Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority - PENNVEST

Ineffective stormwater management contributes to the pollution of the Commonwealth’s waterways. PENNVEST is committed to protecting and restoring our waterways by financing stormwater infrastructure improvements around stormwater:

• Management
• Reduction
• Treatment
• Recapture
• Reuse or recycling

Select the Apply for PENNVEST Funding button to apply for Stormwater Infrastructure financing using the standard PENNVEST funding application.

Studies have shown that 50 percent – 75 percent of lead contamination in drinking water comes from lead service lines. PENNVEST provides financial assistance for the replacement of materials used in water distribution that contribute to lead contamination. Projects eligible for PENNVEST funding around lead mitigation include the replacement of:

• Lead and galvanized iron or steel service lines
• Lead gooseneck, pigtail, or connectors in the lines

Select the Apply for PENNVEST Funding button to apply for Lead Service Line Replacement financing using the standard PENNVEST funding application.

Emerging contaminants, including PFAS (Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances) and PFOA (Perfluorooctane Sulfonate) can be found in our air, soil, groundwater, and surface water and can be harmful to humans over time. These chemical substances are introduced into our environment from discarded or expelled medications, cosmetics, sunscreens, fragrances, cookware, carpeting, fabric, food packaging as well as from firefighting foams and many industrial processes.

PENNVEST commits funding towards projects that reduce the introduction of contaminants into our environment. Eligible water treatment technologies include:

• Activated carbon adsorption
• Ion exchange resins
• High-pressure membranes (reverse osmosis and nanofiltration)

Select the Apply for PENNVEST Funding button to apply for Emerging Contaminants Remediation financing using the standard PENNVEST funding application.

Agriculture introduces contaminants into the Commonwealth’s waterways through drainage of fertilizer, pesticides, organic matter, drug residues, and sediments into streams and ponds. This contamination can be minimized through the institution of Best Management Practices (BMPs). Conservation districts or landowners can utilize PENNVEST financing, and potentially receive grants, to fund BMP projects such as:

• Construction or upgrades to manure storage facilities
• Creation of lagoons and riparian buffers
• Installation of fencing as a barrier to animals along a stream or riparian area
• Heavy use area protection
• Prescribed grazing
• Construction of roof runoff structures
• Installation of stream crossing areas
• Implementation of vegetated treatment areas
• Creation of critical area planting
• Establishment of diversion of surface water from farmsteads, waste systems, etc.
• Inclusion of filter strips
• Installation of grassed waterways

Select the Apply for PENNVEST Funding button to apply for Agricultural Best Management Practices financing using the standard PENNVEST funding application.

In addition to stormwater infrastructure funding, PENNVEST supports the health of the Commonwealth’s waterways by financing green infrastructure projects, that help to reduce stormwater flows into the sewer or surface waters. Green infrastructure projects include:

• Downspout disconnection
• Rainwater harvesting
• Rain gardens
• Planter boxes
• Bioswales
• Permeable pavement
• Green streets and alleys
• Green parking
• Green roofs
• Urban tree canopies
• Land conservation (riparian areas, wetlands, steep hillsides)

Select the Apply for PENNVEST Funding button to apply for Green Infrastructure financing using the standard PENNVEST funding application.

PENNVEST funding can be leveraged with existing funding partnerships to provide communities with the means to address acid mine drainage (AMD) problems impacting water supplies. AMD projects that demonstrate cost-effective environmental benefits for water supplies can use PENNVEST funding for:

• Monitoring of water quality changes resulting from an abatement project
• Engineering costs for a priority reclamation project
• Design costs for a priority reclamation project
• Construction costs for a priority reclamation project

Select the Apply for PENNVEST Funding button to apply for Acid Mine Remediation financing using the standard PENNVEST funding application.

A brownfield is a piece of land or property that has been previously used for industrial or commercial purposes and may threaten Commonwealth water quality due to contamination by toxic waste. A greyfield is an old, and abandoned commercial real estate, specifically shopping malls and retail centers. PENNVEST supports the sale and reuse of industrial and commercial properties in the Commonwealth by funding remediation projects to revitalize brownfield and greyfield properties.

The benefits provided by PENNVEST funding of brownfield and greyfield projects include:

• Make the properties more attractive for new buyers
• Improve the quality of local surface and groundwater
• Encourage reuse of property in urban areas rather than contributing to suburban sprawl into surrounding rural areas
• Help revitalize the economies of local communities
• Create employment opportunities in areas of low income and/or high unemployment
• Increase local tax bases
• Facilitate the use or reuse of existing infrastructure and facilities located in the proximity of the sites
• Facilitate the creation, preservation, or addition to parks, greenways, open spaces, and other recreational properties 

PENNVEST funding can be leveraged with economic development authorities and investments groups for the remediation of drinking water and surface water as part of larger efforts for brownfield and greyfield development.

Select the Apply for PENNVEST Funding button to apply for Brownfield/Greyfield Redevelopment financing using the standard PENNVEST funding application.

PENNVEST, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA), provides low-cost financing to improve, replace, or repair individual on-lot sewage disposal systems or to connect, for the first time, to public sewer to meet public health and environmental safety standards.

Visit the Homeowner Sewage Program webpage for more information on how to obtain financing.