FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 26, 2005
CONTACT: Dee Ann Miller, (850) 245-2112

DEP Awards Loan to Citrus County for Wastewater Upgrades

--Citrus County to receive $2 million--

CITRUS COUNTY – The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently awarded a $2,043,423 low-interest loan to Citrus County for wastewater improvements. The loan, part of DEP’s State Revolving Fund (SRF) Water Pollution Control Program, will be used to protect water quality by eliminating more than 200 septic tanks along Halls River Road.

“The Department is working with local governments throughout Florida to upgrade wastewater facilities and protect the state’s surface and ground water resources,” said DEP Secretary Colleen M. Castille. “The State Revolving Fund loan program offers local governments substantial savings on project financing to upgrade their systems and provide greater environmental protection.”

The SRF Water Pollution Control Program was established in 1989 to provide low-interest financing to plan, design and build water pollution control facilities. Projects eligible for SRF Water Pollution Control loans include wastewater management facilities, reclaimed wastewater reuse facilities, stormwater management facilities and estuary protection activities.

Under the leadership of Governor Jeb Bush and the Florida Legislature, Florida has invested close to $1.8 billion to improve wastewater treatment, clean up stormwater pollution and upgrade drinking water facilities, funding more than 800 projects statewide since 1999. Just last year, the SRF Water Pollution Control Program awarded local governments more than $175 million.

Funded by federal capitalization grants, state matching funds, loan repayments and interest earnings, SRF loans are offered at interest rates as low as 40 percent below current market rates. Repayments from earlier loans are used to make new loans, allowing the program to operate in perpetuity. Loan fees collected from the program are used to fund the Disadvantaged Small Community Grant Program, providing smaller, economically-challenged municipalities with grants to upgrade wastewater systems.