The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on June 18 that it has awarded $1,687,013,000 in supplemental appropriation funds to Florida to improve water infrastructure resiliency following Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
"These funds are critical to Florida as they build back stronger with more resilient water systems that can better withstand severe weather," said EPA Regional Administrator Kevin McOmber. "As the first anniversary of Hurricanes Helene and Milton have recently passed, we are reminded how critical access to safe clean water is, especially in the most difficult of times."
Florida received $844,671,000 for its Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. These funds will be used to make low-interest loans with principal forgiveness toward planning, design and construction of eligible drinking water improvement projects. This allocation was administered under Section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act.
An additional $806,392,000 was allocated for Florida’s Clean Water Safe Revolving Fund. This funding will support low-interest loans with principal forgiveness for planning, design and construction of eligible treatment works improvement projects. Florida also received $35,950,000 through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund specifically aimed at improving septic system resilience and assessing or connecting homes served by septic systems to centralized wastewater systems. Both Clean Water State Revolving Fund allocations were administered under Title VI of the Clean Water Act.
These funds are part of the 2025 Supplemental Congressional Appropriation for Hurricanes Helene and Milton and the Hawai’i Wildfires. The money is administered under the State Revolving Fund program and may be used for projects that increase resiliency to natural disasters at facilities impacted by these events. Eligible projects include improvements to drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities, distribution and collection systems, and source water supply among others according to the official roster page.
