Program Handbook

Information Sessions

EPA’s WIFIA program hosts webinars and information sessions for prospective borrowers to foster a greater understanding of the WIFIA program requirements and pave the way for successful applications to the program.

• Current status
• Eligibility and statutory requirements
• Application process
• Financial benefits and flexibilities
   

• Prospective borrowers including municipal entities, tribes, corporations, partnerships, and State Revolving Fund programs
• Private and non-governmental organizations that support prospective borrowers
   

Upcoming information sessions

For the Boston and Atlanta sessions below, WIFIA staff will be available for 30-minute individual meetings to learn more about your project and answer specific questions. Participants will receive a link to sign up after registering.

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February 4, 2019
Phoenix, Arizona
Arizona DEQ
1110 W. Washington Street
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Upcoming webinars

December 12, 2018, 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. (ET)
WIFIA Financial Benefits
Description: Learn about the WIFIA’s financial benefits including general information about flexibilities and a case study of one of WIFIA’s closed loans.
Register

December 18, 2018, 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. (ET)
WIFIA Application Process
Description: Learn about the WIFIA application process, including the Letter of Interest submission, evaluation, and selection.
Register

Stay tuned for more information about in-person sessions and webinars.

View and download a past information session:

• WIFIA Program Overview Webinar, November 28, 2018

Learning Module

The WIFIA 101 Learning Module is self-paced, interactive training module designed to teach prospective borrowers about WIFIA financing. It includes chapters about the WIFIA program’s eligibility, financial terms and conditions, financial benefits, application process, and Federal requirements.

Federal Compliance Requirements

Projects receiving WIFIA credit assistance must comply with all federal laws and regulations, including environmental compliance requirements and other compliance requirements. The WIFIA program will review application materials and work with prospective borrowers to make determinations, conduct consultations with other agencies, and ensure compliance. The following requirements are particularly important for WIFIA projects.

More information about compliance requirements is available in Chapter 1 and Appendices E and H of the WIFIA Program Handbook.

• National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) 
  Each proposed WIFIA project must be assessed for its impact on the environment under the guidelines set forth by NEPA. EPA will not issue a term sheet or obligate funds for a project until a final agency determination, such as a Categorical Exclusion (CATEX), Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), or a Record of Decision (ROD), has been issued. EPA determines if a proposed project qualifies for a Categorical Exclusion, using EPA’s NEPA implementing regulations, which specify EPA’s environmental review procedures. EPA considers EPA’s NEPA Implementing Regulations for Environmental Assessments (EA) and Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) to determine if an EA or EIS should be prepared for a project. EPA also considers the NEPA implementing regulations for EISs. Table H-2 of the WIFIA Program Handbook outlines the implementing regulations for EAs and EISs.
  
  WIFIA projects may also be eligible for coverage under the WIFIA Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA). The PEA analyzes the potential environmental impacts related to the issuance of credit assistance under WIFIA. The PEA is an innovative approach to environmental review covering a group of projects that are similar in scope, scale, and magnitude, and that have similar types of impacts, rather than a singular project. Projects covered under the PEA do not require an additional public notification or public comment period.
   
• National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA)
  Projects must comply with the NHPA, which requires consultation with the appropriate Historic Preservation Office. The fundamental responsibility of federal agencies, Section 106 of the NHPA, is to consider the effect of any undertaking on any district, site, building, structure, or object that is included in or eligible for inclusion in the National Register prior to approval of the expenditure. For information on the 106 process and how the public can become involved, see A Citizen's Guide to Section 106 Review.
   
• American Iron and Steel (AIS) Requirements
  WIFIA borrowers are required to use iron and steel products produced in the United States. Guidance developed for compliance with AIS requirements for EPA’s SRF programs applies to projects receiving WIFIA credit assistance.
   
• Davis-Bacon Wage Requirements
  WIFIA borrowers are required to comply with Davis-Bacon wage requirements and pay all laborers and mechanics working on the project no less than the locally prevailing wages on similar projects in the area.