The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has invested $41 million in new technical assistance to help communities address wastewater challenges.
The EPA revealed that the $41 million will help rural, small and Tribal communities assess water needs, identify solutions, and access funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and other federal programs.
Grant funding will be used to assess communities' most pressing challenges, provide training on water infrastructure and management practices, help communities navigate the federal funding application process, and strategically invest in reliable infrastructure solutions.
This action advances progress under President Biden’s Environmental Justice Initiative by making a tangible difference in communities with legacy environmental justice concerns.
“Every person in every community deserves to have effective and dependable wastewater services,” said EPA assistant administrator for water Radhika Fox.
The selected recipients for the Rural, Small, and Tribal Wastewater Technical Assistance Grant Program will provide technical assistance to rural, small and Tribal communities. This includes acquiring financing and funding, improving technical, managerial, and financial capacity, providing training and technical assistance to tribes across all areas of their clean water infrastructure, assisting communities with septic systems and other decentralized systems, and assisting lagoon systems in improving water quality and achieving and maintaining compliance.
More than one in five households in the United States rely on septic systems and other decentralized systems. The EPA estimates that lagoon wastewater treatment systems comprise about one-quarter of the wastewater treatment systems in the country.
The Rural, Small and Tribal Clean Water Technical Assistance Grant Program was established by the the nation's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 to provide technical assistance to improve small wastewater system operations and management practices, making them more sustainable and resilient, and supporting EPA’s mission to protect public health and the environment.
Two recipients, the National Rural Water Association and Rural Community Assistance Partnership Inc., were selected to provide on-the-ground, direct assistance to small and rural communities.
