Water and Wastewater Construction Loans Awarded
Low-Interest Loans Help Fund Infrastructure Improvements
NASHVILLE – Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Bob Martineau announced today that seven communities and one county have been approved to receive low-interest loans for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements.
“The State Revolving Loan Program is an important tool to assist local communities with current and future infrastructure needs,” Haslam said. “This mechanism provides support and keeps our communities moving forward.”
The SRF Loan Program provides low-interest loans that help communities, utility districts, and water and wastewater authorities finance projects that protect Tennessee’s ground and surface waters and public health. Loans are used to finance the planning, design, and construction of water and wastewater facilities.
The Department of Environment and Conservation administers the State Revolving Fund (SRF) Loan Program for the state of Tennessee in conjunction with the Tennessee Local Development Authority. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provides grants to fund the program, and the state provides a 20 percent match. Loan repayments are returned to the program and are used to fund future SRF loans.
Through the SRF Program, communities, utility districts, and water and wastewater authorities can obtain loans with lower interest rates than most can obtain through private financing. Interest rates for loans can vary from zero percent to market rate based on each community’s economic index. In addition, loans utilizing this year’s EPA grant funds include 20 percent principal forgiveness.
“Community investments in our drinking water and wastewater systems are vital to maintaining environmental and public health,” Martineau said. “The principal forgiveness provision helps local communities accomplish this work in difficult economic times.”
The funding order of projects is determined by the SRF Loan Program’s Priority Ranking Lists that rank potential projects according to the severity of their pollution and/or compliance problems or for the protection of public health.
Wastewater loans were announced today for the following recipients:
City of Blaine (Grainger County) – The city of Blaine will receive $950,000 for a project that includes a new wastewater treatment plant and collection system. The project will be funded with a 20-year, $760,000 loan with an interest rate of 0.68 percent and $190,000 in principal forgiveness that will not have to be repaid.
Town of Greeneville (Greene County) – The town of Greeneville will receive more than $4.9 million for a project that includes collection system expansion in the Andrew Johnson Highway and Whirlwind Road areas. The project will be funded with a 20-year, $3.9 million loan with an interest rate of 2.62 percent and $986,481 in principal forgiveness that will not have to be repaid.
Roane County – Roane County will receive nearly $5.6 million for a project that includes collection system extension in two areas – the Delozier Lane and Post Oak Valley Road area, and the Keylon Drive, Swan Pond and U.S. Highway 70 area of the Clinch River. The project will be funded with a 20-year, $4.5 million loan with an interest rate of 1.77 percent and $1.1 million in principal forgiveness that will not have to be repaid.
Drinking water loans were announced today for the following recipients:
City of Athens (McMinn County) – The city of Athens will receive $2 million for a green project that includes stream bank restoration and water treatment plant upgrades. The project will be funded with a 20-year, $1.6 million loan with an interest rate of 3.18 percent and $400,000 in principal forgiveness that will not have to be repaid.
City of Elizabethton (Carter County) – The city of Elizabethton will receive $3.8 million for a project that includes two new source wells, water treatment plant and water lines replacements. The project will be funded with a 20-year, $3 million loan with an interest rate of 1.99 percent and $760,000 in principal forgiveness that will not have to be repaid.
Traditional wastewater loans were announced today for the following recipients:
City of Clarksburg (Carroll County) – The city of Clarksburg will receive a $130,000, 20-year loan with an interest rate of 1.02 percent, for a project that includes collection system expansion in the Purdy Road, Haley Street and Clarksburg Road areas and associated new pump stations with treatment at the Huntingdon Highway 22-Bypass Lagoon.
City of Elizabethton (Carter County) – The city of Elizabethton will receive a $2.8 million, 20-year loan with an interest rate of 1.84 percent for a project that includes replacement of sewer lines, rehabilitation of pumping station, and upgrade of wastewater treatment plant.
City of Morristown (Hamblen County) – The city of Morristown will receive a $1.6 million, 20-year loan with an interest rate of 2.73 percent for a project that includes rehabilitation/upgrades to Witt 1, Witt 2 and Witt 3 pump stations.
City of Savannah (Hardin County) – The city of Savannah will receive a $1.33 million, 20-year loan with an interest rate of 1.84 percent for a project that includes wastewater treatment plant upgrades, installation of a SCADA system, and the replacement and upsizing of the existing riverside pump station and adjoining 4,000 linear feet of force main.
Traditional loans do not include the 2010 EPA funding or the principal forgiveness provision.
Since its inception in 1987, Tennessee’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program has awarded almost $1.16 billion in low-interest loans. Since its inception in 1996, Tennessee’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program has awarded over $179 million in low-interest loans. Both programs combined award more than $87 million annually to Tennessee’s local governments for water and wastewater infrastructure projects.
Any local government interested in the program should contact the State Revolving Fund Loan Program, L&C Tower, 8th Floor, 401 Church Street, Nashville, TN 37243, or call (615) 532-0445. Additional information about the SRF Loan Program may be found online at www.tn.gov/environment/srf.
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