FY21 Training and Technical Assistance RFA Revised.pdf

Federal Agency Name: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Water, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water

Funding Opportunity Title: FY 2021 Training and Technical Assistance to Improve Water Quality and Enable Small Public Water Systems to Provide Safe Drinking Water

Announcement Type: Request for Applications (RFA)

Funding Opportunity Number: EPA-OW-OGWDW-21-03

CFDA Number: 66.436 and 66.424

Dates: The closing date and time for receipt of application submissions is December 14, 2021 by 11:59 PM, Eastern Time, in order to be considered for funding. Application packages must be submitted electronically to EPA through Grants.gov (Grants.gov) no later than 11:59 PM, Eastern Time, December 14, 2021, 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 contact identified in Section VII by 11:59 PM Eastern Time, November 29. Written responses will be posted on EPA’s website at: www.epa.gov/dwcapacity/training-and-technical-assistance-small-systems-funding. Please note that answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) are available at: www.epa.gov/dwcapacity/training-and-technical-assistance-small-systems-funding.

EPA strongly recommends interested applicants refer to the FAQs webpage prior to submitting a question.

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.

Note to Applicants: Following EPA’s evaluation of applications, all applicants will be notified regarding their status. If you name subawardees/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 www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses.

Summary:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is soliciting applications under the authority of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA) from eligible applicants as described in Section III.A to provide training and technical assistance for small public water systems, small publicly owned wastewater systems, communities served by http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.epa.gov/dwcapacity/training-and-technical-assistance-small-systems-funding http://www.epa.gov/dwcapacity/training-and-technical-assistance-small-systems-funding https://www.epa.gov/dwcapacity/training-and-technical-assistance-small-systems-funding https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses http://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-solicitation-clauses onsite/decentralized wastewater systems, and private drinking water well owners.1 Training and technical assistance activities provided to these systems, communities, and private drinking water well owners should be made available nationally in rural and urban communities and to personnel of tribally-owned and -operated systems. The proposed activities support the Agency’s Strategic Plan for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 – 2022, Goal 1: A Cleaner, Healthier Environment:

Deliver a cleaner, safer, and healthier environment for all Americans and future generations by carrying out the Agency’s core mission, Objective 1.2: Provide for Clean and Safe Water. The EPA’s Strategic Plan is available at www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan. All applications must be for activities that support the goals and objectives identified above. National Priority Areas identified in this announcement are for:

1. Training and Technical Assistance for Small Public Water Systems to Achieve and Maintain Compliance with the SDWA, including Improving Financial and Managerial Capacity;

2. Training and Technical Assistance for Small Publicly-Owned Wastewater Systems and Onsite/Decentralized Wastewater Systems to Help Improve Water Quality; and

3. Training and Technical Assistance for Private Drinking Water Well Owners to Help Improve Water Quality.

Assisting small systems with their technical, managerial, and financial capacity to achieve long-term sustainability and resiliency is a key priority for the Agency.

EPA has previously awarded financial assistance agreements to nonprofit organizations to provide technical assistance activities that are similar to those described in this announcement.

As authorized by 2 CFR 200.315, EPA will provide data and materials developed under those agreements to successful applicants, if necessary, to avoid duplication of effort.

Eligible applicants under this competition are nonprofit organizations, nonprofit private universities and colleges, and public institutions of higher education. For-profit organizations are not eligible to apply. States, municipalities, or tribal governments are not eligible to apply.

Nonprofit organizations described in Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that engage in prohibited lobbying activities as defined in Section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 are not eligible to apply.

The total estimated amount of federal funding potentially available under this announcement is $21,700,000, depending on Agency funding levels, the quality of applications received, agency priorities, and other applicable considerations. It is anticipated that a total of three to nine cooperative agreements, each with a project period of up to 18 months, will be awarded under this announcement. For awards under this announcement, applicants must provide a non-federal cost-share/match that equals at least 10 percent of the total amount of federal funding requested for the project (see Section III.B of this announcement for information on the minimum non-federal 10 percent cost-share/match requirement).

