Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Small and Underserved Communities Emerging Contaminants Grant Program

 

To assist small and disadvantaged communities to comply with the Safe Water Drinking Act (SDWA). Funding is awarded to states and territories, including a tribal allotment, for: (1) investments necessary for public water systems to comply with national drinking water standards; (2) programs to provide household water quality testing, including testing for unregulated contaminants; and (3) activities necessary for a state to respond to a contaminant. Projects/activities under this grant program, other than those funded with Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) appropriations, are to assist public water systems in underserved, small and disadvantaged communities meet Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requirements. Projects and activities funded with IIJA appropriations are to assist public water systems in small and disadvantaged communities to provide support towards reduction and remediation of emerging contaminants. Funding Priority - Fiscal Year 2023: Funding priority is projects and activities that benefit underserved communities. Underserved communities include those communities that do not have household drinking water or wastewater services; or are served by a public water system that violates, or exceeds a requirement of a national primary drinking water regulation issued under SDWA section 1412, including a maximum contaminant level; a treatment technique; or an action level. Funding Priority - Fiscal Year 2024: Funding priority will continue to be projects and activities that benefit underserved communities. Underserved communities include those communities that do not have household drinking water or wastewater services; or are served by a public water system that violates or exceeds a requirement of a national primary drinking water regulation issued under SDWA section 1412, including a maximum contaminant level; a treatment technique; or an action level.

Active 66.442 Environmental Protection Agency A - Formula Grants Fiscal Year 2020 The projects and eligible activities funded included assistance to tribal public water systems in underserved, small and disadvantaged communities to meet and comply with the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). In FY 2020, over $20M in funding focused on providing drinking water and drinking water services to tribal communities.
Fiscal Year 2022 The projects and eligible activities funded include SDWA compliance investments targeted to public water systems, programs to provide household water quality testing (including testing for unregulated contaminants), as well as activities to respond to a drinking water contaminant.
Fiscal Year 2023 The projects and eligible activities funded include SDWA compliance investments targeted to public water systems, programs to provide household water quality testing (including testing for unregulated contaminants), as well as activities to respond to a drinking water contaminant. Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), Section 1459A, as amended by section 2104 of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act, and by section 2005 of the 2018 America's Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA); as amended by Section 50104 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Public Law 117-58. Eligibility is limited to the governments of the fifty states; the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; the Northern Mariana Islands; the Virgin Islands; Guam; American Samoa; and public water systems serving federally recognized tribes. Funded activities will benefit residents of small and disadvantaged communities that do not have household drinking water or wastewater services, or are served by public water systems that do not meet Safe Drinking Water Act requirements. Not applicable. Preapplication coordination is required. An environmental impact statement is required for this listing. This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. Applicants, except in limited circumstances approved by the Agency, must submit all initial applications for funding through Grants.gov. The grant applications are reviewed by the appropriate EPA Regional Office, and if approved, the funds are awarded to the recipient. Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines From 60 to 90 days. Disputes relating to matters other than the competitive selection of recipients will be resolved under 2 CFR 1500 Subpart E, as applicable. Not applicable. Not applicable. Funds are provided to eligible applicants to carry out projects and activities needed for public water systems to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act, programs to provide household water quality testing, and activities for a state to respond to a drinking water contaminant. Eligible projects/activities for grant funding include but are not limited to the following: Investments necessary for a public water system to comply with the SDWA; Assistance that directly and primarily benefits a disadvantaged community; Programs to provide household water quality testing, including testing for unregulated contaminants; Activities necessary and appropriate for a State to respond to a contaminant; The purchase of third-party certified point-of-entry or point-of-use filters and filtration systems for the removal of contaminants of concern; Investments necessary for providing accurate and current information about filtration and filter safety and the options for replacing lead service lines (as defined in section 1459B(a)) and removing other sources of lead in water; Contracts, including contracts with nonprofit organizations that have water system technical expertise, to provide technical assistance. Interested applicants can find more information relating to the grant program and how the funding assistance may be used through the implementation document that is available on the website related the grant program at https://www.epa.gov/dwcapacity/implementation-document-assistance-small-and-disadvantaged-communities-drinking-water and https://www.epa.gov/dwcapacity/emerging-contaminants-ec-small-or-disadvantaged-communities-grant-sdc#Imp for IIJA appropriations. Assistance agreement awards under this program may involve or relate to geospatial information. Geospatial information is information that identifies the geographic location and characteristics of natural or constructed features or boundaries on the earth, or applications, tools, and hardware associated with the generation, maintenance, or distribution of such information. This information may be derived from, among other things, GPS, remote sensing, mapping, charting, and surveying technologies, or statistical data. Further information regarding geospatial information may be obtained by viewing the following website: Geospatial Resources at EPA (https://www.epa.gov/geospatial). Performance Reports: Reporting requirements shall be determined at the time of award. Grants and cooperative agreements are subject to inspections and audits by the Comptroller General of the United States, the EPA Office of Inspector General, other EPA staff, or any authorized representative of the Federal government. Reviews by the EPA Project Officer and the Grants Specialist may occur each year. Recipients must keep financial records, including all documents supporting entries on accounting records and to substantiate changes in grants available to personnel authorized to examine EPA recipients grants and cooperative agreements records. Recipients must maintain all records until 3 years from the date of submission of final expenditure reports as required by 2 CFR 200.334. If questions, such as those raised because of audits remain following the 3-year period, recipients must retain records until the matter is completely resolved. Statutory formula is not applicable to this assistance listing.

