Side by Side Comparison of Funds
Grants
| Funding | Description | Eligible Grantees1 | Eligibility Conditions | Cost Share | Action to Apply or Express Interest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USBR Drought Response | Funding for Drought Contingency Plans and/or mitigation projects for drought | Public | Western states only | 50% cost share required; waiver may be granted | Contact slooper@usbr.gov |
| USBR Water and Energy Efficiency | Funding for water efficiency and conservation projects as well as projects that mitigate risks of future water conflict | Public | Western states only | 50% cost share required | Contact jgerman@usbr.gov |
| USBR Environmental Water Resource | Funding for efficiency projects with ecological value; main focus is drought | Public | Western states only | 25% cost share required | Contact rgraber@usbr.gov |
| EPA Drinking Water System Infrastructure Resilience and Sustainability Program | Grant to improve resilience to hazards at PWS | Public | Underserved communities | Cost share waived due to COVID-19 | Contact Claudette Ojo Ojo.Claudette@epa.gov |
| FEMA Public Assistance (PA) | Provides grant assistance for emergency work (immediate threat to life) and for permanent work (to restore damaged infrastructure) | Public or PNP | Following a Presidentially Declared Disaster; only used to repair damaged parts of facility and to mitigate future damage. | 75% federal; 25% state and local match; see Combine Funding | Contact local emergency management agency |
| FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) | Provides grants for long-term solutions to reduce losses and protect life from future disasters. Three types of assistance: | Public, but varies for PNP or PFP-depends on type of assistance | Varies depending on type of assistance. See FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance or specific type (BRIC, HMGP, or FMA) | 75% federal; 25% state and local match; see Combine Funding | Contact local government grant administrator or State Hazard Mitigation Officer |
| HUD CDBG3 | Provides grant assistance that can be used to buy, construct, or fix public facilities such as water and sewer systems. Grantees may fund activities that meet urgent community development needs. | Entitlement communities (ET)2 apply to HUD. Non-ETs apply to state. | Must spend at least 70% of funds for low- and moderate-income persons. | Varies depending on project cost | Contact local municipal or county or local HUD field office |
| HUD CDBG-DR | Provides grant assistance that funds the most impacted and distressed areas for various uses, including restoration of water and wastewater utilities | See HUD CDBG | Following Presidentially Declared Disaster, funds appropriated for long-term recovery. | Varies depending on project cost | Contact local municipal or county local HUD field office |
| HUD CDBG-MIT | Funding available in areas impacted by recent disasters to carry out strategic and high-impact activities to mitigate disaster risks and reduce future losses | See HUD CDBG | Following Presidentially Declared Disaster, funds appropriated for mitigation | Varies depending on project costs | Contact local municipal or county local HUD field office |
| USDA Community Facilities Direct Loans/Grants | Funding to purchase, construct, and/or improve essential community facilities | Public in rural areas | Rural areas less than 20,000 population | Graduated based on size/median household income of community | Contact your local Rural Development Office |
| USDA EWCAG4 | Provides grants to rural communities to obtain and maintain adequate quantity and quality of drinking water to meet standards under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Grants provided at two levels. | Public or PNP in rural areas | Communities with significant decline in quantity/quality due to emergency | 100% federal for project costs | Contact your local Rural Development Office |
| USDA Special Evaluation Assistance | Funding for predevelopment feasibility studies, design, and technical assistance on water/waste disposal projects | Public and PNP in rural areas | Rural areas less than 2,500 populations | Case-by-case basis | Contact your local Rural Development Office |
1 PNP stands for Private-Nonprofit and PFP stands for Private For-Profit.
2 Entitlement communities are metropolitan cities with populations of at least 50,000 people, "Principal" cities of Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), urban counties with populations of at least 200,000 people (excluding the population of Entitled cities).
3Community Development Block Grants
4 Emergency Water Community Assistance Grants
Loans
| Funding | Description | Eligible Grantees1 | Eligibility Conditions | Loan Conditions | Action to Start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EDA Disaster Recovery | Funding to support disaster recovery strategies/plans recovery projects, including construction activities for natural disaster-resilient infrastructure, capitalizing Revolving Loan Funds, entrepreneurship development and technical assistance | Public and PNP | Following Presidentially Declared Disaster, funds appropriated for disaster recovery | Varies | Contact your Regional EDA office |
| EPA State Revolving Funds (SRF) | Low-rate loans to fund infrastructure improvements to water or wastewater systems to protect public health, mitigate for future hazards, and ensure compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act; under IIJA, nearly 50% of funds are available as grants and principal forgiveness loans for underserved or disadvantaged communities | Public and private water systems and PNP | Application rules vary by state; priority determined by the state. | 0% to market rate for up to 30 years. Combine with grants or principal forgiveness in some cases. | Contact your technical assistance providers or state SRF official for drinking water and wastewater |
| EPA WIFIA | Provides long-term, low-cost supplemental loans for regionally and nationally significant water and wastewater infrastructure projects. WIFIA works separately from, but in coordination with, the SRF programs. | Public utilities | Project selected based on project's creditworthiness, engineering feasibility, readiness to proceed, and alignment with EPA priorities. | Low-cost loan | Visit WIFIA site to determine if eligible. |
| HUD Section 108 | Provides CDBG recipients with the ability to leverage annual grant allocation to access low-cost, flexible financing to increase resilience for infrastructure against natural disasters. | Entitlement communities (ETs)2 from HUD. Non-ETs apply to state. | Communities must spend at least 70% of funds for low- and moderate-income persons | Low-cost loans | Contact local municipal or county or local HUD field office |
| USDA Revolving Funds | Funding for RLFs to extend and improve water and waste disposal systems. Preplanning funds available for creating the RLF. | PNP in rural areas | Rural area less than 10,000 population | 10-year low-interest loans up to $200k, 20% cost share required | Contact your local Rural Development office |
| USDA WWDLG3 | Provides funding for clean and reliable drinking water systems, sanitary sewage disposal, and storm water drainage to households and businesses in eligible rural areas. Preplanning funds available for application development. | Public and PNP in rural areas. | Communities with significant decline in quantity/quality due to emergency | Low-interest loans-up to 40 years. If available, grant may come with loan to keep user costs reasonable. | Contact your local Rural Development office |
| SBA Loans | Provides low-interest, long term loans to all sized businesses and PNP after a disaster. Consists of | PNP and PFP | Any business in declared disaster area and incurred damage may apply for BPDLs. Only businesses unable to obtain credit elsewhere can receive EIDLs. | Loans up to $2.0M in disaster assistance | Contact your local SBA office. |
1 PNP stands for Private-Nonprofit and PFP stands for Private For-Profit. Varies depending which FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance Programs is used
2 Entitlement communities are metropolitan cities with populations of at least 50,000 people, "Principal" cities of Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), urban counties with populations of at least 200,000 people (excluding the population of Entitled cities).
3 Water & Waste Disposal Loan & Grant Program