SRF Academy
Enhance Your Ability to Deliver High-Impact Technical Assistance, Advocacy, and Advisory Services to Communities Seeking BIL Funds
Nearly $44 billion in Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) support will be provided to states, tribes, and territories during the next five years through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).
The SRF Academy provides just-in-time training for front-line partners seeking to provide technical assistance, advocacy, and project development for disadvantaged and underserved communities. The Academy immerses you in mission-critical aspects of SRF programs, including technical, programmatic, and financial management.
This course is tailored to participants from conservation and watershed NGOs, advocacy organizations, technical assistance providers, EPA Environmental Finance Centers, engineering firms, SRF programs, philanthropic organizations, and urban planners working with communities seeking BIL funds.
Lead Instructor
Ashley Lucht, SRF Academy Lead Instructor
Ashley is a director at Quantified Ventures and a former SRF Program Manager. She has nearly 20 years of experience working with municipalities on a variety of infrastructure investment projects.
Guest Instructors
SRF Academy brings in select guest instructors and speakers with hands-on experience in Clean Water and Drinking Water SRFs.
Our network of current and former EPA staff and SRF directors will be leveraged to provide valuable on-the-ground knowledge for participants.
Curriculum
The Academy curriculum will provide you with the working knowledge that your community partners need and deserve. Click the dropdowns for more information on topics we will cover.
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Learn the basics of both the DWSRF and CWSRF program, what their history is, how do they revolve, eligibilities, and other core program components.
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Attendees will learn the difference between appropriation and allocation, how funds move from EPA to the states and ultimately to the borrower, and the reimbursement process,
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Federal requirements can be tough to understand and navigate. In this session, we will detail American Iron & Steel, Build American/Buy American, Davis Bacon Act, Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, Qualifications Based Selection, and other requirements that come with securing an SRF loan.
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This session will focus on how SRFs ensure that a community can repay a loan, what binding commitments are, and other financial components to these programs.
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There are several ways EPA uses National Information Management System (NIMS) data to understand the health of an SRF program. This session will teach you how to use this data to judge for yourself how states are performing against these indicators.
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Explore the complexities affordability and disadvantaged criteria and how states implement these requirements.
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Learn the who, what, how, when, and where of eligibility for both Drinking Water and Clean Water SRF programs, including natural infrastructure.
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This session will dive deep into definition of natural infrastructure, SRF opportunities for innovation, federal requirements, collateralization, potential repayments, and the nexus between natural infrastructure and disadvantaged communities.
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Both Drinking and Clean Water SRF legal requirements from program inception to amendments, state implementation of these legal requirements, guiding federal and state statutes, EPA policy interpretations, and hierarchy of authority.
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Both Drinking and Clean Water SRFs include a public process. Learn how to put your knowledge to use and effectively advocate for change.
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Work in small break out groups with practical opportunities to identify funding for communities, how to advocate given different scenarios, and how to locate background data on individual states to engage SRF staff. If possible, SRF state staff will attend this session and provide feedback to students on case studies.
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Homework assignments are designed to take less than an hour to complete. Examples include:
o Students will be provided sample Project Cost Summaries and asked to apply them to Expected Useful Life calculators. Students will report on their findings.
o Students will be assigned relevant state Intended Use Plans to review and report back to their peers on components. Students will be able to interpret methods and data sets used to determine affordability, allocation of additional subsidy, and an analysis of state prioritization criteria.
Learn More
Enter your information on the form below or email us at srfacademy@quantifiedventures.com with questions or to connect with a member of our SRF Academy team about the program.
“The SRF Academy is a great learning opportunity. The instructors are experts in their knowledge of the SRF programs and passionate about making sure the Academy students understand the ins and outs and opportunities of these grant programs. Highly recommend this course. ”
“I have been working with water and wastewater utilities as a technical assistance provider before the State Revolving Loan Funds were established and while I thought I had adequate knowledge of the state Intended Use Plans, I learned a great deal through my participation in Quantified Ventures SRF Academy. Having received feedback over the course and following the completion of the course from my staff located over a seven-state region, it is clear that our participation in SRF Academy was an extremely beneficial use of our time and resources.”
Convince Your Boss
Need help convincing your manager or another decision maker the SRF Academy is a good investment? Use our email template.
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Dear <Manager / Decision Maker Name>,
I've identified a training, the SRF Academy, that will provide me, and our organization, with important information as we work to assist communities in accessing low-cost financing, namely State Revolving Funds (SRFs), for critical projects.
This aligns with my professional development goals and as you know the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law investment of $44B+ for State Revolving Funds represent a significant opportunity for our organization and local communities.
The course will provide practical skills, new ideas, and valuable connections to make our SRF-related work more efficient and effective. More information is at https://quantifiedventures.com/srf-academy
The cost is $2,900 per person, and group discounts are available. There are no travel costs associated with this virtual offering.
Thank you for your consideration and I hope we can discuss more soon!
<Your Name>
Quantified Ventures SRF, Community Finance, and Resilience Solutions
In addition to SRF Academy, we provide services to organizations seeking to incorporate low-cost SRF financing in their project capital stack, as well as other Climate Finance, Community Finance, and Resilience consulting and project development solutions.