Matching is mandatory. 10%. The statutory language requires the grant award to have a non-federal cost share/match of no less than 10% of the total costs of the project or activity unless EPA provides a waiver. For FY 2021 funding and awards funded with IIJA appropriations only, the cost share match is waived. Matching requirements are to be described in implementation documents. This program does not have a statutory formula. However, EPA allocates funds based on formulas contained in program guidance. Any resources contributed to the project beyond the funds provided by the agency would be considered leveraged resources. Matching requirements are mandatory under annual, non-IIJA appropriations.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. The terms of the grant shall be determined at the time of grant award. The method of fund disbursement will be determined at the time of award. A list of EPA Regional Contacts is available at https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/drinking-water-grants. Savannah Acosta, Program Lead
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. (Mail Code: 4606M)
Washington, DC 20460 USA
Acosta.Savannah@epa.gov
Phone: 202-564-8524

Lida Daly, Program Lead
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. (Mail Code: 4606M)
Washington, DC 20460 USA
Daly.Lida@epa.gov
Phone: 202-564-0176 https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/drinking-water-grants 68-0103-0-1-304 (Formula Grants) FY 22$22,289,000.00; FY 23 est $29,976,000.00; FY 24 est $79,811,000.00; FY 21$20,012,000.00; FY 20$13,157,200.00; FY 19$42,800,000.00; FY 18$0.00; - (Formula Grants) FY 22$0.00; FY 23 est $965,100,000.00; FY 24 est $965,100,000.00; FY 21$0.00; - (IIJA funds for Emerging Contaminants) Under the annual appropriations of funding, the range for States/Territories: $150,000 to $3,770,000; Average: $763,000. The range of regional tribal allotments: $19,000 to $274,000; Average: $97,000. Under the grants funded with Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) appropriations, the range for the participating States/Territories: $8,775,000 to $142,975,000; Average: $26,590,909. The range for the regional tribal allotments through the IIJA: $ 200,000 to $2,000,000; Average: $1,800,000. Assistance agreement awards are subject to the grant regulations under 2 CFR 1500 (EPA Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards); and 40 CFR Part 33 (Participation by Disadvantaged Business Enterprises in United States Environmental Protection Agency Programs). Additional information can be found at https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/drinking-water-grants. Fiscal Year 2022 The projects and activities funded include SDWA compliance investments targeted to public water systems, programs to provide household water quality testing (including testing for unregulated contaminants), as well as activities to respond to a drinking water contaminant. Grant funding can be also used for activities that may include, but are not limited to: (1) Treatment; (2) Transmission and Distribution; (3) Storage (e.g. installation or replacement/rehabilitation of water storage infrastructure); (4) Consolidation (e.g. interconnecting two or more public water systems); (5) Household water quality testing, including for unregulated contaminants; (6) Assistance to increase technical, managerial, and financial (TMF) capacity; (7) Drinking water contamination response efforts.
Fiscal Year 2023 The projects and activities funded include SDWA compliance investments targeted to public water systems, programs to provide household water quality testing (including testing for unregulated contaminants), as well as activities to respond to a drinking water contaminant. Grant funding can be also used for activities that may include, but are not limited to: (1) Treatment; (2) Transmission and Distribution; (3) Storage (e.g. installation or replacement/rehabilitation of water storage infrastructure); (4) Consolidation (e.g. interconnecting two or more public water systems); (5) Household water quality testing, including for unregulated contaminants; (6) Assistance to increase technical, managerial, and financial (TMF) capacity; (7) Drinking water contamination response efforts.