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  1. Home
  2. Tribal Programs in the Pacific Southwest
  3. Tribal Water Programs

Drinking Water Tribal Set-Aside (DWTSA) Program

EPA’s Pacific Southwest (Region 9) implements and enforces federal environmental laws in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, the Pacific Islands, and 148 Tribal Nations.

Related Resources

  • Lead Service Line Replacement (LSLR) Program
  • Clean Water Emerging Contaminant (EC) Program
  • PFAS Drinking Water Sampling Project
  • School Drinking Water Lead Testing Project
On this page:
  • Purpose
  • Examples of Eligible Activities
  • Eligibility Requirements
  • Funding
  • How Do I Apply for Funding?
  • Important Dates
  • Documents
    • Guidance
    • Fact Sheets

Purpose

To assist federally recognized Tribes within EPA Region 9 to improve public water system infrastructure

Examples of Eligible Activities

Contacts

For general information about this program, please contact: 
Nancy Sockabasin
sockabasin.nancy@epa.gov
(415) 972-3772

Redding and Sacramento Districts
Amita Muralidharan, Project Officer
(415) 947-4140

Escondido District
Madeleine Tango, Project Officer
(619) 874-0568

Tucson Area
Nancy Sockabasin, Project Officer
(415) 972-3772

Reno and Western Arizona Districts
Sara McGillewie, Project Officer
(213) 244-1859

Eastern Arizona District
Emma Young, Project Officer
(415) 972-3707

Navajo Nation Area
Adam Ramos, Project Officer
(415) 972-3450

Infrastructure projects funded through the Drinking Water Tribal Set-Aside (DWTSA) Program must address the most significant threats to public health associated with public water systems that serve Tribal populations. Eligible infrastructure improvement projects can:

  • Rehabilitate/develop sources (excluding water rights);
  • Install or upgrade treatment facilities;
  • Install or upgrade storage facilities, including finished water reservoirs;
  • Install or replace transmission and distribution pipes;
  • Replace aging infrastructure if replacement is needed to maintain compliance or further the health protection goals of the SDWA;
  • Install new transmission, distribution or service lines to connect existing homes to a public water supply;
  • Water efficiency projects (e.g., installation of meters);
  • Expansion, consolidation, or development of a new public water system (limited circumstances, see below); and
  • Develop preliminary engineering reports (PERs).

EPA will also consider project eligibility for the following grant programs:

  • Drinking Water Tribal Set-Aside Emerging Contaminants (DWTSA-EC) Funding – Address emerging contaminants in drinking water.
  • Emerging Contaminants (EC) in Small or Disadvantaged Communities (SDC) Grant – Help communities facing disproportionate impacts of emerging contaminants. Tribes are generally eligible to receive funding if the community population is less than 10,000 individuals.
  • DWTSA Lead Service Line Replacement (LSLR) Program – Assist federally recognized tribes within EPA Region 9 (CA, NV, AZ) address lead service line replacement projects and associated activities directly connected to the identification, planning, design, and replacement of lead service lines.
  • Small, Underserved, and Disadvantaged Communities (SUDC) Grant Program (Section 2014 of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act) – Assist public water systems in meeting Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requirements. Tribes are generally eligible to receive funding if the community population is less than 10,000 individuals.

Tribes may submit one project proposal that will be considered for the DWTSA, DWTSA-EC, EC-SDC and SUDC Programs. EPA will determine the most appropriate funding for each project. Refer to DWTSA LSLR Program website for additional guidance, and a project proposal form, for projects with activities directly connected to the identification, planning, design and replacement of lead service lines.

New BIL programs to address emerging contaminants in drinking water and lead service line replacements include additional eligibilities that are more fully described in EPA’s March 2022 BIL Implementation memo. Under these new appropriations, projects must be otherwise DWTSA eligible and their primary purpose must be to address emerging contaminants in drinking water or be a lead service line replacement project or associated activity directly connected to the identification, planning, design or replacement of lead service lines. Eligible project examples under these new programs include:

Drinking Water Tribal Set-Aside Emerging Contaminants Funding and Emerging Contaminants (EC) in Small or Disadvantaged Communities (SDC) Grant

