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Helping Communities With the Funding Navigator

Unlocking Funds Faster Through Technical Assistance

EPIC’s Funding Navigator (FN) team works for small and under-resourced communities—70 so far and more in progress—by providing rapid-response project management and technical assistance, driving access to capital for more safe, reliable, affordable, and resilient water, wastewater, and stormwater systems.

Did You Know?

  • More than 2,000,000 Americans live without basic access to safe, reliable, and affordable drinking water and sanitation.

  • With 85% of water utilities are staffed by only three or fewer people, many are stretched too thin to keep pace with growing infrastructure needs or explore innovative solutions.

  • Between 2024 and 2033, the US will need to fill an investment gap of almost 1 trillion dollars in drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure.

  • Engineering alternatives analysis and designs, environmental and state permitting, financial planning and auditing, are all required to access state and federal funds for water projects.

  • Small and under-resourced communities often do not have the technical, financial, or administrative capacity to take even the first steps to access financing and funding that helps keep water safe, reliable, and affordable.

  • No-cost technical assistance is available to help communities knock down barriers to accessing funds for all types of water projects, including the removal of harmful lead service lines and green infrastructure.

  • Through philanthropic support and as one of the Environmental Protection Agency’s national Environmental Finance Centers, EPIC is delivering solutions to communities.

What Drives Us

We work to quickly uncover barriers to developing and financing water infrastructure capital projects and provide targeted solutions so we can help bolster local capacity and accelerate funding applications. We want to see small and under-resourced communities thrive, and we help connect them with the resources and investments they need for lasting water infrastructure.

Why It Matters

Financing water infrastructure capital projects—especially with government funding—is complicated, and yet it’s crucial to human and environmental health, public safety, and economic prosperity. One of the quickest ways to get to more high-performing water systems is to provide direct technical assistance that addresses local priorities and expands local capacity.

Our Process

Through localized capacity support and financing expertise, we help utilities, municipalities, Tribes, and local agencies identify and develop capital projects, meet regulatory requirements, and secure public funding to improve drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure.

As a national Environmental Finance Center funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and additional philanthropic support, we serve as a connector between communities, place-based partners, technical experts, and state and federal resources. Our team works as an extension of municipal and utility staff to meet their specific needs and has been recognized for the speed at which we can quickly and effectively connect some communities with technical expertise that is more specialized than what our team provides, and is necessary for the financing application process.

Our model—assessing local capacity, soliciting proposals, and managing contracts—enables us to deliver services very efficiently. It also promotes fair pricing for communities that often lack the resources to procure and oversee contractor services on their own. Our step-by-step process adapts to each community’s unique challenges, but follows a consistent framework that enables faster access to funds and fewer project delays.

By listening first and acting quickly, we help communities navigate complex funding programs, access the right expertise, and turn essential water projects from vision into reality.

Case Studies

Request Technical Assistance

Interested in technical assistance? Reach out today by submitting our request form!

Featured Resources

  • To help support EPA’s network of WaterTA and other TA providers, as well as communities interested in applying for SRFs, EPIC has developed a Clean Water SRF (CWSRF) Database and a Drinking Water SRF (DWSRF) Database detailing financial terms, conditions, definitions, and other application information.

  • Because SRF programs are so complex, utilities can sometimes need a small loan to complete the upfront work that is necessary to even apply. That is where our predevelopment loan fund comes in. The purpose of this predevelopment loan fund is to accelerate water infrastructure projects in the Great Lakes and, ultimately, to ensure clean and safe water throughout the region. The program is open to under-resourced communities in Illinois, Michigan, or Wisconsin who have a direct connection with the Great Lakes or any of their tributaries or drainage basins. Communities will receive predevelopment technical (planning, design, environmental review, etc.) and financial assistance that is necessary to secure SRF and other federal infrastructure financing.

    Interested communities can learn about eligibility and submit a request for assistance by using the “Submit Request Form” button under the “Request Technical Assistance” section above. Simply include ‘Great Lakes Loan Fund’ in the description of your water infrastructure challenge or concern.

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