Stories of Progress in Achieving Healthy Waters

U.S. EPA Region 3 Water Protection Division

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania • April 17, 2017

With a series of “aye” votes, the Pennsylvania agency that turns EPA funding and state financing into water infrastructure projects crossed a key threshold recently – $8 billion in investment over nearly three decades.

At a board meeting earlier this year, the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) reached the milestone with the approval of $81.9 million for 16 drinking water, wastewater and stormwater projects.

Of the $8 billion in assistance provided to Pennsylvania communities since PENNVEST’s inception in 1988, EPA’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and its Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) together have accounted for about half of the total.

In addition to the CWSRF (more than $3 billion) and the DWSRF (nearly $1 billion), PENNVEST has also tapped state funds approved by voters.

The EPA SRF programs are federal-state partnerships that provide communities a source of low-cost financing for a wide variety of water quality infrastructure projects.

Over the years, SRF projects in Pennsylvania have ranged from nationally-recognized green infrastructure in Philadelphia to a rainwater system that is helping to turn abandoned mine land into a world-class botanic garden. In 2016, nearly $150 million in CWSRF financing – a record amount for the region – was allocated for a Reading wastewater treatment plant that serves 200,000 residents.　

The most recent batch of projects included $60.7 million in low-interest loans and $21.2 million in grants. Among the projects benefitting from SRF funding are:

• New Castle Sanitation Authority, Lawrence County – $11 million loan to construct nearly 42 miles of sewage collection lines and new lift stations at this system serving 23,500 customers. The project will eliminate discharges of untreated or partially treated sewage into publicly accessible areas from malfunctioning on-lot septic systems.
• Western Westmoreland Municipal Authority, Westmoreland County – $17.3 million loan to construct new lines and other improvements to its sewage collection system to eliminate sewage overflows into Brush Creek. The project will affect more than 13,000 customers.
• Edinboro Water Authority, Erie County – $7 million loan to construct a new drinking water treatment plant and water storage tank for the system’s 6,450 customers.

• Pennsylvania Reaches Infrastructure Milestone (PDF)(1 pg, 655 K, 04/17/2017)
  With a series of “aye” votes, the Pennsylvania agency that turns EPA funding and state financing into water infrastructure projects crossed a key threshold recently – $8 billion in investment over nearly three decades