EPA-OW-OWM-22-02 AWIA Rural small Tribal_7-5-22.pdf

Federal Agency Name: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Water, Office of Wastewater Management

Funding Opportunity Title: Training and Technical Assistance for Rural, Small and

Tribal Municipalities and Wastewater Treatment Systems for Clean Water Act Prevention, Reduction, and Elimination of Pollution

Announcement Type: Request for Applications (RFA)

Funding Opportunity Number (FON): EPA-OW-OWM-22-02

Assistance Listing: 66.446

Dates: The closing date and time for receipt of application submissions is August 22, 2022, by 11:59 PM, Eastern Time (ET) in order to be considered for funding. Application packages must be submitted electronically to EPA through Grants.gov (Grants.gov) no later than August 22, 2022, in order to be considered for funding. Questions about this RFA must be submitted in writing via e-mail and must be received by the Agency contacts identified in Section VII by August 1, 2022. Written responses to frequently asked questions (FAQs) will be posted on EPA’s website at: https://www.epa.gov/small-and-rural-wastewater-systems/technical-assistance-treatment-works . EPA strongly recommends interested applicants refer to the FAQs webpage prior to submitting a question.

Note to Applicants: Following EPA’s evaluation of applications, all applicants will be notified regarding their status. If you name subawardee/subgrantees and/or contractor(s) including individual consultants in your application as partners to assist you with the proposed project, pay careful attention to the information in the CONTRACTS AND SUBAWARDS provision found at EPA’s Solicitation Clauses.

EPA will provide one training webinar on completing applications under this announcement on Wednesday July 27, 2022, at 3:00pm (eastern). Webinar registration is scheduled to be posted at, and the recording will be available at, the ‘Tools, Training, and Technical Assistance’ section of: https://www.epa.gov/small-and-rural-wastewater-systems .

COVID-19 Update: EPA is providing flexibilities to applicants experiencing challenges related to COVID-19. Please see the Flexibilities Available to Organizations Impacted by COVID-19 clause in Section IV of EPA’s Solicitation Clauses (http://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses).

http://www.grants.gov/ https://www.epa.gov/small-and-rural-wastewater-systems/technical-assistance-treatment-works https://www.epa.gov/small-and-rural-wastewater-systems/technical-assistance-treatment-works https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses https://www.epa.gov/small-and-rural-wastewater-systems https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses http://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses http://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses

CONTENTS BY SECTION

I. Funding Opportunity Description A. Program Objectives B. Minority Serving Institutions C. Project Components D. Description of Five Priority Areas E. EPA’s Strategic Plan and Environmental Results F. Statutory Authority G. Additional Provisions for Applicants Incorporated into The Solicitation

II. Award Information III. Eligibility Information IV. Application and Submission Information V. Application Review Information

VI. Award Administration Information VII. Agency Contact

VIII. Other Information Appendix - Definitions

Section I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Program Overview

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is soliciting applications to provide training and technical assistance to rural, small, and tribal municipalities, publicly owned wastewater treatment works, and decentralized wastewater treatment systems for the prevention, reduction, and elimination of pollution. Eligible activities include training and technical assistance only.

Infrastructure construction projects such as repairing water or sewer lines, adding new equipment, or upgrading, retrofitting, or rehabilitating existing equipment are not eligible for funding under this announcement.

The total estimated amount of federal funding potentially available under this announcement is $18,000,000, depending on Agency funding levels, the quality of applications received, and other applicable considerations. It is anticipated that between eight (8) and twenty-two (22) agreements, each with a project period of up to three (3) years, may be awarded under this announcement. 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.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) provides an additional $11.7 billion in funding to the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund, with 49% of those funds available as grants and principal forgiveness loans to communities that meet the state’s affordability criteria or certain project types, consistent with the Clean Water Act. This is a historic opportunity to upgrade clean water infrastructure in rural, small, and tribal communities.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/11/06/fact-sheet-the-bipartisan-infrastructure-deal/

Note that this RFA is funded through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 and not the 2022 IIJA (also referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law [BIL]). However, these RFA funds are intended to be used by the grant recipients to help communities access CW SRF funds, including IIJA funds, as described herein.

The Agency is prioritizing for projects that maximize the potential for these new funds to provide significant benefit to rural, small, or tribal municipalities, publicly owned treatment works, and decentralized systems.

