Gov. Bill Lee and Commissioner David Salyers of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) today announced two loans totaling $6,487,000 for the City of Westmoreland to improve water infrastructure.

The loans are among eight approved by the Tennessee Local Development Authority, with a loan for the City of Waverly for $580,000, a loan for the City of White House for $8 million, two loans totaling $70,000 for the Town of Alexandria, and two loans totaling $605,000 for the Town of Carthage, making the overall total loans announced today $15.7 million.

“We are committed to supporting infrastructure development and improvement across our state, and we’re excited to see how Tennesseans benefit from this investment,” Lee said. “We are proud to partner with local communities to modernize our water infrastructure.”

“Every community in Tennessee deserves a dependable water system,” Salyers said. “The State Revolving Fund Loan Program works in a way to make improvements affordable to communities needing the assistance, with a positive result for our environment.”

The loans for the City of Westmoreland for $2.5 million and $3,987,000 come from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program. They will address improvements to the wastewater treatment system. Each loan has a 20-year term at .65 percent interest.  The $2.5 million loan comes with $500,000 in principal forgiveness with the remainder of the loan amount to be paid back as principal.

Through the State Revolving Fund Loan Program, communities, utility districts, and water and wastewater authorities can obtain loans with lower interest rates than through private financing. These low interest rate loans can vary from zero percent to below market rate, based on each community’s economic health.

The eight loans announced today begin the fiscal year with $155,000 awarded in drinking water loans and $15,587,000 in clean water loans. In fiscal year 2021, TDEC awarded $7,171,000 in drinking water loans and $77,568,000 in clean water loans for a total of $84,739,000.

Tennessee’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program has awarded more than $2 billion in low-interest loans since its inception in 1987. The state’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program has awarded more than $300 million in low-interest loans since its inception in 1996.