This project will organize and aim to produce the 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 cifa state revolving fund (SRF) training workshops intended for state government managers and other practitioners/employees…

This project will organize and aim to produce the 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 cifa state revolving fund (SRF) training workshops intended for state government managers and other practitioners/employees engaged in water and wastewater infrastructure financing. The proposed workshops will provide training in innovative approaches and best management practices that will foster improved use of SRF's in both the clean water SRF and drinking water SRF to maximize water quality benefits. There will also be a number of programmatic, financial, and technical aspects of the srfs that will be addressed, as well as the examination and discussion of SRF management issues, exchange of valuable information, and the best practices and lessons learned between state programs, EPA staff, and other interested stakeholders in the SRF loan program.activities:the cifa SRF training workshop covers a range of successful strategies to promote continual improvement in financing, project development, and programmatic management. The activities to be performed include (1) financing sessions that cover topics, such as leveraging, loan management, and policies and procedures for determining creditworthiness and evaluating affordability, (2) project development sessions that cover engineering and environmental aspects, such as asset management, new technologies, innovative projects and sustainable solutions, and (3) programmatic management sessions that cover policies for prioritization, streamlining and marketing. In addition, a primary focus of the program will be successful and transformational strategies for implementing the bipartisan infrastructure law / infrastructure investment and jobs act and the build america, buy america act. Cifa will also provide EPA with an open platform to share best practices on priorities for the biden-harris administration, including environmental justice (JUSTICE40), climate resiliency (mitigation and adaptation), criteria for awarding additional subsidy (disadvantaged community definitions/affordability criteria), green infrastructure and decentralized systems. In summary, the cifa SRF workshop will continue to offer 36 to 44 hours of instruction annually, including up to 38 hours of onsite courses and up to six (6) hours of online courses following the onsite event. - day 1: pre-workshop session: SRF 101 (three to four hours) - day 1: pre-workshop session: interactive exercise (three to four hours) - day 2: workshop: up to 12 breakout sessions (75 to 90 minutes) (breakfast, lunch and dinner) - day 3: workshop: up to 8 breakout sessions (75 to 90 minutes) (breakfast) subrecipient:no subawards are included in this assistance agreement.outcomes:the anticipated deliverables include high-quality professional development, such as approximately 16 high-quality courses to individuals with a range of learning styles: - plenary sessions with inspirational and motivational speakers, - direct instruction with panel presentations, - roundtable discussions to encourage peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing, and - field trips that offer first-hand observations of real-world operations and construction projects. The cifa SRF workshop develops the talent needed to increase protection for public health and the environment, while reducing process and costs to communities and ratepayers. The primary outcome is a workforce with the knowledge and skills to tackle the greatest water challenges of our time, whether that's developing a sustainable engineering solution to provide safe, reliable and affordable drinking water to small, rural communities or creating a financially-sound strategy to build large, complex, innovative or hard-to-finance water infrastructure projects. The professional development gained at the cifa SRF workshop improves the day-to-day operations of the srfs, trains the incoming generation of SRF staff and leaders, and spurs innovations to maximize the potential of TH