  • Completing pre-development activities (such as determining if and where contamination exists) for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and other emerging contaminants.
  • Conducting initial, special (non-routine/noncompliance) monitoring to establish a baseline understanding of a contaminant of concern.
  • Developing project planning and preliminary engineering documents for PFAS and other emerging contaminants projects.
  • Designing projects to address PFAS and other emerging contaminants.
  • Technical assistance to evaluate emerging contaminant problems.
  • Programs to provide household water-quality testing, including testing for unregulated contaminants.
  • Activities necessary and appropriate for tribes to respond to an emerging contaminant.
  • Installing centralized water treatment to address emerging contaminants at a small or disadvantaged community water system.
  • Additionally, the EC-SDC Program can fund:
  • Laboratory testing equipment such as supplying water test kits and instructions to households.
  • Source water protection activities such as implementation of voluntary source water protection activities in delineated drinking water source areas (as defined in SDWA section 1453).

DWTSA Lead Service Line Replacement (LSLR) Program

Service Line Inventory (SLI) Projects - These projects aim to determine the materials of all applicable service lines to the extent that they are eligible for replacement or are determined to be non-lead (i.e., service line material that is not lead or galvanized requiring replacement).

  • Development or updating service line inventories, including locating and mapping service lines.
  • Methods of investigation to develop inventories could include records review, visual observation, water quality sampling (non-compliance), excavation, vacuum or hydro-excavation, or other emerging technologies.

Lead Service Line Replacement (LSLR) Projects are for planning, design and construction of lead service line replacements and other service line components.

  • Planning and design, including environmental review and clearance.
  • Complete removal of lead service lines or service lines made of galvanized iron or galvanized steel that are currently or have previously been downstream of lead or unknown components. Removal and replacement must include both the public and privately owned portion.
  • Removal and replacement of lead or galvanized goosenecks, pigtails, and connectors.

Additional activities eligible to include in SLI and LSLR projects include:

  • Temporary pitcher filters or point-of-use (POU) devices certified by American National Standards Institute accredited certifier to reduce lead during or for a short period after a lead service line replacement.
  • Technical assistance to small water systems undertaking lead service line inventories or construction projects.
  • LSLR consumer education and outreach.

Small, Underserved, and Disadvantaged Communities (SUDC) Grant Program

  • Investments necessary for a public water system to comply with the SDWA.
  • Efforts that benefit a small or disadvantaged community on a per household basis.
  • Programs to provide household water quality testing, including testing for unregulated contaminants.
  • Activities necessary and appropriate to respond to a contaminant.
  • Activities to increase technical, managerial, and financial capacity of a public water system.

Funding under this program cannot be used for operation and maintenance purposes or for routine compliance monitoring.

Eligibility Requirements

Only federally recognized Indian Tribes within EPA Region 9 may submit proposals that benefit eligible public water systems (PWS). PWS eligibility is limited as follows:

  • Only public water systems that are community water systems or non-profit, non-community water systems are eligible to receive funding;
  • The water system must serve an Indian Tribe;
  • The water system must be in compliance with the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations unless the project which is being funded will ensure compliance;
  • The water system must be operated by adequately trained and certified operators; and
  • The water system utility must have or be able to develop the technical, financial and managerial capacity to properly maintain the water system.

Funding

Approximately $17 million in FY25 funds may be available to support eligible projects, including up to $3 million in base DWTSA funds and up to $14 million in supplemental BIL funds. The region also expects to receive nearly $14 million to address emerging contaminants in drinking water and $26.5 million to investigate and remove lead service lines. EPA has developed additional criteria to prioritize projects for emerging contaminant funding; and created additional guidance, and a project proposal form, for the DWTSA Lead Service Line Replacement (LSLR) Program.

Tribes may request that projects be awarded as a direct grant to a Tribe, an interagency agreement with the Indian Health Service (IHS), or for certain projects (e.g. service line inventories) Region 9 can provide EPA-directed in-kind assistance to Tribes. This assistance will be awarded under Section 300j-12 of the Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 U.S.C. §1452.

The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number is 66.468. The Funding Opportunity Number (FON) is EPA-CEP-01.

How Do I Apply for Funding?

To be considered for FY25 DWTSA funds, EPA must receive proposals by December 6, 2024

All Project Proposal Applications must include the following:

  • Project Proposal Form; and
  • Tribal Government Endorsement.

Construction Project Applications must include:

  • A Preliminary Engineering Report (PER); and
  • Documentation to Support the health category ranking

Planning Project Applications must include:

  • A detailed project proposal and description of the health deficiency
  • Documentation to support the health category ranking
  • Proposed budget;
  • Timeline for completion; and
  • The outcome of the project must be the development of a PER.

