Training and Technical Assistance to Improve Water Quality and Enable Small Public Water Systems to Provide Safe Drinking Water
On this page:
- Grant Announcement
- Background
- Available Funding
- Eligible Applicants
- How to Apply
- Timeline
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Contact Information
The fiscal year 2024 grant cycle is now closed.
Grant Announcement
EPA Announces $30 Million to help Small and Rural Communities Ensure Safe Drinking Water, Protect Local Waterways
Contact: EPA Press Office (press@epa.gov)
WASHINGTON (Oct. 4, 2024) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of up to $30.7 million in grant funding for technical assistance and training to support small drinking water and wastewater systems, many serving rural communities, and to help private well owners improve water quality.
In the United States, over 90 percent of drinking water systems serve fewer than 10,000 people. While many of these small systems consistently provide safe drinking water to their customers, they can also face challenges including high operator turnover, aging infrastructure, and lack of financial resources. Wastewater systems serving small communities face similar challenges. This EPA grant program provides funding to organizations that work side-by-side with these systems, providing tools and training to ensure that drinking water is safe and that wastewater is treated responsibly.
“Dedicated water champions, working at thousands of small drinking water and wastewater systems across the country, ensure that their communities can rely on clean and safe water. Accomplishing this vital mission day-in and day-out with limited resources is challenging,” said Bruno Pigott, EPA’s Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water. “With $30 million in new EPA funding, technical assistance providers will help achieve clean and safe water goals for small communities.”
The EPA is seeking applications to fund grant projects that will benefit small and often rural communities. Eligible applicants for this competitive agreement are nonprofit organizations, nonprofit private universities and colleges, and public institutions of higher education. The EPA expects to award four to five cooperative agreements totaling up to $30.7 million in federal funds. The purpose of the agreements is to provide training and technical assistance to:
- Small public water systems to achieve and maintain compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA);
- Small public water systems on a wide range of managerial and/or financial topics to achieve and maintain compliance with the SDWA;
- Small publicly-owned wastewater systems, communities served by onsite-decentralized wastewater systems to help improve water quality; or
- Private well owners to help improve water quality.
Questions about applying for EPA funding for training and technical assistance must be received by 11:59 p.m. EST, November 11, 2024 and applications must be received by 11:59 p.m. EST on November 25, 2024. EPA expects to award these cooperative agreements by summer of 2025 and encourages all eligible organizations who have an interest in these projects to apply.
This grant will be competed through a notice of funding opportunity process. The funding opportunity will remain open for 60 days on Grants.gov. For more information on the grant visit EPA’s website on Training and Technical Assistance for Small Systems Funding.
Background
Since 2012, the Training and Technical Assistance to Improve Water Quality and Enable Small PWSs to Provide Safe Drinking Water grant program has provided over $170 million in funding to technical assistance and training providers. EPA expects to award four to five cooperative agreements totaling up to $30.7 million in federal funds. The purpose of the agreements is to provide training and technical assistance to:
- Small public water systems to achieve and maintain compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA);
- Small public drinking water systems on a wide range of managerial and/or financial topics to achieve and maintain compliance with the SDWA;
- Small publicly-owned wastewater systems, communities served by onsite-decentralized wastewater systems to help improve water quality; or
- Private well owners to help improve water quality.
Available Funding
For this grant cycle, the program is making approximately $30.7 million in federal funds available. The following is the expected total of awards in each of the three National Priority Areas:
- Two to three awards are anticipated under National Priority Area 1: Training and Technical Assistance for Small Public Water Systems to Achieve and Maintain Compliance with the SDWA, including Improving Financial and Managerial Capacity, with an estimated total of $26,000,000.
- One award is anticipated under National Priority Area 2: Training and Technical Assistance for Small Publicly-Owned Wastewater Systems and Onsite/Decentralized Wastewater Systems to Help Improve Water Quality and Sustainable Operations, with an estimated total of $1,250,000.
- One award is anticipated under National Priority Area 3: Training and Technical Assistance for Private Drinking Water Well Owners to Help Improve Water Quality, with an estimated total of $3,450,000.
All applicants must demonstrate in their application submission how they will contribute a minimum non-federal cost-share/match of 10 percent of the total amount of federal funding requested for the project.
Eligible Applicants
Eligible applicants for this competitive agreement are nonprofit organizations, nonprofit private universities and colleges, and public institutions of higher education. For-profit organizations are not eligible to apply. States, municipalities, or tribal governments are not eligible to apply. 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.
How to Apply
The grant program is a competitive program. The solicitation for the grants is posted on Grants.gov.
The Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is viewable here:
Training and Technical Assistance Notice of Funding Opportunity (pdf)
Timeline
The closing date and time for receipt of application submissions is 11:59 p.m. EST on November 25, 2024, in order to be considered for funding.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions about this Notice of Funding Opportunity must be submitted in writing via e-mail and must be received by the Agency contact identified in the Contacts section of this page. They must be received by 11:59 p.m. EST, November 11, 2024.
Please refer to the following document for responses to frequently asked questions.
Frequently asked questions (pdf)
Contact information
For additional information contact: SmallSystemsRFA@epa.gov