DWSRF Program Overview
The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program provides low-cost financing to public water systems for planning and for capital improvements that improve public health protection and facilitate compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act. Loans can be provided to eligible regulated community water systems (municipal or private) and to eligible non-profit non-community water systems. Eligible borrowers, projects, and costs are defined in US EPA's DWSRF eligibility handbook and in VT DWSRF Guidance Document 8.
DWSRF Intended Use Plan
The loan program is funded annually through a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) capitalization grant, a State match appropriated through the Capital Bill, and repayment of prior loans. The DWSRF program develops an annual Intended Use Plan (IUP) which outlines how the program intends to spend the money for statewide initiatives, staffing, and loans. The IUP receives public input at an annual public hearing and is approved by the EPA. Loan principal forgiveness opportunities may change in the annual IUPs depending on available funding and EPA grant terms.
Loan Types, Terms, and Applications
See the Guidance Document page for details especially Guidance Document 10 Loan Types and Terms. The WID Applications and Forms page has links to forms and to ANRonline sites to submit draft Engineering Services Agreements and Loan Applications.
- Planning Loans: This is a general term for loans for Preliminary Engineering and Final Design but also includes those for source exploration, hydraulic evaluation, an asset management plan, or a service line inventory. Also see the Step 1 and Step 2 links below.
- Construction Loans: These loan funds are competitive, and are awarded through a two step process. 1. A Priority List Application that results in a preliminary eligibility determination and a ranking score. 2. Loan application via the site above. Also see the Step 3 loan link below.
- Source Protection Loans: For a municipal community water system to purchase land or a conservation easement to protect an existing or future public water source and ensure compliance with state and federal drinking water standards. For more information, see the DWGPD Source Water Protection site and the source protection sections in Guidance Documents 2 (scoring criteria) and 10 (loan terms). Availability of loan funds and principal forgiveness for this loan type will be updated in the annual IUPs.
