Wastewater funding requirements

On this page you will find wastewater project funding requirements and resources for the Water Quality Combined Funding Program, including resources to help wastewater projects meet funding requirements, including additional assistance for small communities.

If you are looking for application information such as eligibility, how to score well, and applicant training materials please visit the Water Quality Combined Fund Applicant webpage.

I want to...

Training for new recipients

We provide recipient training annually by webinars, that are typically held in July. See below for the most current information (dates/times of current trainings or presentations of previous trainings). We recommend recipients attend their project type training and any Environmental and Cultural Resources training necessary.

Current recipient training presentations

Other materials

Clean Water State Revolving Fund webpage

Requirements for all projects

All funded projects must adhere to:

Funding Guidelines for the fiscal year of the award (see below)
Administrative Requirements for Ecology Grant and Loans (Yellow Book),
Terms and conditions of your funding agreement

Wastewater projects are typically funded by Clean Water State Revolving Funds (CWSRF), and must follow those additional requirements.

Procurement, purchasing, and contracts

State procurement requirements apply to all projects. You can find further information in the Yellow Book (pg 48). See the CWSRF page for additional requirements.

Step 1 Planning

Eligible documents in a planning project include, but are not limited to, general sewer plans, engineering reports, environmental and cultural review, value engineering studies, feasibility studies and rate studies. Recipients must comply with planning requirements to be eligible for reimbursement. Below are available resources when preparing for a planning project.

Value Planning Guide (Commerce)

Washington Administrative Code (WAC):

General Sewer Plan WAC 173-240-050
Engineering Report WAC 173-240-060

Steps 2, 3, 4 Design and Construction

Investment Grade Efficiency Audit (IGEA)

We provide an Overview of IGEA Requirements which is a requirement of the State infrastructure funding and is required for step 2, 3, and 4 projects receiving CWSRF and/or Centennial funds.

Washington Administrative Code (WAC):

Plans and specifications WAC 173-240-070
Construction quality assurance plan WAC 173-240-075
Operation and maintenance manual WAC 173-240-080
Declaration of construction completion WAC 173-240-090

Small community resources

Technical assistance

We work with small communities throughout the State to provide Technical Assistance focusing on water quality infrastructure needs. Technical assistance can address wastewater issues in several ways, including development of well-planned infrastructure projects, on-site operations assistance, coordination with external partners, and funding assistance for water quality projects.

For more information, contact Stephanie Allen or Kim Prisock.

Small Communities Project Priority List

The Small Communities Project Priority List (SCPPL) identifies wastewater projects eligible for a new simplified funding process to help projects move more smoothly from planning through design to construction. For projects that qualify for SCPPL, the recipient will not have to submit new applications to fund the next project step. Instead, funds can be amended into an existing funding agreement at the current step (planning or design). SCPPL eligible projects are updated and published in the Draft and Final Offer List and Intended Use Plan on the grants and loans home page.

If you have an active Step 1 Planning or Step 2 Design funding agreement, please contact your Ecology Project Manager, Financial Manager, or Ecology Engineering Team to determine if SCPPL could apply to your project.

Hardship determinations

We perform hardship determinations during application evaluation and design for SCPPL projects. Projects that meet the criteria are eligible to receive subsidy. Below are the criteria that are used to make the determination for wastewater.

We perform a calculation based on:

Community population is less than 25,000
The sewer utility data from the State Auditor’s Office Financial Intelligence Tool
Loan amount requested
Loan term
Percent of the project serving existing population (versus future population growth)
Percent of the project for residential rate payers (versus commercial/industrial/institutional)
Equivalent Residential Units (ERUs). See the ERU calculator (Excel workbook) to calculate and provide Ecology with ERUs based on your sewer service accounts.
Population less than 25,000
Financing the project without subsidy would indicate a need for residential sewer fees to be 2% or more of the MHI

There are three tiers of hardship eligibility with lower interest rates and forgivable principle subsidy.

an picture of an interactive graphic with maps and charts and data displayed.

Small communities dashboard

This dashboard displays estimated costs to meet wastewater infrastructure needs for small communities that have potential financial hardship conditions. Many wastewater systems across the state having aging infrastructure, which need updated plans to design and construct upgrades to protect public health and meet water quality standards.