NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The Environmental Protection Agency says it has invited New Orleans to apply for up to $111 million in loans to help restore its aging sewer system.
The city's Sewerage and Water Board says the money would help it meet a 2025 federal court deadline for completing that restoration.
The EPA says it got letters of interest from 51 public and private agencies, and 38 were chosen to apply.
New Orleans' sewer system has been under a federal court consent decree since 1998. Deadlines were extended after Hurricane Katrina.
The Sewerage and Water Board says it has completed work in six of nine areas.
It says the loan will speed up work on the other three areas and gives the agency the flexibility to move future money toward other critical projects.
