WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the launch of the Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center, according to a press release.
The center will help U.S. communities improve their drinking water, stormwater and wastewater systems, “particularly through innovative financing and by building resilience to climate change,” stated the release.
The release reported that EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and Vice President Joe Biden announced the launch of the center during a tour of the construction site for a tunnel to reduce sewer overflows by 98 percent into the Anacostia River.
The Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center is part of the White House Build America Investment Initiative — a government-wide effort to encourage economic growth and increase infrastructure investment by creating opportunities for the private sector and local and state governments to collaborate, increase the use of federal credit programs and expand public-private partnerships, noted the release.
“Infrastructure is central to the president’s plan to build on the progress the U.S. economy is making by creating jobs and expanding [opportunities] for all Americans,” said McCarthy. “By modernizing the nation’s infrastructure we can protect our drinking water sources and enhance resilience to the impacts of climate change by avoiding financial and water supply losses from leaking pipes and reducing pollution from sewer overflows and wastewater discharges.”
Read the entire release here.
