Communities throughout Cook County are working hard to ensure their drinking water and wastewater treatment operations meet or exceed local, state and federal requirements, and to help in this effort, an existing state program that offers low-interest loans to local governments is being expanded.

On the 40th Anniversary of the national Clean Water Act, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, along with Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) Commissioners Frank Avila, Patricia Horton, Debra Shore, Mariyana Spyropoulos and other officials launched the $1 billion Illinois Clean Water Initiative to overhaul Illinois’ aging water infrastructure.

“On this anniversary of the landmark Clean Water Act, we renew our commitment to this precious, irreplaceable resource,” said Governor Quinn. “Illinois is defined geographically and historically by waterways. Our Clean Water Initiative will preserve this legacy for future generations, improve our drinking water and put thousands of Illinoisans back to work.”

Governor Quinn has directed the IEPA and Illinois Finance Authority (IFA) to expand the State Revolving Fund (SRF) program, which makes low-interest loans to communities, to offer $1 billion in long-term, below market interest rate loans to local governments for water infrastructure projects. Since the SRF’s inception in 1989, IEPA has loaned $4.3 billion to 472 local Illinois communities, and there has never been a default during the program’s history.

Over $900 million in proposed projects are awaiting review, but the application process is still open until Dec. 31, 2012. All new and renewal pre-applications received in 2012 will be included on the Project Priority List for FY 2013, which runs through September 30, 2013.