Driving Resilience in the Great Lakes

The Water Finance Centers (EFCs) provide financing information to help local decision makers make informed decisions for drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure to protect human health and the environment. Overseen by EPA, there are four national EFCs and 29 regional EFCs.

The four national EFCs are operated by:

• Rural Community Assistance Program
• Environmental Policy Innovation Center
• U.S. Water Alliance
• Moonshot Missions

These EFCs provide objective financial advice to help communities make informed decisions on funding drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure projects. They also will help communities develop and submit project proposals, including State Revolving Fund (SRF) applications for Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding.

In addition to hands-on support, the national EFCs maintain a robust library of online resources, support tools, and trainings. These resources cover a range of topics, including implementation and funding for natural infrastructure.

The national EFCs assist underserved states, Tribes, and local governments with technical assistance to identify sustainable infrastructure solutions. The communities that qualify as underserved depends the definitions set by each TA provider.

The contact information for the national EFCs can be found through the below portals.

Website: https://www.epa.gov/waterfinancecenter/efcn

Contact: General Inquiries Questions Form

You can also subscribe to the EFC newsletter to stay up to date on new resources and trainings.

WaterTA assistance is open to local governments, water utilities across the drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater spectrum, non-governmental organizations, states, and tribes. If the technical assistance required involves a utility, WaterTA will need cooperation from that utility, especially if the project involves a funding application.

WaterTA provides services to communities to address drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater challenges, including:

• Identifying water infrastructure or water quality improvement needs
• Planning for capital improvements
• Building technical, managerial, and financial capacity
• Identifying funding options
• Preparing for and developing applications materials for financing a project through SRFs or other EPA-supported funding opportunities
• Bid Support
• Training and assistance in writing grant proposals
• Navigating federal systems such as grants.gov and sam.gov

The full list of programs can be found here.

WaterTA is prioritized for disadvantaged and underserved communities, those that have never accessed SRF funding before, and those that are not currently receiving an equivalent kind of technical assistance. Disadvantaged communities are defined according to the definition provided by the state’s Drinking Water SRF and Clean Water SRF.

To request WaterTA services, fill out the simple form found here. The request form will be assessed for which WaterTA program will best fit the community’s project and needs. After submitting a request for technical assistance, an applicant may expect:

1. To receive a confirmation email from [email protected]
2. The applicant may also receive a follow-up email or call from the EPA, a representative of the EPA, or one of the TA providers to clarify the applicant’s interests and request

The EPA will review the request and respond with potential next steps as soon as possible, depending on the volume of requests received.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Circuit Rider Program provides technical assistance for rural water systems that are experiencing day-to-day operational, financial or managerial issues. The “circuit riders” are experts experienced in managing issues that arise in the day-to-day operations of rural water systems.

Circuit riders can assist with the following types of challenges rural water systems face:

• Management and finance
• Operation and maintenance
• Water treatment
• Leak detection
• Regulatory compliance
• Facility security
• Loan application and reporting
• Disaster and emergency assistance
• Board training

This assistance is provided on an as-needed basis.

To be eligible for Circuit Rider Program technical assistance, the utility or agency must serve an area with a population of 10,000 or less and be a public body, non-profit corporation, or tribe with legal authority to own and operate the water facility.

There is no formal application process or application deadlines. Assistance is provided on an as-needed basis, year round. To get started with Circuit Rider assistance, reach out to your state’s chapter of the National Rural Water Association. A list of each state chapter’s website is here. Additional contact information is listed in the next section below.

The state chapter for Michigan is the Michigan Rural Water Association, which is staffed by nine Circuit Riders. The chapter for Wisconsin is the Wisconsin Rural Water Association, which is staffed by five Circuit Riders.

The contact information for the Circuit Rider programs in Michigan and Wisconsin can be found through the below portals.

Michigan

• Website: www.mrwa.net/
• Contact: www.mrwa.net/contact-us

Wisconsin

• Website: www.wrwa.org/
• Contact: www.wrwa.org/contact-us/

The EPA Municipal Ombudsman is an independent, impartial, and confidential resource to assist municipalities in navigating EPA’s Clean Water Act programs and serves as a resource for communities seeking to comply with the Clean Water Act. The Municipal Ombudsman coordinates directly with EPA leadership and appropriate offices at headquarters and regional offices. to assist communities in navigating EPA resources.

Consistent with the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act, the Municipal Ombudsman will coordinate with the appropriate EPA offices to assist communities in navigating EPA resources.  Specific resources include:

• Federal assistance opportunities
• Technical assistance
• Flexibility available under the Clean Water Act, and
• Information on integrated planning and example municipal integrated plans.

A city, town, borough, county, parish, district, association, or other public body created by or pursuant to State law and having jurisdiction over disposal of sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes, or an Indian tribe or an authorized Indian tribal organization, or a designated and approved management agency may contact the Municipal Ombudsman for support on Clean Water Act concerns.

While the focus of the Municipal Ombudsman is on the Clean Water Act, the Ombudsman may help a municipality make broader connections to Agency experts as resources allow.

To contact the Ombudsman’s office reach out to:

Jamie Piziali, Municipal Ombudsman
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 202-564-1709

Annika Nelson, Associate Ombudsman
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 202-578-1826

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