This cooperative agreement consists of fiscal year 2023 bipartisan infrastructure law awards, which includes drinking water state revolving fund general supplemental, clean water state revolving…

This Cooperative Agreement awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through the Environmental Protection Consolidated Grants for the Insular Areas - Program Support (CFDA 66.600) provides $21,696,000 in funding to the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation (CUC) in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The funding will support the design and construction of drinking water distribution lines, wastewater collection lines, and upgrades to wastewater treatment plants. The award also includes $80,000 for an interagency agreement to provide technical assistance, as well as $2,471,000 in EPA in-kind funding for a technical assistance contract to develop a construction management program for CUC. These infrastructure improvements and technical assistance are intended to enhance water and wastewater services, reduce maintenance costs, and protect public health and the environment in the CNMI.

This cooperative agreement consists of fiscal year 2023 bipartisan infrastructure law awards, which includes drinking water state revolving fund general supplemental, clean water state revolving fund general supplemental, clean water emerging contaminant funds, drinking water emerging contaminant funds, and lead service line replacement funds. This year's award will fund design and construction of drinking water distribution lines, wastewater collection lines, waste water treatment plant (wwtp) rehabilitation and upgrades, and funding for an interagency agreement between EPA and CUC for technical assistance, and in-kind money for an EPA contract for a technical assistance contract which will include developing a construction management program for CUC inspectors. - an interagency agreement (IA) will provide technical assistance in the amount of $80,000. - an EPA in-kind set-aside technical assistance contract to develop a construction management program is funded for $2,471,000 the cooperative agreement provides full federal funding in the amount of $21,696,000 which includes $2,471,000 in EPA in-kind set aside funds. See terms and conditions.activities:the proposed projects will focus on design and construction of drinking water distribution lines, wastewater collection lines, wwtp rehabilitation and upgrades, and technical assistance. The proposed activities and budget are detailed in the grant project workplan, which have been negotiated and approved by the project officer.subrecipient:no subawards are included in this assistance agreement.outcomes:the project workplan is targeted to meet the statutory and regulatory objectives, milestones, and goals of EPA's strategic plan, in conjunction with the authority and legislative intent of the omnibus territories act. Planned projects are derived from the bureau of environmental and coastal quality (becq) priority list. The specific project priorities may change throughout the period of performance, which are dependent on the needs basis of protecting human health and the environment. Bipartisan infrastructure law funds for fiscal year 2022 are included. Workplan 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 water system improvement projects' primary objectives include replacing old leaking water mains, upgrading undersized mains, full-time pressurization of the water transmission and distribution system, and reducing 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 plant operation and lift station efficiency, conservation of energy, upgrade treatment capacity, and reduce the cost of operations and maintenance. Proposed projects will also improve the collection system as IT will replace collapsed sewer mains.