EPA’s current priorities include working to advance equity, address climate change, and responsibly support and implement the IIJA. These priorities include helping ensure that communities that have struggled to access public funding receive the help they need. EPA aims to maximize the potential for the IIJA funds to significantly benefit rural, small, or tribal communities with clean water projects. Awards made through this RFA are intended also to enable communities to comply with environmental regulations and build their technical, managerial, and financial capacity to sustainably operate wastewater infrastructure. Providing this support will allow communities to better protect both public health and the environment.

B. Minority Serving Institutions:

EPA recognizes that it is important to engage all available minds to address the environmental challenges the nation faces. At the same time, EPA seeks to expand the environmental conversation by including members of communities which may have not previously participated in such dialogues to participate in EPA programs. For this reason, EPA strongly encourages all eligible applicants identified in Section III, including minority serving institutions (MSIs), to apply under this opportunity.

For purposes of this solicitation, the following are considered MSIs:

1. Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1061(2)). A list of these schools can be found at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

2. Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C.

§ 1059c(b)(3) and (d)(1)). A list of these schools can be found at American Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities

3. Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1101a(a)(5)). A list of these schools can be found at Hispanic-Serving Institutions

4. Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions; (AANAPISIs), as defined by the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1059g(b)(2)). A list of these schools can be found at Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions;

and

5. Predominately Black Institutions (PBIs), as defined by the Higher Education Act of 2008, 20 U.S.C. 1059e(b)(6). A list of these schools can be found at Predominately Black Institutions.

https://sites.ed.gov/whhbcu/one-hundred-and-five-historically-black-colleges-and-universities/ https://sites.ed.gov/whhbcu/one-hundred-and-five-historically-black-colleges-and-universities/ https://sites.ed.gov/whiaiane/tribes-tcus/tribal-colleges-and-universities/ https://sites.ed.gov/whiaiane/tribes-tcus/tribal-colleges-and-universities/ https://sites.ed.gov/hispanic-initiative/hispanic-serving-institutions-hsis/ https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1XVkOWKMDORm53pvU0L8EPsrJC94&msa=0&ie=UTF8&t=m&z=3&source=embed&ll=40.58644586187277%2C-148.28228249999984 https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1wlIi3j7gtlNq_w-0NKAb2bF2VmY&ie=UTF&msa=0&ll=37.35160769312532%2C-96.17229800000001&z=4

C. Project Components

Each application, regardless of the Priority Area being addressed, must address the five project components outlined in this section. Additional information, requirements and example technical assistance and training activities are provided below in Section I.D. Description of Five Priority Areas.

1. Priority Areas:

Each Application must explicitly identify and thoroughly address one and only one of the Priority Areas listed in Section I.D.

2. Technical Assistance and Training Experience and Approach:

Applicants should describe in detail their existing experience and proposed approach for providing training and technical assistance to rural, small, and tribal municipalities, treatment works and/or communities served by onsite/decentralized wastewater treatment systems in the targeted geographic area. (Further information on the targeted geographic area is below.)

Applicants should describe a thorough and flexible approach that tailors the training and technical assistance techniques and resources to address the specific needs of the target audience identified in the application. The application should describe the applicant’s proposed community outreach strategies and cultural competency including appropriate language fluency to serve communities in the geographic area to be served. The application should discuss how the applicant will use the most appropriate techniques and materials to address the needs of various audiences. For example, different approaches may be appropriate for publicly owned treatment works versus decentralized wastewater treatment systems. Likewise, within the targeted communities and defined geographic area, unique needs or issues may differ for audiences based on location, cultural context, socio-economic status, system-type, experience or level, or other factors.

The applicant should identify and use existing publicly available training and technical assistance materials for the rural, small, and tribal communities in their geographic area to build on proven best practices and to increase efficiencies of grant funds awarded. The applicant should take into consideration how state and local regulations and policies impact the accessibility of financing/funding or the implementation of national standards in the targeted geographic area.

Applicants should describe how their assistance will help rural, small and/or tribal communities and wastewater utilities to better assess and plan for climate risks to and impacts on their stormwater and/or wastewater infrastructure.

Training and technical assistance approaches identified in the application may take different forms, including:

a) Face-to-face and on-site technical assistance or training, which may include but is not limited to classroom training, workshops, system site visits and circuit-riders to provide on-site technical assistance to individual systems; and

b) Remote technical assistance and training which may include but is not limited to webcasts, video conferencing, hotlines, online courses, and other forms of distance learning.