1 For the purposes of this announcement, a “private well” is defined as a well owned by a homeowner or group of homeowners that supplies drinking water to fewer than 25 people and contains fewer than 15 service connections.

https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan

The following is the expected total of awards in each of the three National Priority Areas.

1. One to five awards are anticipated under the Training and Technical Assistance for Small

Public Water Systems to Achieve and Maintain Compliance with the SDWA, including Improving Financial and Managerial Capacity National Priority Area, with an estimated total of $19,000,000.

2. One to two awards are anticipated under the Training and Technical Assistance for Small Publicly-Owned Wastewater Systems and Onsite/Decentralized Wastewater Systems to Help Improve Water Quality and Sustainable Operations National Priority Area, with an estimated total of $1,000,000.

3. One to two awards are anticipated under the Training and Technical Assistance for Private Drinking Water Well Owners to Help Improve Water Quality National Priority Area, with an estimated total of $1,700,000.

CONTENTS BY SECTION

I. Funding Opportunity Description 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

Section I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Program Objectives EPA is soliciting applications from eligible applicants for projects in three National Priority Areas as discussed in further detail below. While EPA expects to make at least one award in each area, there is no guarantee that this will be done, and EPA may redistribute the awards per area based on the quality of applications received and other applicable considerations.

Training and technical assistance are discussed in the three National Priority Areas in further detail below. EPA’s current priorities include ensuring and advancing environmental justice and equity, revitalizing communities, and protecting public health when providing training and technical assistance.

The first National Priority Area is to provide training and technical assistance to small public water systems so that they can operate and maintain their systems to achieve and maintain compliance with the SDWA and to build their financial and managerial capacity to provide safe drinking water over the long term. The second National Priority Area is to provide training and technical assistance to small publicly-owned wastewater systems and communities served by onsite/decentralized wastewater systems to improve water quality and sustainable operations. For the third National Priority Area, EPA is soliciting applications to provide training and technical assistance to private drinking water well owners to improve water quality.

Training and technical assistance activities provided to these systems, communities, and private drinking water well owners should be made available nationally in rural and urban communities and to all personnel of these systems, including personnel of tribally-owned and -operated systems. Eligible activities include training and technical assistance only. Infrastructure 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 three National Priority Areas and activities to be funded under this announcement support EPA’s FY 2018-22 Strategic Plan, available at www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan.

Awards made under this announcement support: Goal 1: A Cleaner, Healthier Environment:

Deliver a cleaner, safer, and healthier environment for all Americans and future generations by carrying out the Agency’s core mission, Objective 1.2: Provide for Clean and Safe Water. Ensure waters are clean through improved water infrastructure and, in partnership with states and tribes, sustainably manage programs to support drinking water, aquatic ecosystems, and recreational, economic, and subsistence activities.

As discussed in Section I.E, the statutory authorities for the awards expected to be made under this announcement are section 1442(e) of the SDWA and section 104(b)(3) of the CWA.

B. National Priority Areas Each application submitted under this announcement must address one, and only one, of the three National Priority Areas described below. Applicants may submit more than one application package under this announcement as long as each one is separately submitted and addresses only one National Priority Area. The cover page of each application package must clearly indicate the National Priority Area addressed in the application. If an applicant submits an application covering more than one National Priority Area, it will be rejected.

National Priority Area 1: Training and Technical Assistance for Small Public Water Systems to Achieve and Maintain Compliance with the SDWA, including Improving Financial and Managerial Capacity

Under this National Priority Area, EPA is soliciting applications to provide training and technical assistance for small public water systems to enable such systems to achieve and maintain compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), and to build their financial and managerial capacity to provide safe drinking water over the long term. The ability for a small system to attain and maintain financial and managerial capacity is critical to ensuring that it can reliably and sustainably provide safe water to its customers. For purposes of this announcement, “small public water systems” means community and non-community water systems serving a population of less than 10,000 persons. These public water systems include small community water systems and small transient or non-transient non-community water systems such as hospitals, schools, and restaurants. The majority of community water systems in the nation serve https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan fewer than 10,000 persons (91 percent). Approximately 60 percent of these systems serve 500 persons or fewer.

