This assistance agreement includes fiscal year 2024 drinking water and clean water state revolving funds (DW and CW SRF) grant funds

This Cooperative Agreement award, provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Environmental Protection Consolidated Grants for the Insular Areas - Program Support (CFDA 66.600) program, will fund water and wastewater infrastructure improvements in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).

The $4,737,318 award will support projects such as booster pump upgrades, water tank replacement, and sewer lift station renovation, as well as the design for waterline replacement in Egigi. These projects aim to reduce operations and maintenance costs, non-revenue water, and improve system reliability and efficiency to provide reliable, potable drinking water and wastewater services to CNMI residents. The award period runs from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2031 and is being provided to the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation, the public utility serving CNMI.

The proposed projects are taken from the approved project priority list. The proposed projects will focus on drinking water and wastewater system improvements to include rehabilitation, replacement, and installation of new infrastructure. This assistance agreement provides full federal funding in the amount of $4,527,313.00. Activities:this assistance agreement includes DW and CW SRF funds for fiscal year 2024. The full detailed workplan is attached and describes the objectives, milestones, and goals that meet the requirements of EPA's strategic plan, gpra, statutes, regulations, and is being done with the authority and legislative intent of the omnibus territories act. The proposed projects are taken from the usepa approved cnmi bureau of environment and coastal quality's priority list, however, the specific project priorities may change through the years dependent on the need of addressing protection of human health and the environment. The proposed projects will focus on booster pump upgrades, water tank replacement, and a sewer lift station renovation. The proposed activities and budget are detailed in the workplan, which has been negotiated and approved by the project officer. Subrecipient:no subawards are included in this assistance agreement.outcomes:the water system improvement projects' primary objectives include replacing replacing the kagman water tank and upgrading the booster pump which will reduce operations and maintenance costs. These projects also aim to reduce non-revenue water, providing metered (billable), reliable, potable drinking water to every customer residing in the cnmi. The objective of the new proposed wastewater projects is to improve lift station efficiency, conservation of energy, and reduce the cost of operations and maintenance.