On-site technical assistance and site visits may be especially relevant to best serve rural, small, and tribal communities. Face-to-face/on-site techniques often result in a high level of understanding, knowledge retention and results for participants, but can be more expensive and resource intensive.

Applicants should indicate in their applications an estimate as to what portion of their training and technical assistance would be on-site face-to-face and what portion would be remote training and technical assistance.

The applicant should provide an estimate of the number of training and technical assistance activities throughout the project period, as well as the types of training and technical assistance activities that are projected to be offered within the geographic area based on their specific need(s) in the area. Applicants should provide as much detail as possible (e.g., 10 operation and maintenance trainings for tribal communities).

Applicants should include in their description how they propose to deliver trainings in person under normal circumstances and how they plan to deliver the trainings if in-person training is not possible due to impacts related to COVID-19 (e.g., under quarantine situations, if social distancing is required in your locale). Alternative trainings due to the impacts of COVID-19 may include switching from in-person formats to online only or reducing the number of participants in each training to allow participants to be located six feet apart from each other.

3. Geographic Area and Targeted Municipalities and Systems:

Applications should clearly describe the specific geographic scope of their proposed work (e.g., whether it will be regional, state-wide, multi-state, national or other as appropriate) and the rural, small and/or tribal municipalities and treatment systems being targeted for training and technical assistance. Applicants should provide rationale of the targeted geographic area and why they are well qualified and positioned to support municipalities and systems in this area.

Applicants should describe factors to identify municipalities and/or systems that are in the greatest need of receiving information (e.g., disproportionate environmental and public health impacts, disadvantaged or historically underserved, permit violations, future permit limits, etc.) The description should include the applicant’s qualifications and cultural competencies for working with such systems and any prior relevant experience. If tribally owned treatment works or decentralized water systems are a focus of the proposed work, applicants should describe how they will reach out to those entities in the defined geographic area and how they will provide training and technical assistance to these systems. Applicants can either generally describe types of municipalities and systems they will support in their geographic area and/or they can provide the specific names of the municipalities, tribes, and systems. Applicants should identify communities with which they have a current or recent experience working with in their targeted geographic area.

4. Consultation and Coordination with State, Territorial and/or Tribal Governments:

Consultation and communication with the appropriate state and/or tribal government authorities is required.

Communication with the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and/or the territory or tribal funding authorities is required for applications that address planning, development, and acquisition of finance. Applications must include a description of the process to consult with CWSRF programs and/or tribal and territorial funding authorities.

The CWSRF state contacts can be found here: https://www.epa.gov/cwsrf/list-state-contacts-clean-water-state-revolving-fund-cwsrf.

Likewise, the applications must include a description of the process to communicate with the appropriate regulatory authority (such as the state or territorial primacy agency or EPA regional direct implementation coordinator) in each state, tribe, or territory in which the assistance is to be provided. EPA issues all National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) water quality permits in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, the District of Columbia, the U.S. territories, and on federal and tribal lands.

Other states have been delegated by EPA to issue their own permits. Applicants should describe a plan to routinely and regularly communicate with their local state and/or EPA regional NPDES program; further details may be found at: https://www.epa.gov/npdes-permits.

Applicants must indicate how they will: (i) work with the state, territory, or EPA to identify the communities, municipalities, tribal governments, and systems in greatest need of assistance; and (ii) keep those agencies informed regarding the assistance provided.

Routine and regular communication with the EPA regional and state decentralized wastewater treatment system contacts is required when decentralized systems are supported.

For a list of decentralized wastewater treatment system EPA regional contacts and State contacts see: https://www.epa.gov/septic/forms/contact-us-about-septic-systems.

Applications should also include a discussion of how the applicant will report on and disseminate results, effective compliance strategies and resources developed (such as tools, videos, and training materials) where the project is conducted and to entities similarly situated to those served by the project.