Many small public water systems face challenges in reliably providing safe drinking water to their customers and consistently meeting the requirements of the SDWA and the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWRs). These challenges include, but are not limited to: (1) lack of adequate revenue or access to financing; (2) aging infrastructure; (3) retirement of experienced system operators and difficulty retaining current operators; (4) the inability to replace former operators and recruit new operators to replace them; (5) difficulty training operators; (6) managers and operators who lack the requisite financial, technical, or managerial skills; (7) lack of planning for infrastructure upgrades or the ability to respond to and recover from natural disasters (e.g., floods or tornadoes); and (8) lack of understanding of existing or new regulatory requirements and treatment technologies. As a result, some small systems may experience frequent or long-term compliance challenges in reliably providing safe water to their customers, while others may be in compliance now but lack the technical capacity to maintain compliance.

For this National Priority Area, applicants should describe their proposed approach for providing training and technical assistance for personnel who operate or manage small public water systems (including decision makers such as trustees, board members, or system owners).

Applicants should also describe how they intend to strengthen the technical capacity of personnel and enable them to comply with the regulatory requirements applicable to their system.

Applicants should describe how they will facilitate small public water systems becoming more resilient to natural and man-made disasters. Additionally, applicants should describe their proposed approach to help small public water systems build their financial and managerial capacity to address current needs and to achieve long-term sustainability. Training and technical assistance may be provided through face-to-face trainings and site visits or through remote learning approaches. This assistance may also include circuit-rider and multi-state regional technical assistance programs and training.

Technical capacity refers to the physical infrastructure of the water system, including, but not limited to, the adequacy of the source water, the adequacy of the system’s infrastructure (i.e., source, treatment, storage, and distribution), and the ability of system personnel to adequately operate and maintain the system and to apply necessary technical knowledge (e.g., certified operators, water system security).

Financial capacity refers to the financial resources of the water system, including, but not limited to, revenue sufficiency, user rate-setting, rate collection, creditworthiness, fiscal controls, operational budgeting, and planning. Managerial capacity refers to the management structure and practices of the water system, including, but not limited to, ownership accountability, staffing and organization, and effective linkages and communication with customers and regulatory agencies.

Applicants should describe their proposed approach to making training and technical assistance available nationally in all 50 states and the U.S. territories as described under Section I.C, Providing Training and Technical Assistance on a National Basis, including how they will reach out to tribally-owned and -operated systems, and how they will provide training and technical assistance to these systems. EPA encourages applications that include non-traditional or innovative approaches in addition to conventional or traditional approaches for training and technical assistance. The applicant should demonstrate how these non-traditional or innovative approaches in conjunction with conventional or traditional approaches show the potential to more effectively reach the intended audience than only conventional or traditional means.

Applicants should include in their description how they propose to deliver trainings in person under normal circumstances and how they will 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.

The goals of the training and technical assistance activities under this priority area are to assist small public water systems in achieving and maintaining compliance with the SDWA and the NPDWRs, and to assist with their financial and managerial capabilities in order to reliably provide safe drinking water over the long term. Further, the goals involve supporting utilities in the development of customer assistance programs or providing outreach for such programs.

Applicants may also provide training and technical assistance to utilities on consumer assistance programs and on how to help qualifying households obtain assistance through consumer assistance programs, such as the federal Low Income Household Water Assistance Program.

Applicants should describe how they will document and report progress toward meeting these goals as described in Section I.D, EPA’s Strategic Plan and Anticipated Environmental Results.

Applicants should also describe a process whereby they will consult with the appropriate regulatory authority (such as the state or territorial primacy agency or the EPA regional direct implementation coordinators) in each state, tribe, or territory in which the assistance is to be expended or otherwise made available prior to providing training and technical assistance in that state, tribe, or territory. In particular, applicants should indicate how they will work with the state, territory, or EPA to identify the systems in greatest need of assistance and identify the training topics of greatest need to the small public water systems; how they will keep those agencies, the EPA grant project officer, and appropriate regional coordinators informed regarding the assistance provided; and how they will document these results.

