Protection Web site is a searchable database of financial assistance sources (grants, loans, cost-sharing) available to fund a variety of watershed protection projects. This source provides an EXTENSIVE list of federal funding resources.

EPA Office of Water – Watershed Funding
Committed watershed organizations and state and local governments need adequate resources to achieve the goals of the Clean Water Act and improve our nation's water quality. To support these efforts, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has created this Web site to provide tools, databases, and information about sources of funding to practitioners and funders that serve to protect watersheds

USDA Water Funding Web site
This Web site provides links to water funding programs at various Agencies and Departments.

United State Census Bureau
This site contains population and economic data on communities across the nation

United States Bureau of Labor
This site contains economic and statistics data on social and economic conditions across the country.

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