This program provides low-cost financing for stormwater management, green infrastructure, treatment works, and water conservation projects that address flooding and other concerns.

	Supports nature-based solutions		Targeted support for small communities
	Encourages public-private partnerships

Application cycle: Varies by state. Applicants should approach their state Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program or EPA Regional Office for more information on specific deadlines.

Summary: Communities should consider leveraging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) if they require a source of low-cost financing to address stormwater concerns or create a green infrastructure project, including those that provide flood resilience and risk reduction. This is a program supported by EPA and administered by states. Some states may have customized loan terms to meet the needs of small and disadvantaged communities.

Eligible applicants: State and local government agencies, nonprofit organizations, eligible Native American Indian tribes.

• Filter — Tribal Communities: There is a set-aside for EPA’s Clean Water Indian Set-Aside Program. 

Eligible activities: Construction and technical assistance for publicly owned treatment works; nonpoint source pollution management systems; projects that support comprehensive management plans within National Estuary Program study areas; decentralized wastewater treatment systems; stormwater management; water conservation; watershed pilot projects; and water reuse. For example, the City of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, improved its stormwater management systems and built swales using four loans totaling over $3 million that the City received through the program.

Funding: Generally, no federal statutory maximums exist for eligible activities, although individual states allocate funds to prioritized projects and may impose additional limitations. In Massachusetts, project funding for clean water initiatives in 2018 ranged from $723,000 for street drainage improvements to $81 million for a water pump station and river crossing.

Cost share: Most assistance that communities receive through CWSRF is for loans that have to be repaid 100% to the CWSRF, though some options exist for loan forgiveness.

• Filter — Needs-Based Cost Sharing: Some states may have customized loan terms to meet the needs of small and disadvantaged communities. The amount of principal forgiveness for a regular disadvantaged project (up to 70%) is dependent on the annual median household income (AMHI) and household cost factor (HCF) for the project area.
• Filter — Federal Fund Braiding: CWSRF funds can sometimes be leveraged with assistance from federal partners such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, Rural Development, Farm Service Agency and Forest Service.
• Filter — Small or Rural Communities: Entities qualified as a disadvantaged community and that additionally meet the definition of either a small community (serve a population of 10,000 or fewer) or a rural project, are eligible for up to 100% principal forgiveness ($1,000,000 maximum).

Application process: 

• Project selection occurs annually at the 51-state level CWSRF programs across the country.
• To apply, find your specific state program online.
• In 2024, the average loan interest rate was 1.9%.
• The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) requires that 49% of IIJA funds provided through the CWSRF General Supplemental Funding must be provided as grants and forgivable loans to communities that meet the state’s affordability criteria or certain project types.