Dems to EPA chief: Pick up the pace with WIFIA loans

A popular water infrastructure federal loan program has languished under the Trump administration due to "ideological" red tape, a group of Democratic senators said this week, urging Environmental Protection Agency chief Lee Zeldin to pick up the pace of loan approvals.

The Trump administration has approved only six Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loans since January, the senators said. That compares with 18 WIFIA loans approved in 2024 and 24 loans in 2023, said the letter, led by California Democrat Sen. Adam Schiff.

"Our states and municipalities rely on WIFIA loans to finance large-scale projects to provide clean water to our constituents, and it is imperative that EPA use the resources Congress has provided to address the significant need for water infrastructure improvements," the senators said. The letter was also signed by Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Alex Padilla of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Ed Markey of Massachusetts.

Water and sewer issuers across the country often tap the WIFIA program ? sometimes combined with municipal bonds, sometimes instead of municipal bonds ? to help finance capital programs. The EPA to date has announced $22 billion to help finance 141 projects across the country, according to the agency.

There are 38 projects that borrowers have applied for a WIFIA loan and are waiting EPA approval, the letter said.

Five of the most recently approved loans came in late November after water advocate groups wrote their own letter expressing concerns about the sluggish pace of the program. The latest approved loans include Fort Worth and Pflugerville in Texas and Joliet, Ill.

The Democrats accused the administration of combing each application to ensure there is "ideological alignment with the president's executive orders," and asked the EPA to detail how it reviews the applications. They noted that the EPA's website lists the position of WIFIA program director as being vacant.

A WIFIA expert said the sluggish pace is likely due to the Office of Management and Budget's pause on federal funds, including grants and loans, when Trump took office in January.

"It's mainly the upheaval in federal funding that caused the slowdown this year under Trump," said John Ryan, principal at InRecap LLC. "In a sense it's a very simple story, and the water advocacy groups were doing their job in pushing Zeldin to get the loans closed, and the political folks were doing the same."

Ryan said the larger story could be that some of the larger issuers are asking water lobbyists and lawmakers to push the EPA because of worries the administration may tamper with or even eliminate the program.

For example, a popular feature of the program, which is not written into statute, is a rate reset term that lowers the loan's rate if interest rates tick down.

"The Zeldin letters might in fact be directed at OMB to close loans faster, as stated, but maybe also to indicate that some big red state water agencies aren't going to be happy if WIFIA features get curtailed and that they've started to organize political and interest group pressure," Ryan said.