WIIN Act Section 2105: Reducing Lead in Drinking Water Tribal Grant Program
- Background
- Eligible Beneficiaries
- Eligible Projects
- How to Apply
- Recently Selected Projects
- Historical Funding
- Additional Resources
Background
The Tribal grant program supports projects and activities that will meaningfully reduce lead concentration in drinking water, including replacement of lead service lines and use of corrosion control.
The program is designed to facilitate reducing lead in drinking water in disadvantaged communities through infrastructure and/or treatment improvements or facility remediation in schools and child care facilities. The goal of these projects is to address conditions that contribute to increased concentrations of lead in drinking water.
Priority areas identified in this announcement are for: (1) Reduction of Lead Exposure in the Nation’s Drinking Water Systems through Infrastructure and Treatment Improvements and (2) Reduction of Children’s Exposure to Lead in Drinking Water at Schools and Child Care Facilities. A key priority for the agency is assisting drinking water systems, schools, child care facilities, and communities nationwide to minimize sources of lead in drinking water.
This website provides information pertaining to the Tribal component of the EPA's Reducing Lead in Drinking Water Grant Program. Information about the separate competitive Reducing Lead in Drinking Water Grant Program can be found on the Reducing Lead in Drinking Water program website.
Eligible Beneficiaries
This grant program makes assistance available to public water systems that serve Tribal communities.
Eligible Projects
Assistance under this program will support projects or activities that address lead reduction in Tribal public water systems. Projects that receive assistance under this program may include:
- Replacement of publicly owned lead service lines,
- Testing, planning or other relevant activities to identify and address conditions that contribute to increased concentration of lead in drinking water, or
- Assistance to low-income home owners to replace privately owned lead service lines.
Funding under this program cannot be used for partial lead service line replacement.
How to Apply
EPA Regions will coordinate with stakeholders and eligible beneficiaries to identify eligible projects to fund.
Recently Selected Projects
The Agency implements Reducing Lead in Drinking Water projects in Tribal communities through interagency agreements with the Indian Health Service.
EPA allots $1M in Reducing Lead in Drinking Water funding for Tribal projects each fiscal year and selects appropriate projects to fund through interagency agreements with the Indian Health Service. More than $7.1 million in Reducing Lead in Drinking Water Tribal Grant Program funding has been made available to date.
A list of the mostly awarded projects is provided below.
| Tribal Community/Nation | EPA Region | Fiscal Year(s) | Project Description | Funding Amount |
City of Anadarko | 6 | FY22, FY23, FY24, and FY25 | Identify and inventory several water mains for the City of Anadarko, a majority Native community, and replace those lined with lead. | $1,000,000
|
Mescalero Apache Tribe | 6 | FY22, FY23, FY24, and FY25
| Rehabilitate and operationalize an existing water storage tank by removing lead paint and addressing any deficiencies with steel welds, repainting, and bringing it back online for the Mescalero Apache Tribe community water system | $1,052,187
|
White Mountain Apache Tribe | 9 | FY22, FY23, FY24, and FY25
| Rehabilitate three degrading steel water storage tanks that serve the White Mountain Apache Tribal Utility Authority’s Miner Flat Public Water System by removing lead paint. | $984,000
|
Historical Funding
Using Reducing Lead in Drinking Water Tribal Grant Program appropriations for FY18 through FY22, the Agency established interagency agreements with the Indian Health Service for the following projects in Tribal communities:
| Tribal Community/Nation | EPA Region | Fiscal Year(s) | Project Description | Funding Amount |
| Quapaw Nation | 6 | FY18, FY19 and FY20 | Community water system improvements for assistance with sampling individual wells for contamination due to lead. The project will benefit 109 Indian-owned homes with estimated population of 382 people. | $620,000 |
| Quapaw Nation | 6 | FY18, FY19 and FY20 | Improvements to the community water system. Includes the construction of a new water line extension. | $367,000 |
| Chickasaw Nation | 6 | FY18, FY19 and FY20 | Water Treatment and distribution system improvements. | $1,848,516 |
| Big Valley Rancheria | 9 | FY19 | Installation of a new treatment plant to treat highly corrosive water and significant amounts of iron and manganese. | $100,000 |
| Mekoryuk | 10 | FY20 | Replace copper pipe in the water treatment plant with plastic pipe. | $64,483 |
| Fort Yukon | 10 | FY21 | Install corrosion control in the water treatment plant. | $93,480 |
| Rampart | 10 | FY21 | Install corrosion control in the water treatment plant. | $93,480 |
| Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona | 9 | FY22 | Removal of a storage water tank that contains high levels of lead in the coatings of both the interior and exterior of the tank. | $530,000 |
| Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona | 9 | FY22 | Complete rehabilitation of an existing welded steel tank. | $390,000. |
Additional Resources
- Tribal Consultation Summary
- EPA Headquarters Program Contact: Daniela Rossi (rossi.daniela@epa.gov)
- EPA Regional Contacts: Tribal Drinking Water Coordinators