5. Partnerships:

Effective partnerships with other technical assistance providers or organizations may be important for the success of projects solicited under this announcement. In their applications, applicants should identify appropriate and necessary partnerships to successfully conduct the project. Applicants should also include a clear description of the https://www.epa.gov/cwsrf/list-state-contacts-clean-water-state-revolving-fund-cwsrf https://www.epa.gov/cwsrf/list-state-contacts-clean-water-state-revolving-fund-cwsrf https://www.epa.gov/npdes-permits https://www.epa.gov/npdes-permits https://www.epa.gov/septic/forms/contact-us-about-septic-systems roles of specific partners, or planned partners, in the project’s components/tasks. If you choose not to partner, applications will be evaluated based on how the applicant demonstrates how it will successfully conduct the project and meet the objectives described in Section I.B without the use of partners. If the applicant chooses to identify any partner entities who will receive subawards or procurement contracts (including consultants), please pay careful attention to the information to the CONTRACTS AND SUBAWARDS provision found at https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses before doing so as EPA will not consider their qualifications unless the applicant selects them in compliance with applicable regulations and provisions. Partnerships between organizations can greatly benefit from one another’s experience and expertise.

D. Description of Five Priority Areas

EPA expects to make awards in five Priority Areas. The actual award amounts and number of projects awarded under each of the priorities described below may differ from the estimated amounts for many reasons, including the number of meritorious applications received, agency priorities, and funding availability. In addition, EPA reserves the right to increase or decrease (including decreasing to zero) the total number and amount of awards under each priority or change the ratio of assistance agreements it awards among the priorities.

Priority Area # Of Awards

Anticipated Funding Range Available Funding

1. Acquisition of Finance/Funding

3-8 $500,000- $6,000,000

$7 million

2. Protect Water Quality and Compliance Assistance

2-6 $500,000- $3,000,000

$4 million

3. Tribal 1-3 $500,000- $3,000,000

$3 million

4. Decentralized 1-3 $500,000- $3,000,000

$3 million

5. Lagoons 1-2 $500,000- $1,000,000

$1 million

Each application submitted under this announcement must address one, and only one, of the five Priority Areas. Applicants may only submit one application under each Priority Area under this announcement. Applicants may not submit more than one application under any given Priority Area.

Priority Area 1 - Acquisition of Finance/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, for the purpose of assisting such municipalities and tribal governments in the planning, developing, and acquisition of financing.

https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses

The recently enacted Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) provides $11.7 billion in additional CWSRF funding, with 49% of those funds available as grants and principal forgiveness loans to communities that meet the state’s affordability criteria or certain project types, consistent with the Clean Water Act. This is a historic opportunity to upgrade clean water infrastructure in rural, small, and tribal communities. Applications under Priority Area 1 should assist rural, small, and/or tribal communities in acquiring finance from any sources, but the application should explicitly describe the approach to provide technical assistance to rural, small, and tribal municipalities on how to acquire IIJA funds, for example by providing technical assistance on how to get on State Intended Use Plans (IUPs). Applicants should seek to maximize the potential for the IIJA funds to provide significant benefit to rural, small or tribal municipalities or publicly owned treatment works or decentralized systems.

Note that this RFA is funded through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 and not the 2022 IIJA (also referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law [BIL]). However, these RFA funds are intended to be used by the grant recipients to help communities access CW SRF funds, including IIJA funds, as described herein.

Training and technical assistance for the planning, development, and acquisition of finance can assist the communities for the range of projects and activities that are described under the CWSRF program. Table 1 below provides a summary of eligible technical assistance activities to assist municipalities for acquisition of financing and funding. A more detailed description CWSRF eligible activities can be found here: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016- 07/documents/overview_of_cwsrf_eligibilities_may_2016.pdf. The applicant can provide assistance under any of the technical assistance areas below as meets the needs of the community in the targeted geographic area.

Table 1 Planning, Development and Acquisition of Finance/Funding Technical assistance can be provided to rural, small, and tribal communities for the planning, developing, and acquisition of financing/funding:

1 for the construction of publicly owned treatment works.

2 for the construction, repair, or replacement of decentralized wastewater treatment systems that treat municipal wastewater or domestic sewage.

3 for the implementation of nonpoint source management program plans established under CWA Section 319.

4 for the development or implementation of Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plans established under CWA Section 320.

5 for measures to manage, reduce, treat, or recapture stormwater or subsurface drainage water.

6 for measures to reduce the demand for publicly owned treatment works capacity through water conservation, efficiency, or reuse.

7 for watershed projects meeting the criteria in CWA Section 122.

8 for measures to increase energy efficiency for publicly owned treatment works.

9 for projects for reusing or recycling wastewater, stormwater, or subsurface drainage water.

