EPA Approves Request To Expedite Loans For Water Projects

As of Sept. 21, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has posted that they are tracking 2,238 community water system facilities and six water systems remain inoperable or destroyed due to the hurricane.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials approved a request from Texas to expedite funding for low-interest loans in order to assist local governments restore water and wastewater systems destroyed by Hurricane Harvey.

The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), which administers a low-interest loan program for the EPA, requested that it be allowed more flexibility in procedures for approving low-interest loans to provide local governments funding while waiting for more federal aid to be distributed, according to Jessica Zuba, deputy executive administrator for TWDB. The agency has about half-a-billion dollars in loan capacity.

Agency staff are contacting representatives from several cities impacted by the hurricane, Zuba said. The cities include smaller municipalities such as Pearland, that is located south of Houston, and Rose City, located near Beaumont.

As of Sept. 21, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has posted that they are tracking 2,238 community water system facilities and six water systems remain inoperable or destroyed due to the hurricane. The agency also reported that nine wastewater treatment facilities are not operating due to flooding caused by Harvey.

This story originally published by Strategic Partnerships, Inc.