Technical Assistance for Treatment Works (Clean Water Act [CWA] Section 104(b)(8))

 

The objective is to provide technical assistance and training to rural, small, and tribal municipalities to: (1) plan, develop, and obtain financing for Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) eligible projects; (2) protect water quality and achieve and maintain compliance with the requirements of the Clean Water Act; and (3) provide information on planning, design, construction, and operation of publicly owned treatment works and decentralized wastewater treatment systems. Funding Priority - Fiscal Year 2023: Funding priorities include but are not limited to providing training and technical assistance to small, rural, and tribal publicly-owned wastewater systems and to small, rural and tribal communities served by onsite/decentralized wastewater systems. Funding Priority - Fiscal Year 2024: Funding priorities will continue to include but are not limited to providing training and technical assistance to small, rural, and tribal publicly-owned wastewater systems and to small, rural and tribal communities served by onsite/decentralized wastewater systems

Active 66.446 Environmental Protection Agency B - Project Grants Fiscal Year 2022 On September 20, 2021, EPA announced $12,000,000 in assistance to provide training and technical assistance to small, rural, and tribal publicly-owned wastewater systems and to small, rural and tribal communities served by onsite/decentralized wastewater systems.
Fiscal Year 2023 On April 27, 2023, EPA announced approximately $41,000,000 in assistance to provide training and technical assistance to small, rural, and tribal publicly-owned wastewater systems and to small, rural and tribal communities served by onsite/decentralized wastewater systems. Clean Water Act, Section 104(b)(3), 33 U.S.C. 1254, as amended Assistance under this program is generally available to public or private nonprofit organizations, subject to CWA 104(w), and the regulations at 2 CFR 200. Nonprofit organization, as defined by 2 CFR Part 200, means any corporation, trust, association, cooperative or other organization that: (1) is operated primarily for scientific, educational, service, charitable or similar purposes in the public interest; (2) is not organized primarily for profit; and (3) uses its net proceeds to maintain, improve and/or expand its operations. Note that 2 CFR Part 200 specifically excludes the following types of organizations from the definition of nonprofit organization because they are separately defined in the regulation: (i) institutions of higher education; and (ii) state, local and federally-recognized Indian tribal governments. Institutions of Higher Education are defined at 20 U.S.C. 1001. Nonetheless, institutions of higher education who otherwise qualify as nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply as indicated in the Office of Management and Budget's July 2017 Frequent Questions on the Uniform Grant Guidance. Nonprofit organizations described in Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that engage in prohibited lobbying activities as defined in Section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 are not eligible to apply. Institutions of Higher Education and Hospitals are not eligible. For certain competitive funding opportunities under this assistance listing, the Agency may limit eligibility to compete to a number or subset of eligible applicants consistent with the Agency's Assistance Agreement Competition Policy. Not applicable. Documentation of nonprofit status may be required. Applicants may be requested to demonstrate they have appropriate background, academic training, experience in the field, and necessary equipment to carry out projects. EPA may ask applicants or principal investigators to provide curriculum vitae and relevant publications. Preapplication coordination is required. EPA awards grants and cooperative agreements based on competitive applications submitted in response to EPA solicitations, considering relevance and likelihood of success of proposed projects. Regarding pre-application assistance with respect to competitive funding opportunities under this program description, EPA will generally specify the nature of the pre-application assistance, if any, that will be available to applicants in the competitive announcement. For additional information, contact the individual(s) listed in the competitive announcement. 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 standard application forms, as furnished by the Federal agency and required by 2 CFR 200 and 1500 as applicable, must be used for this program. For competitive awards the Requests for Applications will specify application procedures. For competitive awards, EPA will review and evaluate applications in accordance with the terms, conditions, and criteria stated in the competitive announcement. Competitions will be conducted in accordance with EPA policies/regulations for competing assistance agreements. For competitive awards, deadlines will be specified in the competitive announcement. From 90 to 120 days. Assistance agreement competition-related disputes will be resolved in accordance with the dispute resolution procedures published in 70 FR (Federal Register) 3629, 3630 (January 26, 2005). Copies of these procedures may also be found at: https://www.epa.gov/grants/grant-competition-dispute-resolution-procedures. Disputes relating to matters other than the competitive selection of recipients will be resolved under 2 CFR 1500 Subpart E, as applicable. Not applicable. The evaluation and selection criteria for competitive awards under this assistance listing description will be described in the competitive announcement. Grants and cooperative agreements are available to support recipients' allowable direct costs in approved scopes of work plus allowable indirect costs, in accordance with established EPA policies and regulations. Funds may be used to support: (1) training to operators, staff, managers on the sustainable and effective management of small wastewater treatment systems; (2) assist operators to manage small wastewater treatment systems to achieve compliance; and (3) perform onsite training or technical solutions that focus on improving performance at local facilities. Specific uses and restrictions on funds will be described in detail in the competitive announcements. 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 grant 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 voluntary. For certain competitive funding opportunities under this assistance listing, the Agency may include matching requirements consistent with the Agency's Assistance Agreement Competition Policy. Match may be cash or in-kind consistent with the regulations governing match requirements at 2 CFR 200 and 1500 as applicable. Specific matching requirements will be described in detail in the competitive announcements.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. The term 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. None/Not specified. Matthew Richardson
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. (Mail Code: 4204M )
Washington, DC 20459 USA
richardson.matthew@epa.gov
Phone: 202-564-2947 https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-water-infrastructure 68-0103-0-1-304 (Project Grants (Discretionary)) FY 22$20,000,000.00; FY 23 est $27,000,000.00; FY 24 est $18,000,000.00; FY 21$0.00; FY 20$0.00; FY 19$0.00; - Range: $500,000 to $6,000,000/Priority Area (as per the Summer 2022 competitive announcement); Average $3,250,000/fiscal year. Grants and cooperative agreements are subject to the general grant regulations 2 CFR 200 1500 (EPA Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards); 40 CFR Part 33 (Participation by Disadvantaged Business Enterprises in United States Environmental Protection Agency Programs). Fiscal Year 2022 Funding supported projects to provide training and technical assistance to small, rural, and tribal publicly-owned wastewater systems and to small, rural and tribal communities served by onsite/decentralized wastewater systems.
Fiscal Year 2023 Funding supported projects to provide training and technical assistance to small, rural, and tribal publicly-owned wastewater systems and to small, rural and tribal communities served by onsite/decentralized wastewater systems.