10 for measures to increase the security of publicly owned treatment works.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/11/06/fact-sheet-the-bipartisan-infrastructure-deal/ https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-07/documents/overview_of_cwsrf_eligibilities_may_2016.pdf https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-07/documents/overview_of_cwsrf_eligibilities_may_2016.pdf

Examples of eligible technical assistance activities for planning, developing, and acquisition of financing/funding for CWSRF eligible projects and activities may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Provide direct technical assistance in the planning, developing and acquisition of finance to support a project’s (or projects’) inclusion on the state IUPs and provide additional technical assistance through completion of funding process.

• Provide direct technical assistance through community-based planning, development, and financial workshops.

• Develop and deliver information, training materials and courses related to successfully funding and financing environmental projects eligible for funding under the CWSRF.

• Work with publicly owned treatment works and decentralized wastewater treatment systems to conduct analyses on the potential benefits of partnerships and collaboration with other systems,

• Assist municipalities with planning processes that identify community goals and seek to have infrastructure investments consider and as appropriate support broader community goals, through processes such as augmented alternative analysis.

• EPA also encourages applicants to propose additional types of activities that may achieve the objectives of this RFA.

All applications under Priority Area 1 must address Section I.C Project Components and should thoroughly address the issues described for Priority Area 1 in this section. Applicants may choose and should identify one, multiple, or all eligible activities in Table 1 for which they anticipate they may assist rural, small, and/or tribal communities in their defined geographic region.

All eligible applications under Priority Area 1 will be evaluated based on the criteria in Section V including how well and thoroughly Priority Area 1 is addressed.

Three to eight awards are anticipated under the training and technical assistance Priority Area 1.

EPA anticipates that some awards will be $500,000 or less, with a project period of three years or less, but applicants may submit applications up to $6 million with a project period of three years or less. The estimated total for this Priority Area is $7 million.

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: (1) a lack of capacity to assess current operations and identify short- and long-term opportunities for improvement; (2) frequent turnover of operations personnel; (3) personnel who lack necessary technical, financial or managerial skills; (4) limited rate bases; (5) aging infrastructure; (6) lack of knowledge of increasingly stringent discharge limits; and (7) lack of knowledge of newer techniques to reduce discharges, assess and improve operations, and analyze infrastructure alternatives to meet wastewater quality goals.

The goal of Priority Area 2 is to provide training and technical assistance to publicly owned treatment works, decentralized systems, and municipalities to better ensure sustained operations and maintenance of wastewater treatment systems over the long run. The training and technical assistance provided should build the financial, technical, and managerial capacity, as defined in the Appendix, of rural, small, and tribal publicly owned treatment works and decentralized systems. Applicants should describe the process of consultation with the state, tribes, or territories to identify priorities for training and technical assistance in the defined geographic area and for identifying the communities most in needs of technical assistance and training. Applicants should identify communities with which they have a current or recent experience working with in their targeted geographic area.

Examples of eligible training and technical assistance activities to build technical, managerial, and financial capacity in system operations and maintenance at rural, small, and tribal publicly owned treatment works and/or decentralized wastewater treatment systems may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Perform on-site trainings or technical assistance to improve specific performance at local facilities, for example, assessment of the system’s overall strengths and areas for improvement, asset management, energy management, climate change risk assessment and risk mitigation, rate design, improved communications with local officials, effective utility management, or other topics that help facilities maintain long-term managerial, financial, and technical operational success.

• Provide operator training and technical assistance on CWA compliance.

• Assist with workforce development and training for operator certification and continuing education units (CEUs). Applicants should describe how they will obtain state approval for CEU credits for their training courses.

• Assistance forming Responsible Management Entities (RMEs) for decentralized systems and supporting the development of long-term business plan(s) for RMEs.

All applications under Priority Area 2 must address Section I.C Project Components and should thoroughly address the issues described for Priority Area 2 in this section.

All eligible applications under Priority Area 2 will be evaluated based on the criteria in Section V including how well and thoroughly Priority Area 2 is addressed.

Two to six awards are anticipated under Priority Area 2. EPA anticipates that some awards will be $500,000 or less, with a project period of three years or less, but applicants may submit applications up to $3 million with a project period of three years or less. The estimated total available funding for this Priority Area is $4 million.

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.

