Clean Water Trust offers 0% loans and principal forgiveness to support lead service line inventories and replacements
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Summary
Jonathan Maple of the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust presented rolling 0% planning and construction loans and principal-forgiveness options tied to disadvantaged-community tiers to help communities develop inventories and replace lead service lines while IIJA funds last.
Jonathan Maple, senior policy analyst with the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust, told webinar attendees the Trust and MassDEP jointly administer the state27s revolving funds and that IIJA (the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) includes lead service line replacement grant dollars allocated to Massachusetts. Maple said the Trust is offering 0% interest planning loans, 0% interest construction loans and principal forgiveness for eligible communities while funding is available, and that applications are being accepted on a rolling basis.
Maple described the typical planning loan scope (inventory development, record review, GIS, customer outreach, predictive modeling subject to MassDEP approval) and the construction loan scope (full lead-service-line replacement including public and private-side work as appropriate, investigative excavations, and related construction activities). He emphasized that SRF funds generally support full replacements and that invasive excavation to identify unknowns is typically classified as construction, though MassDEP will evaluate individual project scopes case-by-case.
On loan forgiveness, Maple said program rules require a portion of funds to be used as principal forgiveness (he cited a program-level figure discussed in the webinar) and explained forgiveness amounts are linked to disadvantaged-community tiers determined through an affordability calculation the Trust publishes annually; he gave example tier forgiveness ranges (presented in the webinar as illustrative percentages and dollar impacts) and advised applicants to consult the Trust27s published materials and staff for precise calculations.
Maple summarized the rolling application and approval sequence: submit a loan application (planning or construction) with required documentation; MassDEP performs technical review and issues a Project Approval Certificate; the Trust27s board of trustees votes on loan commitments; the Trust issues loan commitment packages and interim financing at 0% (up to three years) while projects are under construction; and final project closeout and permanent financing follow once project completion criteria are met. He noted interim disbursements require monthly pay requisitions and MassDEP review of eligible costs.
Maple and other panelists reminded attendees that funds are time-limited and urged communities to contact MassDEP and the Clean Water Trust for application support and case-specific eligibility questions. The presenters said they will post contacts, templates and recorded webinar materials on MassDEP27s drinking-water pages.
