The U.S. Environment Protection Agency is soliciting applications from eligible entities for projects in underserved communities that are disadvantaged or serve a population of less than 10,000 individuals to increase drinking water system resilience to natural hazards.
Donor Name: U.S. Environment Protection Agency
State: All States
County: All Counties
U.S. Territory: District of Columbia, Guam, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 11/06/2023
Size of the Grant:
- National Priority Area 1: $5,700,000
- National Priority Area 2: $13,300,000
Grant Duration: 4 years
Details:
For the purposes of this grant program, the term “resilience,” as defined and incorporated by reference in SDWA section 1459A, means the ability of a community water system or an asset of a community water system, for example the equipment, buildings, land, people, and other components needed to deliver safe and clean water, to adapt to or withstand the effects of a natural hazard without interruption to the corresponding function, or if the function is interrupted, to rapidly return to a normal operating condition. For the purposes of this grant program, the term “natural hazard” means a natural event, such as an earthquake, tornado, flood, hurricane, wildfire, drought, freezing or hydrologic change that threatens the functioning of a community water system, of the SDWA and incorporated by reference. When considering these natural disaster threats, a public water system may take into account risks associated with climate change to ensure that resilience-building activities address future conditions such as increasing or decreasing temperatures, changes in precipitation, and, where applicable, sea-level rise.
The goal of the first National Priority Area is to increase drinking water system resilience by implementing smaller-scale resilience projects informed by drinking water system plans. The goal of the second National Priority Area is to improve drinking water system resilience through large-scale infrastructure improvements and/or optimization of mitigation measures at a drinking water system.
National Priority Areas
- National Priority Area 1: Small-Scale Investments to Help Drinking Water Systems Implement Resilience Measures
- National Priority Area 2: Large-Scale Infrastructure Improvements to Enhance Drinking Water System Resilience
Funding Information
- The total amount of federal funding potentially available under this announcement is approximately$19,000,000 of combined funding from fiscal years 2020 to 2023, depending on Agency funding levels, the quality of applications received, and other applicable considerations. It is anticipated that approximately ten to twenty assistance agreements will be awarded in National Priority Area 1 and two to five assistance agreements will be awarded in National Priority Areas 2, of this announcement. It is anticipated that awards made under National Priority Area 1 will total approximately $5,700,000 in federal funds; awards made under National Priority Area 2 will total approximately $13,300,000 in federal funds.
- Assistance agreements funded under this announcement will have one- to four-year project periods.
Eligibility Criteria
- Based on Section 1459A of the SDWA, eligible applicants under this competition include the following:
- a public water system;
- a water system located in an area governed by an Indian Tribe;
- a State, on behalf of an underserved community;
- serves a community—
- that is underserved; and
- that, under affordability criteria established by the State under SDWA section 1452(d)(3), is determined by the State to be a disadvantaged community; or
- with a population of less than 10,000 individuals.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
