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INSIGHTi
Corps Water Infrastructure Financing
Program (CWIFP)
Updated October 6, 2023
In the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 (WIFIA 2014, Title V, Subtitle C, of P.L.
113-121; 33 U.S.C. §§3901-3914, as amended), Congress authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
(USACE) to provide credit assistance—direct loans or loan guarantees—to specified eligible entities for
water resource projects. USACE’s program is called the Corps Water Infrastructure Financing Program
(CWIFP). WIFIA 2014 also authorized an analogous program for the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) for water projects outside of USACE mission areas.
CWIFP Program Authority, Implementation, and Funding
WIFIA 2014 authorized USACE to provide credit assistance to projects with the following purposes:
• reduction of riverine or coastal storm flood damage;
• restoration of aquatic ecosystems;
• improvement of the inland and intracoastal waterways navigation system;
• improvement of navigation at a U.S. harbor; or
• a combination of purposes supported by USACE and EPA WIFIA authorities (e.g.,
drinking water, wastewater, and/or stormwater system improvements).
USACE describes some benefits for CWIFP borrowers as interest rates near U.S. Treasury rates, possible
matching of repayment schedules with anticipated cash flows, and repayment periods up to 35 years after
construction completion. In FY2021, Congress created a USACE Water Infrastructure Finance and
Innovation Program (WIFIP) account and first funded the CWIFP to provide credit assistance. Of the
$103.6 million in enacted funding for the WIFIP account to date, Congress has indicated that $81.0
million is specifically to support dam safety projects for nonfederally owned dams (based on ownership
information in the National Inventory of Dams [NID]), as shown in Table 1. For FY2023, Congress
enacted $7.2 million for program administration.
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Table 1. Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Program (WIFIP) Account
(dollars in millions, nominal)
Public Law Funding
Support for
Program
Selected Statutory Limitations for
WIFIP Account
Credit Assistance Administration Credit Assistance
P.L. 116-260
$12.0
$2.2
Nonfederal dam safety projects; credit in
accordance with 85 Federal Register 39189
P.L. 117-58
$64.0
$11.0
Nonfederal dam safety projects
P.L. 117-103
$5.0
$2.2
Nonfederal dam safety projects; credit in
accordance with 85 Federal Register 39189
P.L. 117-328
$0
$7.2
—
Source: CRS, using enacted bills.
On May 22, 2023, USACE published a final rule for CWIFP implementation that reflected the enacted
appropriations’ limitation of lending to only nonfederal dam safety projects (88 Federal Register 32661).
On September 20, 2023, USACE published a Notice of Funding Availability to solicit preliminary
applications from prospective borrowers seeking credit assistance under CWIFP for nonfederal dam
safety projects (88 Federal Register 64892). The preliminary application submittal deadline is December
19, 2023.
According to the 2023 rule, CWIFP-eligible entities include state, local, and tribal government entities
and various private entities (e.g., corporations, partnerships, and trusts) that are publicly sponsored (33
U.S.C. §3907(a)(4)); federal entities are ineligible. Each project receiving CWIFP assistance needs to cost
more than $20 million and be creditworthy, technically sound, economically justified, and
environmentally acceptable. USACE’s rule identifies dam removal as an eligible project. The final rule
also adds selection criteria to the statutory criteria. For example, it includes as a selection criterion the
extent that a project serves, and spurs economic opportunity for, economically disadvantaged
communities and their populations.
Loan Volume
The volume of loans and loan guarantees that CWIFP can provide is determined primarily by the
appropriations amount and subsidy rate for each loan. Under the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (P.L.
101-508), appropriations for federal credit programs, such as CWIFP, primarily cover long-term credit
subsidy costs (2 U.S.C. §661a). The subsidy costs of such programs reflect potential losses to the
government due to loan defaults. A project with lower credit risk would consume less of the credit
subsidy than a higher credit risk project. The subsidy cost typically is presented as a percentage (i.e., a
subsidy rate). USACE indicates it will calculate subsidy costs on a project-by-project basis at the time of
loan obligation. USACE may be able to make up to $7.5 billion in loans with the appropriations available
through FY2023. The actual total CWIFP loan volume may differ, given each project’s subsidy rate and
other factors affecting loan amounts.
Issues for Congress Related to CWIFP Eligibility for Other Water
Resource Projects
To date, enacted appropriations limit CWIFP to nonfederal dam safety projects. The scope of eligible
project purposes authorized in WIFIA 2014 is broader. An issue for Congress is whether to maintain or
expand the scope of the eligible projects beyond nonfederal dam safety projects to other nonfederal water
resource projects, such as nonfederal levee projects.
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Another policy question related to broader CWIFP implementation has been whether nonfederal costs of
authorized USACE construction projects would be eligible. Many congressionally authorized USACE
projects have purposes that are CWIFP eligible pursuant to WIFIA 2014. Congress has required that
nonfederal sponsors share in the cost of many USACE projects and assume responsibility for the projects
and their costs after construction. A June 30, 2020, EPA, Office of Management and Budget, and
Department of the Treasury Federal Register notice―“Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act
Program (WIFIA) Criteria Pursuant to the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020” (85 Federal
Register 39189)―identified congressionally authorized USACE (and Bureau of Reclamation) projects as
federal assets and as ineligible for WIFIA assistance. A few months later, in P.L. 116-260, Congress
directed USACE to use the criteria in the 2020 Federal Register notice for USACE credit assistance
supported by the WIFIP account funds. In addition, the House Appropriations Committee, in explanatory
text accompanying P.L. 116-260, encouraged the Secretary of the Army to issue “guidance to clarify, as
Congress intended … that the financial assistance program authorized in WIFIA applies to all non-Federal
projects and any authorized project that is non-federally owned, operated and maintained.” As shown in
Table 1, Congress has referenced the 2020 Federal Register notice for using funds provided to USACE’s
WIFIP account. The borrower eligibility discussion in USACE’s 2023 final rule references the
applicability of the 2020 Federal Register notice, thereby maintaining that congressionally authorized
USACE projects are federal assets. Thus, the 2023 final rule indicates that nonfederal costs associated
with congressionally authorized USACE projects are ineligible for CWIFP assistance.
Author Information
Nicole T. Carter
Specialist in Natural Resources Policy
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