Introduction
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), signed into law in November 2021, represents the largest federal investment in water infrastructure in a generation. With approximately $55 billion allocated to water and wastewater systems through EPA programs, Mid-Atlantic utilities have an unprecedented opportunity to modernize aging infrastructure — including the instrumentation and monitoring systems that are essential to efficient, compliant operations. Yet many utilities overlook instrumentation when scoping capital projects, missing the chance to leverage available funding for critical measurement upgrades.
IIJA Water Infrastructure Funding Overview
The IIJA directs funding to water utilities primarily through two established EPA programs: the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF). These programs received approximately $11.7 billion each in supplemental IIJA appropriations, distributed to states over five federal fiscal years. In addition, the IIJA established dedicated funding streams for lead service line replacement, emerging contaminant treatment (including PFAS), and cybersecurity improvements.
For Pennsylvania utilities, the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) administers both SRF programs, providing low-interest loans and, in some cases, principal forgiveness for qualifying projects. New Jersey utilities access SRF funding through the NJ Infrastructure Bank. Both states have seen significant increases in available funding since IIJA implementation began.
Clean Water and Drinking Water SRF Programs
The CWSRF funds a broad range of wastewater infrastructure improvements, including treatment plant upgrades, collection system rehabilitation, stormwater management, and nonpoint source pollution control. The DWSRF covers drinking water treatment, distribution system improvements, source water protection, and water system consolidation. Both programs allow funding for instrumentation and monitoring equipment as components of eligible capital projects.
The key to securing SRF funding for instrumentation is ensuring that monitoring upgrades are included in the project scope from the planning stage. When a utility applies for SRF funding for a treatment plant upgrade or distribution system improvement, the instrumentation components — flow meters, analyzers, SCADA integration, telemetry systems — should be itemized in the project engineering report and cost estimate. Instrumentation that is integral to the project's treatment or operational objectives is generally eligible for the same financing terms as the larger capital project.
How Instrumentation Fits into Eligible Project Scopes
Instrumentation upgrades are eligible for SRF funding when they are part of a broader capital improvement project. Examples include flow meters and level sensors installed as part of a treatment plant expansion or upgrade, water quality analyzers required for compliance with new discharge permit limits, SCADA system upgrades that improve operational efficiency and regulatory reporting, telemetry and remote monitoring systems for distributed assets such as pump stations and storage tanks, and energy submetering installed as part of an energy efficiency improvement project.
Standalone instrumentation projects may also qualify for SRF funding if they can be tied to specific compliance, public health, or infrastructure resilience objectives. For example, a utility implementing zone metering for non-revenue water reduction could frame the project as a distribution system efficiency improvement eligible for DWSRF financing.
COSTARS as a Procurement Vehicle for Funded Projects
Pennsylvania utilities using SRF or IIJA funding can leverage the COSTARS cooperative purchasing program to streamline instrumentation procurement. As a COSTARS contract holder (PA Contract #SU-205), Emergent Energy Solutions offers pre-approved pricing that satisfies competitive procurement requirements for state and local government entities. This eliminates the need for separate RFP processes for instrumentation components, reducing project timelines and administrative burden.
COSTARS procurement is particularly advantageous for SRF-funded projects because it demonstrates compliance with competitive purchasing requirements while accelerating the procurement timeline. Utilities can issue purchase orders directly under the COSTARS contract, moving from specification to delivery faster than traditional bid processes allow.
Emergent Energy's Role as an MBE/COSTARS Vendor
As an NMSDC-certified Minority Business Enterprise, Emergent Energy Solutions helps utilities meet MBE/DBE participation goals that are often required for federally funded projects. IIJA and SRF programs typically require good-faith efforts to engage minority and disadvantaged business enterprises, and our MBE certification helps utilities satisfy these requirements while accessing specialized instrumentation expertise.
Our team works with utilities and their consulting engineers from the project planning stage through commissioning, ensuring that instrumentation scopes are properly defined, budgeted, and integrated into the overall capital project. We can assist with engineering reports that justify instrumentation investments to funding agencies, instrument specification and procurement under COSTARS contract terms, installation, SCADA integration, and commissioning, and post-installation calibration verification and maintenance programs.
If your utility is planning a capital project with SRF or IIJA funding, contact Emergent Energy at 215-645-7141 or visit emergentenergy.us/contact to discuss how instrumentation upgrades can be incorporated into your project scope.