News
Additional funding will soon be available to utilities and communities across the U.S. for water, wastewater, and stormwater projects through the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and individual states are working through processes to make these funds available. The Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) have each been reauthorized at $14.65 billion over five years plus another $11.7 billion guaranteed funding. A portion of the guaranteed funding must be used for grants or 100% principal loan forgiveness.
Additional programs that will receive federal allocations under IIJA include Sewer Overflow & Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grants, Infrastructure Resiliency & Sustainability Grants, Wastewater Energy Efficiency Grant Pilot Program, and the Alternative Source Water Pilot Program, among others.
For more details, please refer to the summer 2022 issue of the Central States Water Environment Association (CSWEA) Magazine for an article co-published by raSmith’s Chris Tippery, P.E., senior project manager, and Brandon Koltz, adjunct professor at Carthage College and principal at his sole-person firm.
About the Author: Chris Tippery, P.E., ENV SP, brings over 23 years of experience in water, wastewater, and stormwater design and construction services. Tippery has designed and managed projects that include upgrades to major municipal wastewater treatment plants and numerous water distribution and wastewater/stormwater collection system modifications and upgrades. His experience includes project development, conceptual design, detailed plan, and specifications design, storm sewer and open-channel stormwater conveyance systems, water main distribution and storage, combined sewer overflow (CSO)/sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) storage facilities, and sanitary conveyance systems including gravity and lift station applications. He also has wastewater process experience in evaluating, designing, and constructing facility improvements, thereby providing an expanding service line to raSmith. Tippery has worked with local units of government and their water and wastewater utilities throughout Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota. He has also provided design services for numerous projects for the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD). Tippery is a professional engineer licensed in Wisconsin and Illinois. He is also certified as an Envision Sustainability Professional. Tippery holds bachelor and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Marquette University.