Deadline: 25-Nov-2024
The Environmental Protection Agency has launched the Clean Water Rural, Small, and Tribal (RST) Grant Program to support communities’ efforts to identify water challenges, develop plans, build technical, financial, and managerial capacity, comply with the Clean Water Act, and access water infrastructure funding.
The Agency is seeking applications from organizations that serve a range of geographic service areas with project budgets appropriate to the number of rural, small, and Tribal entities to be supported.
Priorities
- Four Priority Areas:
- Priority Area 1 – Acquisition of Financing/Funding: Training and technical assistance for rural, small, and Tribal municipalities for planning, developing and acquisition of financing/funding for CWSRF eligible activities.
- Funding is available to provide training and technical assistance to rural, small, and Tribal municipalities, in consultation with the state, as appropriate, for the purpose of assisting such municipalities and Tribal governments in the planning, developing, and acquisition of federal financing.
- Priority Area 2 – Protect Water Quality and Compliance Assistance: Training and technical assistance for rural, small, and Tribal publicly owned treatment works and decentralized wastewater systems to help improve water quality and to achieve and maintain compliance.
- Funding is available to provide training and technical assistance for rural, small, and/or Tribal publicly owned treatment works and/or decentralized wastewater systems to help improve water quality and to achieve and maintain compliance. Rural, small, and Tribal wastewater systems often face common challenges including:
- a lack of capacity to assess current operations and identify short- and long-term opportunities for improvement;
- frequent turnover of operations personnel;
- personnel who lack necessary technical, financial or managerial skills;
- limited rate bases;
- aging infrastructure;
- lack of knowledge of increasingly stringent discharge limits; and
- lackof knowledge of newer techniques to reduce discharges, assess and improve operations, and analyze infrastructure alternatives to meet wastewater quality goals.
- Funding is available to provide training and technical assistance for rural, small, and/or Tribal publicly owned treatment works and/or decentralized wastewater systems to help improve water quality and to achieve and maintain compliance. Rural, small, and Tribal wastewater systems often face common challenges including:
- Priority Area 3 – Tribal:
- Training and technical assistance focused specifically on Tribes for planning, developing and acquisition of financing/funding, to help improve water quality and achieve and maintain compliance, and/or to support emerging contaminants project development.
- Long-standing water challenges in Indian country are negatively impacting Tribes. Tribal communities are more likely than other populations in the United States to lack access to wastewater services.
- To be successful, Tribal water infrastructure programs need resources and support to build technical, managerial, and financial capacity.
- Training and technical assistance focused specifically on Tribes for planning, developing and acquisition of financing/funding, to help improve water quality and achieve and maintain compliance, and/or to support emerging contaminants project development.
- Priority Area 4 – Decentralized Systems: Information Dissemination, Training and Technical Assistance focused specifically on decentralized wastewater treatment systems to support planning, development and acquisition of financing
- Decentralized wastewater treatment systems such as septic systems, are used to treat and dispose of small volumes of wastewater onsite, usually from houses and businesses located in suburban and rural locations not served by a centralized public sewer system. Septic systems treat wastewater from household plumbing fixtures (e.g., toilet, shower, laundry, etc.) through both natural and technological processes. Decentralized wastewater treatment systems may face significant maintenance and management challenges that affect their ability to maintain compliance with the CWA, including:
- lack of information on system location, performance, age, and maintenance history;
- improper design or siting;
- lack of owner knowledge of proper preventative maintenance techniques;
- lack of life-cycle management; and
- lack of owner/service provider knowledge of advanced treatment and dispersal technologies.
- Decentralized wastewater treatment systems such as septic systems, are used to treat and dispose of small volumes of wastewater onsite, usually from houses and businesses located in suburban and rural locations not served by a centralized public sewer system. Septic systems treat wastewater from household plumbing fixtures (e.g., toilet, shower, laundry, etc.) through both natural and technological processes. Decentralized wastewater treatment systems may face significant maintenance and management challenges that affect their ability to maintain compliance with the CWA, including:
- Priority Area 1 – Acquisition of Financing/Funding: Training and technical assistance for rural, small, and Tribal municipalities for planning, developing and acquisition of financing/funding for CWSRF eligible activities.
