EPA released a Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure Sustainability Policy that ensures federal investments, policies, and actions support water infrastructure in efficient and sustainable locations. These actions help existing communities enhance economic competitiveness and promote affordable neighborhoods.

​Beginning in 2010, EPA’s Office of Water and Office of Sustainable Communities (now the Office of Community Revitalization) jointly sponsored a pilot technical assistance program with three states’ Clean Water State Revolving Funds (CWSRF) programs to explore potential modifications that could encourage investments that support sustainable communities and to provide models for other states. EPA selected Maryland, New York, and California for this assistance.

EPA worked with these state CWSRF programs to review their intended use plans, project priority systems, borrower application processes, and other funding guidelines. State limitations due to legislation, regulations, and policies were examined as well as potential avenues for change. The result of each pilot program is a set of options for the state to consider when evaluating CWSRF program policies and documents.

Maryland Clean Water State Revolving Fund Sustainable Communities Pilot Project Report (2012) describes EPA's work with Maryland's state CWSRF program to provide a case study of recent changes to the program, focusing on the state’s efforts to target sustainable projects through revised project rating procedures and criteria, and to explore possible refinements to the program's project priority system, now in its second year of implementation.

Read Opportunities to Advance Sustainability in California's Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program.

Read the Report on New York State’s 2010 SRF Sustainability Pilot Project (PDF) Exit (12 pp, 350 K, About PDF) 

EPA conducted this project under the HUD-DOT-EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities.

• Maryland Clean Water State Revolving Fund (PDF)(15 pp, 233 K)