All communities deserve access to safe, clean, and reliable water. Yet, too many communities across America—rural, urban, and suburban, small and large—face challenges in providing safe drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater services to their residents. EPA is providing free water technical assistance (WaterTA) to support communities in identifying water challenges; develop plans; build technical, financial, and managerial capacity; and develop application materials to access water infrastructure funding. EPA collaborates with states, tribes, territories, community partners, and other key stakeholders to implement WaterTA efforts.
In addition, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) presents an unprecedented opportunity to address water infrastructure needs by providing $50 billion in new funding, the largest federal investment in water in the history of our nation. New and existing EPA WaterTA programs will be utilized to support effective implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. If you are interested in applying for funding and would like assistance, please email info@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org.
Communities may request (subject to availability) free EPA WaterTA by filling out a simple interest form:Request WaterTA here. If you include your email address in your submitted response form, you will receive a confirmation email from WaterTA@epa.gov. After reviewing your submission, EPA or a TA provider will respond with potential next steps. Response times may vary depending on the volume and types of requests received.
Questions may be directed to WaterTA@epa.gov. And to receive ongoing updates, please sign up for the EPA’s Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center email list.
Below are a few specific TA initiatives, and the entire list of opportunities can be found here:
BIL:
– Closing America’s Wastewater Access Gap: In partnership with USDA Rural Development, assists 11 underserved areas with significant decentralized wastewater needs (or no wastewater infrastructure at all) to make progress in accessing Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding.
– Lead Service Line Replacement Accelerators: Partner with Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to accelerate lead service line replacement and support access to Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding across approximately 40 communities in 2023.
Ongoing WaterTA Programs:
– Environmental Finance Centers (EFCs): EFCs provide TA services to support communities to develop water infrastructure needs, develop funding applications, and address other capacity needs. 16 new regional BIL EFCs and 4 new national BIL EFCs will support access to Bipartisan Infrastructure Law resources and facilitate effective national implementation.
– Training and Technical Assistance for Small Systems: Assist small drinking water utilities with Safe Drinking Water Act compliance, support improved water quality efforts for small and decentralized wastewater systems, and support private drinking water well owners to improve water quality.
– Rural, Small, and Tribal (RST) TA for Wastewater Systems: Support rural, small municipalities, and Tribal governments to access finance/funding and support rural, small, and Tribal centralized and decentralized wastewater systems to build capacity to protect water quality and comply with the Clean Water Act.
– Creating Resilient Water Utilities (CRWU): Provide training and resources to support water utilities as they pursue climate adaptation and resiliency strategies.
– Drinking Water Rule Implementation and Compliance Assistance: Provides on-site and webinar-based training that includes rule overviews and/or specific technical requirements to states and water system operators. EPA also conducts virtual sanitary survey training for states.
– Water Resilience: Conducts training and exercises (both direct and classroom/ webinar based) related to the disaster resilience of water and wastewater utilities against natural disasters.