Drinking Water Tribal Set-Aside (DWTSA) Program – Drinking Water Infrastructure

• Purpose
• Examples of Eligible Activities
• Eligibility Requirements
• Funding
• How Do I Apply for Funding?
• Important Dates
• Documents
  • DWTSA Guidance
  • Required Documents for Proposal Submission
  • Required Elements for Grant Proposals
  • Supplemental Resources
  • Fact Sheets

Purpose

To assist federally recognized Tribes within EPA's Pacific Southwest (Region 9) to improve public water system infrastructure.

Examples of Eligible Activities

Infrastructure projects funded through the DWTSA 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:

• Small, Rural, and Tribal (SmaRT) Drinking Water Assistance Tribal 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 project proposals that will be considered for both the DWTSA and the SmaRT Programs. EPA will determine the most appropriate funding for each project.

Eligible project examples under the SmaRT Grant Program include:

• 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.

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 $7 million in FY27 DWTSA funds may be available to support eligible projects. EPA has created additional guidance and project application materials for both the Drinking Water Emerging Contaminant Programs and the DWTSA Lead Service Line Replacement (LSLR) Program.

Tribes may request that projects be awarded as a direct grant to a Tribe or an interagency agreement with the Indian Health Service (IHS). Tribes may also request in-kind assistance through an EPA-directed contractor to provide technical assistance, complete project planning and preliminary engineering and support construction oversight. 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 FY27 DWTSA funds, EPA must receive proposals by December 4, 2026.

All Project Proposal Applications must include the following: 

• Project Proposal Form;
• A proposed budget;
• Timeline for completion of the project;
• Documentation to support a health deficiency and the proposed health category ranking; and
• Tribal Government Endorsement.

Construction Project Applications must also include:

• A Preliminary Engineering Report (PER); and

Planning Project Applications must also include:

• A detailed project proposal and description of the health deficiency; 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, 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 4, 2026

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 4, 2026, will not be considered for funding.

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

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

January 2027

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

March 2027

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 2027

EPA notifies applicants of the final ranking and funding decision, along with guidance letters for projects to be funded by grant. EPA will also confirm projects selected for in-kind support and EPA’s contractor will schedule a call to initiate the project.

May-August 2027

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 2027

EPA awards funds for selected projects.

Documents

DWTSA Guidance

• EPA Region 9 FY27 DWTSA Guidance (pdf) (393.21 KB, September 11, 2026)
  EPA Pacific Southwest (Region 9) Drinking Water Tribal Set-Aside Program Fiscal Year 2027 Guidelines and Procedures for Applying for Assistance.

Required Documents for Proposal Submission

• EPA Region 9 FY27 DWTSA Project Proposal Form (pdf) (404.47 KB, September 2026)
  EPA Pacific Southwest (Region 9) Fiscal Year 2027 Drinking Water Tribal Set-Aside (DWTSA) Grant Project Proposal Form. Refer to page 15 of the EPA Region 9 Fiscal Year 2027 DWTSA Guidance for additional instructions to complete the Proposal Form.
• Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) Template (Full Text - Updated) (pdf) (391.54 KB, January 16, 2013)
  This is required for all construction projects. 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.

Required Elements for Grant Proposals

• 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.
• EPA Region 9 Workplan Template: Construction (docx) (31.68 KB, September 2026)
  EPA's Pacific Southwest (Region 9) has provided this document to use as a starting point for developing a workplan for a CONSTRUCTION project.
• EPA Region 9 Workplan Template: Planning (docx) (30.71 KB, September 2026)
  EPA's Pacific Southwest (Region 9) has provided this document to use as a starting point for developing a workplan for a PLANNING project.
• EPA Region 9 Project Budget Detail Worksheet (xlsx) (28.19 KB, September 2026)
  EPA's Pacific Southwest (Region 9) developed this worksheet to use in development of a draft budget for planning and construction projects.

Supplemental Resources

• EPA Region 9 DWTSA Financial Spreadsheet (xlsx) (30.68 KB, September 2026)
  This document is used to assess a utility’s financial capacity to operate the water system. EPA may request that the utility complete this AFTER receiving the initial proposal.

Fact Sheets

• EPA Region 9 Fact Sheet: Tribal Water Infrastructure Program (pdf) (591.16 KB, September 2026)
  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.