The October 2021 publication Strengthening the Nation-to-nation Relationship with Tribes to Secure a Sustainable Water Future: EPA Office of Water Action Plan (https://www.epa.gov/tribalwater) reaffirms EPA’s responsibilities in upholding the United States’ trust responsibility to the 574 federally recognized American Indian tribes and Alaska Native Villages and the Agency’s commitment to support tribal nations as they protect and steward their waters.

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.

While the other Priority Areas in this announcement allow and encourage supporting tribes in the defined geographic area through training and technical assistance, EPA is establishing a Priority Area specifically targeted at tribal training and technical assistance needs for both:

• Support in planning, developing and acquisition of financing/funds; and

• Sustained protection of water quality and compliance through training and technical assistance that builds technical, managerial, and financial capacity building.

Examples of eligible training and technical assistance activities may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Develop and deliver information, training materials and courses about funding and financing of CWSRF-eligible environmental projects.

• Perform on-site trainings or technical assistance to improve specific performance at local facilities, for example assessment of the system’s overall strengths and areas for Improvement, asset management, energy management, climate risk assessment and risk mitigation, rate design, water reuse, improved communications with local officials, effective utility management, and other topics that help facilities maintain long-term managerial, financial, and operational success.

• Provide technical assistance to improve the knowledge and skill of tribal municipalities, publicly owned treatment works and/or decentralized wastewater treatment system personnel in the areas of technical, managerial, and financial capacity.

• Provide operator training and technical assistance on CWA compliance.

• Conduct preliminary engineering evaluations to assess wastewater treatment, storage, and conveyance system issues, and identify low-cost alternative and innovative technology and management techniques. Assist with technology deployment.

• Assistance forming RMEs for decentralized systems and supporting the development of long-term RME business plan(s)EPA also encourages applicants to propose additional types of activities that may achieve the objectives of this RFA.

https://www.epa.gov/tribalwater

All applications under Priority Area 3 must address Section I.C Project Components and should thoroughly address the issues described for Priority Area 3 in this section.

All eligible applications under Priority Area 3 will be evaluated based on the criteria in Section V including how well and thoroughly Priority Area 3 is addressed.

One to three awards are anticipated under Priority Area 3. EPA anticipates that awards will be approximately $500,000 with a project period of three-years or less, but applicants may submit applications up to $3 million with a project period of three years or less. The estimated total for this Priority Area is $3 million.

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 finance.

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: (1) lack of information on system location, performance, age, and maintenance history; (2) improper design or siting; (3) lack of owner knowledge of proper preventative maintenance techniques; (4) lack of life-cycle management;

and (5) lack of owner/service provider knowledge of advanced treatment and dispersal technologies.

More than one in five households in the United States depend on individual onsite or small community cluster systems (decentralized wastewater treatment systems) to treat their wastewater. Homeowners face many challenges in providing wastewater treatment and commonly have difficulty obtaining the assistance needed to keep their systems in good working order. These challenges often include lack of information about sources of timely information and technical assistance on:

• Decentralized wastewater treatment system ownership, system construction, operation, maintenance, and/or testing;

• Local and state health regulations;

• Local water quality and quantity concerns; and/or

• Emergency contacts and procedures.

Planning, developing, and acquiring financing and/or funding for decentralized systems and ensuring that these decentralized infrastructure investments are well managed has been a particular challenge in the sector. While the other Priority Areas in this announcement encourage interested applicants to support decentralized systems in their defined geographic area, EPA is establishing a Priority Area specifically targeted at decentralized systems. The training and technical assistance under this Priority Area is for the planning, development, and acquisition of finance/funds for decentralized systems and for financial capacity building. For financial capacity building, applicants should prioritize assisting decentralized systems to develop long term management plans that enable the systems to operate as designed during the planned life of the infrastructure. For example, establishing RMEs is a preferred approach and information can be found at:

https://www.epa.gov/septic/using-responsible-management-entity-rme-manage-tribal-onsite-septic-wastewater-treatment and https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015- 06/documents/onsite_handbook.pdf .

Examples of training and technical assistance under Priority Area 4 may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Assistance in accessing funds for communities with decentralized wastewater system projects, specifically on getting onto state IUPs.

• Assisting communities in establishing RMEs and supporting their long-term sustainability.

• Training community leaders, service providers, and regulatory officials to assist in consideration of funding access/ mechanisms, construction alternatives, highlighting the importance of maintenance and management, and to facilitate a properly trained workforce (e.g., certification of installers and operators).

