Contact: MaryAnna Peavey, Grants and Loans Bureau Chief, maryanna.peavey@deq.idaho.gov.
BOISE – The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) today awarded $2,179,100 in low-interest drinking water construction loan funding to Garden City in Ada County, Idaho.
The funding will support the design and drilling of a new drinking water well free of emerging contaminants. Emerging contaminants are substances that may pose newly identified or re-emerging risks to human health or the environment. Examples include per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), pharmaceuticals and personal care products, and microplastics.
The loan is from DEQ’s State Revolving Loan Fund and is capitalized annually by grants from the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Emerging Contaminants program, which is funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The loan carries a simple 0% interest rate and $2,179,100 in principal forgiveness. The favorable loan terms represent a $4,039,391 savings to the community when compared to average costs for municipal general obligation debt issuances.