E-mail one electronic copy of the proposal and any documentation to: Nancy Sockabasin at sockabasin.nancy@epa.gov.

Electronic files exceeding 8MB must be separated into emails not exceeding 8MB each. If you have difficultly submitting electronic documentation, contact Nancy Sockabasin.

Important Dates

December 6, 2024

EPA must receive proposals by this date, including the proposal form, Tribal government endorsement, and preliminary engineering reports (PERs) or planning project proposals with supporting documents. Proposals received after December 6, 2024, will not be considered for funding. Please note: Project proposals are accepted throughout the year for the DWTSA LSLR Program and will be evaluated as received.

E-mail one electronic copy of the proposal and any documentation to:

Nancy Sockabasin at sockabasin.nancy@epa.gov.

Electronic files exceeding 8MB must be separated into emails not exceeding 8MB each. If you have difficultly submitting electronic documentation, contact Nancy Sockabasin.

January 2025

EPA will notify each applicant of the draft proposal priority and whether the project is selected to continue with the application process.

March 2025

Applicants can submit comments on their draft project prioritization. For projects selected to continue with the application process, applicants must submit responses to any EPA comments and submit any additional documentation or endorsements that EPA requests.

April-August 2025

EPA notifies applicants of the final ranking and funding decision, along with guidance letters for projects to be funded by grant.

May-August 2025

Tribe submits grant application, or Indian Health Service submits draft Memorandum of Agreement and signed Project Summary (exact dates will be included in funding decision notification letters).

September 2025

EPA awards funds for selected projects.

Documents

Free viewers and readers are available to access documents on our website. If you encounter issues with assistive technology, please contact us.

DWTSA Guidance

  • EPA Region 9 Fiscal Year 2025 DWTSA Guidance (pdf) (523.56 KB, September 19, 2024)
    EPA Pacific Southwest (Region 9) Drinking Water Tribal Set-Aside Program 2025 Guidelines and Procedures for Applying for Assistance.
  • EPA Region 9 Drinking Water Tribal Set-Aside Program Project Proposal Form (pdf) (256.58 KB, September 9, 2024)
    EPA Region 9 Fiscal Year 2025 Drinking Water Tribal Set-Aside (DWTSA) Grant Project Proposal Form
  • EPA Region 9 DWTSA Financial Spreadsheet (xlsx) (20.87 KB, September 14, 2017)
  • Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) Template (Full Text - Updated) (pdf) (391.54 KB, January 16, 2013)
    Inter-agency recommended best practice for the development of Preliminary Engineering Reports in support of funding applications for development of drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, and solid waste systems.
  • EPA Region 9 Project Management Capacity Checklist for Public Water Systems (pdf) (187.42 KB, September 2002)
    EPA Region 9's Tribal Set-Aside Grant Program has developed this checklist for applicants to demonstrate that they have the ability (either in-house or with the assistance of the IHS or another appropriate agency) to meet EPA’s project management requirements and properly oversee the construction project.
  • DWTSA Grant Project Management Checklist (pdf) (151.36 KB, September 2020)
    EPA Region 9's Tribal Set-Aside Grant Program developed this checklist for applicants to demonstrate they have the ability (either in-house or with the assistance of the IHS or other appropriate agency) to meet EPA’s project management requirements and properly oversee an SDWA funded construction project.

Fact Sheets

  • Fact Sheet: EPA Region 9 Tribal Water Infrastructure Program (pdf) (542.17 KB, October 2024)
    EPA Pacific Southwest (Region 9) fact sheet with information about EPA's Tribal water and wastewater infrastructure programs, including the Drinking Water Tribal Set-Aside Program (DWTSA) which provides annual funding for federally recognized Tribes within Region 9 for public drinking water systems.
  • Fact Sheet: EPA Region 9 Drinking Water Emerging Contaminant Program (pdf) (6.53 MB, November 2023)
    EPA Pacific Southwest (Region 9) fact sheet with information about EPA's two programs which address emerging contaminants: the Drinking Water Tribal Set-Aside Emerging Contaminant Program (DWTSA EC) and the Emerging Contaminants in Small and Disadvantaged Communities Program (EC SDC). Both programs provide funding for federally recognized tribes within for public drinking water systems affected by emerging contaminants on the Contaminant Candidate List (CCL).

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Last updated on October 24, 2024
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