GEFA director outlines billions in water and energy financing, PFAS funding and resilience programs

Trey Bennett, executive director of the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA), told the Natural Resources & Environment committee that GEFA’s primary work is providing low-interest loans to communities for water, sewer, energy and land-conservation projects.

Bennett said GEFA has provided more than $6,000,000,000 in low-interest loans and financed over 2,100 projects statewide. In fiscal 2025, GEFA reported serving more than 2,700,000 Georgians, disbursing about $431,000,000 for water projects and awarding roughly $259,000,000 for new water projects getting started across the state. He said GEFA’s base rate on administered funds is 3.49% and that GEFA offers discounts for Water First and Plan First communities and additional discounts for conservation projects.

Bennett briefed the committee on several IIJA-funded programs GEFA administers: the lead service line replacement program (GEFA has been awarded $104,000,000 federally and executed 66 loans in 2025 totaling $24,000,000, of which about $19,000,000 is forgivable), and an emerging contaminants/PFAS program that GEFA said has $117,000,000 in federal funding with $77,000,000 already committed (leaving roughly $40,000,000 available). He restated federal deadlines the IIJA (and EPA guidance) attaches to PFAS monitoring and compliance: initial PFAS monitoring by April 2027 and compliance with EPA maximum contaminant levels potentially by April 2029, though Bennett said EPA has signaled a possible extension to 2031.

On resilience funding, Bennett said GEFA issued a call for hurricane-resilience projects and plans to apply to EPA for approximately $124,900,000 for clean-water projects, $359,500,000 for drinking-water projects and $8,900,000 for decentralized wastewater; he said the program includes a baseline 30% principal-forgiveness amount for awards and GEFA may increase that level depending on need.

Bennett also outlined GEFA’s energy programs, including weatherization and the Home Efficiency Rebate (HER) and Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates (HEER). He said GEFA has provided about $17,800,000 in rebates to more than 1,300 households and received additional IIJA and Inflation Reduction Act funding for those programs. Bennett described GEFA’s ES‑12 coordination role with GEMA and other partners, and credited GEFA staff with a role in the state’s response to a recent ice storm.

On budget items and new authorities, Bennett discussed SB 13 (passed last year) which authorized GEFA to extend loans for natural-gas infrastructure; he said Governor Kemp recommended $35,000,000 in the amended budget for that program and the House recommended $50,000,000 for rural infrastructure in the amended budget.

Members asked whether GEFA can meet demand for projects and whether urban areas like DeKalb County have access to funds. Bennett said GEFA sometimes phases larger projects, coordinates with other funding programs through the Georgia Funders Forum and can work with large communities on staging requests; he noted GEFA cannot meet all requests and must underwrite projects like a lender.

Judy Adler, GEFA’s water division director, told members GEFA works closely with EPD when PFAS is identified in water-quality testing and that GEFA’s SRF and Georgia Fund programs are eligible financing avenues for PFAS-related projects.

Bennett encouraged legislators and local officials to use GEFA’s website and email list and invited members to GEFA Day on Feb. 26 at the Capitol.

The committee followed with additional questions before adjourning.