The University of New Mexico received a $3,000,000 Project Grant from the Environmental Protection Agency Office for Water - Funding Office under the Clean Water Act Section 104(b)(8) "Technical Assistance for Treatment Works" program (CFDA 66.446). The grant will fund the Environmental Finance Center Network (EFCN) team to provide training and technical assistance across all 50 U.S. states, 5 territories, and tribal communities on topics such as decentralized wastewater systems,...
The University of New Mexico received a $6,000,000 Project Grant from the Environmental Protection Agency Office for Water - Funding Office under the Technical Assistance for Treatment Works (Clean Water Act [CWA] Section 104(b)(8)) program (CFDA 66.446). The grant provides funding for the Southwest Environmental Finance Center (SW EFC) to deliver training and technical assistance to rural, small, and tribal communities. Key activities include community outreach, project development, capacity...
This $1,000,000 project grant from the Environmental Protection Agency Office for Water under the Section 104(b)(3) Surveys, Studies, Investigations, Demonstrations, and Training Grants and Cooperative Agreements program (CFDA 66.436) supports the Environmental Finance Center Network in increasing the technical, managerial, and financial capacity of small wastewater systems and onsite/decentralized wastewater systems. The University of New Mexico serves as the lead awardee coordinating seven...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded a $600,000 Cooperative Agreement to the University of New Mexico (UNM) under the Innovative Water Infrastructure Workforce Development Program (CFDA 66.445). The agreement aims to accelerate career tracks in the water utilities sector and provide access to water utility workforce opportunities. Key activities include establishing education programs for elementary, secondary, and higher education students, as well as developing a Water Science...
This $1,375,000 Project Grant award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "Surveys, Studies, Investigations, Demonstrations, and Training Grants and Cooperative Agreements - Section 104(b)(3) of the Clean Water Act" (CFDA 66.436) program funds the Environmental Finance Center Network (EFCN) to provide training and technical assistance to small publicly owned wastewater systems and onsite/decentralized wastewater systems across the U.S., territories, and tribal lands. The EFCN...
The National Rural Water Association (NRWA) was awarded an $8.58 million Project Grant from the Environmental Protection Agency Office for Water under the Surveys, Studies, Investigations, Demonstrations, and Training Grants - Section 1442 of the Safe Drinking Water Act program (CFDA 66.424). The award will support NRWA's implementation of training and technical assistance for small public water systems to achieve and maintain compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act from August 1, 2022 to...
This Project Grant award, valued at $2,100,000.00, was provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water under the Surveys, Studies, Investigations, Demonstrations, and Training Grants program (CFDA 66.424). The purpose of the award is to provide training and expand the capabilities of state and tribal Underground Injection Control (UIC) and Source Water Protection (SWP) programs. Key activities include: Providing leadership and support to states and tribes on...
This $18,914,000 Formula Grant award under the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Small and Underserved Communities Emerging Contaminants Grant Program (CFDA 66.442), administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6, provides funding to the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) to address emerging contaminants (EC) and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water for small and disadvantaged communities in New Mexico. The key activities...
This Project Grant award from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office for Water totals $314,079 under the Innovative Water Infrastructure Workforce Development Program (CFDA 66.445). The grant supports the Institute for Future Water Leaders, a collaboration between Syracuse University, Wichita State University, and the University of New Mexico. Products include instructional content and training modules addressing foundational and emerging topics for water and wastewater...
The American Water Works Association (Awwa) received a $291,122 Project Grant award from the Environmental Protection Agency Office for Water through the Innovative Water Infrastructure Workforce Development Program (SDWA 1459E) to implement a water leadership training program. The grant period is from March 1, 2022 to February 28, 2024. Under the award, Awwa will train 50 current water utility employees from around the country to prepare them for leadership roles through an experiential water...
The University of New Mexico (UNM) received a $5,564,445 Project Grant award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Surveys, Studies, Investigations, Demonstrations, and Training Grants - Section 1442 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (CFDA 66.424) program. The award's purpose is to improve small water system compliance by providing training and technical assistance to rural, small, and tribal systems across all 50 states, territories, and tribal entities. Key activities include delivering in-person, virtual, and peer-to-peer training events; providing direct technical assistance ranging from light-touch support to in-depth, on-site help; and creating educational resources such as podcasts, videos, and websites. The expected outcomes include increased compliance, resiliency, and financial sustainability for small, disadvantaged water systems, as well as greater institutional knowledge retention and access to infrastructure funding.
The grant has several sub-awardees that will support these objectives. The University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center will enhance the training and technical assistance offerings. The University of Tennessee, Michigan Technological University, Wichita State University, Morgan State University, and the University of Maine System will deliver specialized training, webinars, and direct on-site assistance to small water systems on topics like asset management, hydraulic modeling, financial management, and resiliency planning. The nonprofit organizations Moonshot Missions and Earth Island Institute will also contribute to the initiative's goals through project planning, needs assessments, and engineering advisory services.