Training and technical assistance activities to support regulatory compliance may involve assisting operators and owners of small public water systems in understanding the requirements of the SDWA and specific NPDWRs and assisting them with other technical capacity topics that will help them achieve and maintain compliance. Training and technical assistance may include training on basic requirements as well as more advanced treatment and operational issues.

Examples of eligible training and technical assistance activities for small public water systems that support this National Priority Area include, but are not limited to, the following.

• Provide operator training and technical assistance on how to comply with NPDWRs, with emphasis on regulatory requirements that present a particular challenge for small systems, such as the Ground Water Rule and the Disinfection and Disinfectant Byproducts Rules. Applicants should identify the specific rules that present these challenges in their applications, including any state rules that might apply.

• Provide training to operators to assist them with the Revised Total Coliform Rule requirements.

• Provide training to operators to assist them with the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions requirements and guidance related to lead in drinking water.

• Provide training to decision makers and board members on SDWA requirements and their responsibilities.

• Provide training/technical assistance to diagnose and trouble-shoot system operational and compliance-related problems and identify solutions.

• Provide training/technical assistance and solutions to address microbial, nitrate/nitrite, arsenic, radionuclides, and disinfection byproducts contamination.

• Provide training and technical assistance to systems to help develop and implement source water protection plans.

• Provide training and technical assistance to systems facing earthquake impacts, drought, flooding, and other weather-related challenges.

• Provide training and technical assistance to community water systems to assist them with America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 risk and resilience assessments and emergency response plan requirements.

• Conduct preliminary engineering evaluations to assess treatment, storage, and distribution system issues, and identify low-cost alternative technology and management techniques.

• Provide training for operator certification and continuing education units (CEUs).

Applicants should describe how they would obtain state approval for CEU credits for their training courses.

• Work with systems to evaluate opportunities of partnerships and collaboration with other systems, including shared operators and treatment, restructuring, and consolidation, to support SDWA compliance.

Training and technical assistance activities to support financial and managerial capacity development may involve assisting system managers, decision makers, and others in understanding sustainable management practices such as asset management, fiscal planning, rate-setting, workforce recruitment and retention, planning for natural and man-made disaster related impacts, and water system partnership options that are necessary to promote system compliance and sustainability over the long term. Examples of eligible training and technical assistance activities for small public water systems include, but are not limited to, the following.

• Provide training and technical assistance to improve the knowledge and skill competency of drinking water system personnel in the areas of managerial and financial capacity.

• Provide training sessions for water system managers and board members in asset management, fiscal planning, communicating effectively with system customers, and other sustainable management topics.

• Provide training and technical assistance in asset management program implementation.

• Provide training and technical assistance to develop financial assessments and rate analyses.

• Provide training and technical assistance on workforce development.

• Conduct energy audits and water loss analyses to recommend potential energy and water efficiencies and cost savings.

• Provide training and technical assistance in water conservation program implementation.

• Work with systems to conduct analyses on the potential benefits of partnerships and collaboration with other systems, including shared operators and treatment, restructuring, and consolidation, thereby enabling them to become financially sustainable and to provide safe and affordable water to their communities.

• Assist systems to access and manage multiple infrastructure funding sources to address public health risks and achieve compliance.

• Provide training and technical assistance on the development of customer assistance programs or providing outreach for such programs.

• Provide training and technical assistance to utilities on how to help qualifying households obtain financial assistance through consumer assistance programs such as the federal Low Income Household Water Assistance Program.

EPA also encourages applicants to propose other types of activities that may achieve the objectives of this National Priority Area.

All eligible applications will be evaluated based on the criteria in Section V including how well and thoroughly the National Priority Area is addressed (see Section V). EPA anticipates awarding approximately one to five cooperative agreements under this National Priority Area ranging from approximately $3,800,000 to no more than $19,000,000. It is anticipated that the total amount of all awards under this priority area will be approximately $19,000,000 in federal funds, with project periods of up to 18 months, depending on the amount requested and the overall size and scope of the project(s).