• Outreach to individual decentralized wastewater system owners and residents reliant on decentralized systems on funding and financing options and/or proper use and preventative/corrective maintenance techniques.

• Developing and/or providing information, training, and technical assistance to organizations that work with decentralized wastewater system owners (e.g., county public health offices).

EPA also encourages applicants to propose additional types of activities that may

All applicants under Priority Area 4 should describe in detail their approach to community outreach to communities and residents reliant on decentralized systems.

All applications under Priority Area 4 must address Section I.C Project Components and should thoroughly address the issues described for Priority Area 4 in this section.

All eligible applications under Priority Area 4 will be evaluated based on the criteria in Section V including how well and thoroughly Priority Area 4 is addressed.

One to three awards are anticipated under Priority Area 4. EPA anticipates that some awards will be approximately $500,000 or less with a project period of three-years or less, but applicants may submit applications up to $3 million for three years or less. The estimated total for this Priority Area is $3 million.

https://www.epa.gov/septic/using-responsible-management-entity-rme-manage-tribal-onsite-septic-wastewater-treatment https://www.epa.gov/septic/using-responsible-management-entity-rme-manage-tribal-onsite-septic-wastewater-treatment https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-06/documents/onsite_handbook.pdf https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-06/documents/onsite_handbook.pdf

Priority Area 5 - Lagoon Systems:

Information Dissemination, Training and Technical Assistance focused specifically on municipalities that use lagoon wastewater treatment systems to support planning, development, and acquisition of finance, to improve water quality and achieve and maintain compliance.

Lagoon wastewater systems are often used by rural, small, and tribal communities. There are over 5,000 lagoon wastewater systems that directly discharge into US waterways, and 1,000 more non-discharging units. EPA estimates that lagoons comprise about one quarter of the wastewater treatment utility systems in the country. Communities with lagoons often have fewer than 3,000 residents, and many are even smaller, with populations in the hundreds. In addition, census data (such median household income (MHI), lowest quintile of household income (LQI), and percentage of the population below twice the federal poverty level) indicates that many of these communities are economically disadvantaged.

As water quality requirements for some pollutants, such as ammonia and nutrients, become more stringent to protect waterways, small lagoon communities may struggle to meet wastewater treatment needs. Managing lagoons to meet Clean Water Act requirements can be particularly challenging for these communities as they may lack the financial, managerial, and technical capacity to identify best-fit, most affordable technologies or process improvements for their particular lagoon system. These communities may also lack capacity to successfully seek funding for infrastructure investments.

EPA is soliciting applications to provide training and technical assistance specifically to municipalities, tribal governments, and publicly owned treatment works that use lagoon wastewater treatment systems. While the other Priority Areas in this announcement may include and encourage supporting lagoon systems in the defined geographic area through training and technical assistance, EPA is establishing a Priority Area specifically targeted at lagoon system training and technical assistance needs both for supporting in planning, developing and acquisition of funds and for sustained protection of water quality and compliance through training and technical assistance that builds technical, managerial, and financial capacity building.

These lagoon systems represent a large percentage of POTWs across the country and training and technical assistance providers that focus specifically on lagoon systems can tailor technical assistance and consultations with states particularly designed for these communities. Applicants are encouraged to work closely with States that have many lagoon systems to provide streamlined services and supports to lagoon communities. Because many of these very small systems are not networked into existing technical systems, applicants should define methods to successfully engage these communities to receive training and technical assistance.

Examples of eligible information dissemination, training and technical assistance activities for planning, development, and acquisition of finance, to improve water quality, and achieve and maintain compliance projects and activities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Provide direct technical assistance to lagoon systems in the planning, developing and acquisition of financing by being added to a state IUPs through completion of funding process.

• Perform on-site trainings or technical assistance that focus on improving performance at local facilities (e.g., training on nutrient removal technologies, asset management, development of maintenance schedules, rate structures, climate changed risk assessment and risk mitigation, energy efficiency opportunities, and assessments of sustainability and proper management of small publicly owned treatment works).

• Provide technical assistance for workforce development and trainings with CEU’s to increase certified operators.

• Provide one-to-one technical assistance and/or develop a regular schedule of visits or circuit rider program to rural, small, and tribal communities with lagoons facing non-compliance issues.