Funding Information
- The total amount of federal funding potentially available under this announcement is approximately $49,000,000, depending on Agency funding levels, the quality of applications received, agency priorities, and other applicable considerations.
- Award Ceiling: $4,000,000
Outputs
- Environmental outputs (or deliverables) refer to an environmental activity, effort, and/or associated work product related to an environmental goal or objective, that will be produced or provided over a period or by a specified date. Outputs may be quantitative or qualitative but must be measurable during an assistance agreement funding period.
- Examples of anticipated outputs for Priority Area 1 Acquisition of Financing may include but are not limited to the following:
- Increased number of municipalities receive technical assistance to apply for CWSRF eligible activities.
- Increased number of rural, small, and/or Tribal municipalities are added to state IUPs.
- Increased number of rural, small, and Tribal communities with lagoon wastewater treatment systems accessing infrastructure funding and technical assistance sources.
- Increased number of lagoon wastewater projects/communities on the state IUPs.
- Examples of anticipated outputs for Priority Area 2 Protect Water Quality and Compliance Assistance may include but are not limited to the following:
- Increased number of systems’ personnel with skills to conduct diagnostic and troubleshooting analyses to determine factors affecting performance and compliance with NPDES permits.
- Increased number of systems with capacity to assess steps to adapt to climate change and/or mitigate greenhouse gas emissions for example through Climate Resilient Water Utilities.
- Increased number of municipalities with training and knowledge of available infrastructure funding and financing resources for decentralized systems.
- Examples of anticipated outputs for Priority Area 3 Tribal may include but are not limited to the following:
- Increased number of Tribal systems’ personnel and decision-makers with knowledge of available funding programs and skills to successfully apply for funding.
- Increased number of Tribal systems’ personnel with skills to conduct diagnostic and troubleshooting analyses to determine factors affecting performance and compliance with NPDES permits.
- Increased number of Tribal systems with capacity to assess steps to adapt to climate change and/or mitigate greenhouse gas emissions for example through Climate Resilient Water Utilities
- Examples of anticipated outputs for Priority Area 4 Decentralized may include but are not limited to the following:
- Increased number of municipalities receiving technical assistance to apply for and access funding for decentralized wastewater treatment system construction.
- Increased number of decentralized wastewater projects/communities on the state IUPs.
- Increased number of municipalities with training and knowledge of available infrastructure funding and financing resources for decentralized systems.
- Increased number of municipalities and systems that receive engineering support for pre-project development for decentralized systems
Outcomes
- Environmental outcomes are the result, effect or consequence that will occur from carrying out an environmental program or activity that is related to an environmental or programmatic goal or objective. Environmental outcomes are used to gauge a project’s performance and take the form of output measures and outcome measures. Outcomes may be environmental, behavioral, health-related, or programmatic in nature. Outcomes must be quantitative and may not necessarily be achieved within an assistance agreement funding period. Outcomes may be short-term (changes in learning, knowledge, attitude, skills), intermediate (changes in behavior, practice, or decisions), or long-term (changes in condition of the natural resource).
Eligibility Criteria
- Each application submitted under this announcement must address one, and only one of the four Priority Areas. Only one application may be submitted for each Priority Area per applicant. Eligible organizations may submit more than one application under this competition as long as each one is separately submitted and addresses only one Priority Area.
- Eligible Applicant
- Eligible applicants under this competition are public and private nonprofit organizations, including public or nonprofit Institutions of Higher Education, subject to CWA 104(w), that are qualified and experienced in providing on-site training and technical assistance to rural, small, and Tribal municipalities and/or small publicly owned treatment works and/or decentralized wastewater treatment systems.
- For-profit colleges, universities, trade schools, and hospitals are ineligible.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.