Intended Use Plans

Intended Use Plans (IUPs) are prepared annually to outline how the State Revolving Funds will be used during a federal fiscal year. The IUPs act as a roadmap for how the state plans to allocate and use the State Revolving Funds to improve water quality and infrastructure. The IUP prioritizes projects based on public health and water quality impacts using a scoring system that determines project rank. EFC prepares the IUP for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, and the New York State Department of Health prepares the IUP for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. Both IUPs are federally required and subject to public review and comment.

The Intended Use Plans detail:

• Funding priorities: The projects that will be eligible for funding in a given year. This includes projects that address water pollution control, compliance with the state and federal laws, and projects aimed at improving water quality in specific communities.
• Project ranking: Each Intended Use Plan prioritizes projects based on factors such as health risks, environmental impact, and readiness to proceed, including the development of engineering reports and construction schedules.
• Funding distribution: It describes how the funding will be allocated across different projects.

FUNDING ELIGIBILITY AND ANNUAL / MULTI-YEAR LISTS

Each IUP includes an Annual List and a Multi-Year List. The Multi-Year List identifies all project listings submitted by applicants. The Annual List includes projects with an acceptable engineering report and construction schedule. Projects on the Annual List and can apply for funding in a given fiscal year. The Engineering Report Outlines are available below.
 

HOW TO LIST YOUR PROJECT ON THE INTENDED USE PLAN AND APPLY FOR THE STATE REVOLVING FUNDS

Complete application information is available on the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund pages. 

INTEREST-FREE HARDSHIP FINANCING

Projects that qualify as hardship may receive interest-free financing. A separate category on the Annual List identifies eligible hardship projects.

For clean water projects, EFC determines hardship using several factors including:

• Median Household Income of a municipality or area served
• Population data
• Poverty data from the American Community Survey, published by the U.S. Census Bureau
• To learn more about how to qualify, see the Hardship Policy for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund 2025 (PDF)

If these metrics don’t reflect the area served, contact your Community Assistance representative.

The State Department of Health determines hardship for drinking water projects. The DWSRF Hardship Policy is available on DOH's website.

SUBSIDIZED FINANCING

Projects may qualify for subsidized interest rate financing as outlined below:

• For clean water projects, EFC subsidizes the market interest rate by 50 percent.
• For drinking water projects, EFC subsidizes the market interest rate by 33 1/3 percent.

MARKET-RATE FINANCING

Projects may receive market rate financing. For EFC, the market rate is based on our AAA/aaa credit rating and is generally lower than the rate at which a municipality would borrow on its own. 

SHORT-TERM FINANCING

EFC offers short-term financing for a period of up to five years to provide funding to design and construct State Revolving Fund eligible projects. There are no fees associated with short-term financing. Interest accrues only on balances drawn. Short-term financings can be used to pre-finance costs that will be reimbursed from proceeds from other sources of funding. However, only market rate financing can be used to finance any awarded grants.

LONG-TERM FINANCING

Long-term financings are generally available for terms of up to 30 years. 

The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) is co-administered by the New York State Department of Health and EFC. EFC administers the financial and legal aspects of the drinking water program while the Department of Health processes project listings and prepares the Intended Use Plan. These resources, including the hardship policy and drinking water project engineering report outline, are available on the Department of Health’s website.

DepartMent of health website (exit)