• Work with lagoon systems to conduct analyses on the potential benefits of partnerships and collaboration with other systems, including shared operators and treatment, restructuring and physical and/or managerial consolidation, thereby enabling them to become financially sustainable and to ensure wastewater is safely and affordably treated.

• Assist with technology identification and deployment for nutrients and ammonia.

All applications under Priority 5 must address Section I.C Project Components and should thoroughly address the issues described for Priority 5 in this section.

All eligible applications under Priority Area 5 will be evaluated based on the criteria in Section V including how well and thoroughly Priority Area 5 is addressed.

One to two awards are anticipated under the training and technical assistance Priority Area 5. EPA anticipates that some awards will be approximately $500,000 or less with a project period of three-years or less, but applicants may submit applications up to $1 million for a project period of three years or less. The estimated total for this Priority Area is $1 million.

E. EPA’s Strategic Plan and Anticipated Environmental Results

The activities to be funded under this solicitation support the FY 2022-2026 EPA Strategic Plan.

Awards made under this solicitation will support Goal 5 Ensure Clean and Safe Water for All Communities, Objective 5.1 Ensure Safe Drinking Water and Reliable Water Infrastructure of the Strategic Plan.

EPA also requires that applicants adequately describe environmental outputs and outcomes to be achieved under assistance agreements (see EPA Order 5700.7A1, Environmental Results under Assistance Agreements), https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-order-57007a1-epas-policy-environmental-results-under-epa-assistance-agreements. Applications must include specific statements describing the environmental results of the proposed project in terms of well-defined outputs. To the maximum extent practicable, the application should include well-defined outcomes that demonstrate how the project will contribute to the overall protection of human health and the environment by preventing water pollution. The outputs and outcomes should directly address the goals of providing training and technical assistance.

https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-order-57007a1-epas-policy-environmental-results-under-epa-assistance-agreements https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-order-57007a1-epas-policy-environmental-results-under-epa-assistance-agreements

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 of time 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 Finance, may include but are not limited to the following:

• An increased number of municipalities receive technical assistance to apply for CWSRF eligible activities.

• An increased number of rural, small, and/or tribal municipalities are added to state IUPs.

• An increased number of municipalities and systems receive engineering support for pre-project development.

• An increased number of municipalities’ personnel with understanding and skills to develop competitive proposals for available funding and financing resources.

• An increased number of rural, small, and tribal systems engaged in augmented alternative analysis and other planning processes that maximize community benefits from infrastructure investments and community resilience from climate change and other stressors of water infrastructure.

Examples of anticipated outputs for Priority Area 2 Protect Water Quality and Compliance Assistance may include but are not limited to the following:

• An increased number of systems’ personnel with skills to conduct diagnostic and troubleshooting analyses to determine factors affecting performance and compliance with NPDES permits.

• An 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.

• An increased number of system managers and operators receiving training and technical assistance in:

o Regulatory requirements, o Financial and managerial capacity concepts and practices, o Basic wastewater system operations, o Asset management;

o Climate risk assessment and planning;

o Effective utility management, and o Advanced treatment and process issues.

• An increased number of municipalities with training on decentralized RMEs.

• An increased number of decentralized wastewater treatment systems have been inventoried, inspected, or have maintenance schedules or manuals for new or upgraded systems.

Examples of anticipated outputs for Priority Area 3 Tribal may include but are not limited to the following:

• An increased number of tribal systems’ personnel and decision-makers with knowledge of available funding programs and skills to successfully apply for funding.

• An increased number of tribal systems’ personnel with skills to conduct diagnostic and troubleshooting analyses to determine factors affecting performance and compliance with NPDES permits.

• An 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.

• An increased number of tribal system managers and operators receiving training and technical assistance in:

o Regulatory requirements, o Financial and managerial capacity concepts and practices, o Basic wastewater system operations, o Asset management;

o Climate risk assessment and planning;

o Effective utility management, and o Advanced treatment and process issues.

• An increased number of tribal municipalities with training on decentralized RMEs.

• An increased number of tribal decentralized wastewater treatment systems that have been inventoried, inspected, or have maintenance schedules or manuals for new or upgraded systems.

Examples of anticipated outputs for Priority Area 4 Decentralized may include but are not limited to the following:

• An increased number of municipalities receiving technical assistance to apply for and access funding for decentralized wastewater treatment system construction.

• An increase in the number of decentralized…