Michael S. Regan 16th Administrator, United States Environmenta | Official Website
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the availability of $2,883,000 in funding through the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant program. This grant aims to assist communities in addressing stormwater and sewer infrastructure needs in Region 7. The importance of safely managing stormwater is underscored by the need to prevent contaminants, including untreated sewage, from polluting waterways.
The EPA's grant funding is available to states to support projects that will enhance their stormwater collection systems' resilience against increasingly intense rain events exacerbated by the climate crisis. Funding allotments for Region 7 states are as follows: Iowa ($326,000), Kansas ($461,000), Missouri ($1,567,000), and Nebraska ($529,000).
EPA Region 7 Administrator Meg McCollister stated, "This funding is an opportunity for small and financially struggling communities to obtain no-cost grants for critical stormwater and sewer system needs." She further emphasized that these no-cost grants would help ensure that upgrade costs are not passed on to utility customers.
Untreated discharges resulting from rain and floodwaters overrunning sewer and stormwater systems pose threats to human health, economic prosperity, and ecological function. To address this complex challenge nationwide, changes have been made under President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This law prioritizes stormwater infrastructure projects in small or financially distressed communities while preventing cost-share requirements from being passed on to these communities.
Additional funding for stormwater and wastewater upgrades is available through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program. Through the Infrastructure Law, EPA is providing $11.7 billion to states for upgrading wastewater infrastructure via the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. Furthermore, the seventh round of EPA’s WIFIA financing is available – with $6.5 billion through WIFIA and $1 billion through the State infrastructure financing authority WIFIA (SWIFIA) program.
The EPA is currently accepting letters of interest for WIFIA and SWIFIA, a loan program exclusively for state infrastructure financing authority borrowers. These programs advance President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which aims to ensure that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, and other investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
Stormwater can be a significant source of water pollution and a public health concern. It can collect various pollutants, including trash, chemicals, oils, and dirt/sediment, and convey them to nearby waterways. The EPA is working with local and state partners to leverage federal government resources to meet the needs of these communities. Changes made by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law ensure that 25% of its funds go to available projects in small or financially distressed communities; it also limits states’ abilities to pass on the burden of cost sharing to these communities.
To encourage investment in these critical projects, EPA modified the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant program so that state grantees are not required to contribute cost-share money for program projects located in small or financially distressed communities. However, grant portions that go to communities other than small or financially distressed ones will include a cost-share requirement.