National Priority Area 2: Training and Technical Assistance for Small Publicly-Owned Wastewater Systems and Onsite/Decentralized Wastewater Systems to Help Improve Water Quality and Sustainable Operations

Under this National Priority Area, EPA is soliciting applications to provide training and technical assistance to: (a) small publicly-owned wastewater systems; and (b) communities served by onsite/decentralized wastewater systems. Under this priority area, the application must address the two elements further described below. For the purposes of this announcement, “small publicly-owned wastewater systems” are defined as wastewater systems or treatment facilities that have permitted and actual flows of less than 1 million gallons per day (MGD) and are:

owned by a public entity (such as a municipality) or not-for-profit entity (such as regional sewer districts), and/or serve tribal communities (with the exception of systems that are owned by U.S.

federal entities). “Onsite/decentralized systems” are defined as: publicly-owned or privately-owned onsite or clustered systems used to collect, treat, and disperse or reclaim wastewater from a small community, tribe, or service area that are publicly- or privately-owned and/or serve tribal communities (with the exception of systems that are owned by U.S. federal entities). For this National Priority Area, applicants should describe their proposed approach for providing training and technical assistance to small publicly-owned wastewater systems and to communities served by onsite/decentralized wastewater systems as described in the above paragraph. Training and technical assistance may be provided through face-to-face trainings and site visits or through remote learning approaches. This assistance may also include circuit-rider and multi-state regional technical assistance programs and training. Assistance may include: training on long term sustainability and effectiveness of small systems and decentralized systems, evaluation of treatment and/or infrastructure alternatives, training on preliminary engineering evaluations, assessments of management approaches and their effectiveness, training on improved water and energy efficiency, developing appropriate rate structures, education of local officials, identification of funding alternatives, and/or use of green infrastructure, among other activities.

Applicants should describe their proposed approach to making training and technical assistance available nationally in all 50 states and the U.S. territories as described under Section I.C, Providing Training and Technical Assistance on a National Basis, including how they will reach out to tribally-owned and -operated systems, and how they will provide training and technical assistance to these systems. EPA encourages the applicants to include in the applications non-traditional or innovative approaches in addition to conventional or traditional approaches for training and technical assistance. The applicant should demonstrate how these non-traditional or innovative approaches in conjunction with conventional or traditional approaches show the potential to more effectively reach the intended audience compared to conventional or traditional means alone. Applicants should include in their description how they propose to deliver trainings in person under normal circumstances and how they will 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.

The goals of the training and technical assistance activities are to assist small publicly-owned wastewater systems and onsite/decentralized wastewater systems to improve operational performance and sustainable operations over the long term, thereby improving public health and water quality. Applicants should describe how they will document and report on progress toward meeting these goals as described in Section I.D, EPA’s Strategic Plan and Anticipated Environmental Results. Applicants should also describe a process whereby they will consult 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 expended or otherwise made available prior to providing training and technical assistance in that state, tribe, or territory. In particular, applicants should indicate how they will work with the state, territory, or EPA to identify the systems in greatest need of assistance; how they will keep those agencies, the EPA grant project officer, and appropriate EPA regional coordinators informed regarding the assistance provided; and how they will document these results.

All eligible applications will be evaluated based on the criteria in Section V including how well and thoroughly both elements of this National Priority Area are addressed (see Section V). EPA anticipates awarding approximately one to two cooperative agreements under this National Priority Area, ranging from approximately $500,000 to no more than $1,000,000. It is anticipated that the total amount of all awards under this priority area will be approximately $1,000,000 in federal funding, with project periods of up to 18 months, depending on the amount requested and the overall size and scope of the project(s).

Applications for awards under this National Priority Area must address both of the following two elements. Those that do not will be rejected.

Element (a): Training and Technical Assistance for Small Publicly-Owned Wastewater Systems Small publicly-owned wastewater systems often face many 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 water quality goals.

Training and technical assistance activities for small publicly-owned wastewater systems under this element should focus on compliance, promoting the sustainable and effective management of wastewater systems, and improving system performance. Applicants should describe in detail their approach for training, for example, assisting facility managers, utility boards, and wastewater operators in sustainable utility operations (for details and examples, www.epa.gov/sustainable-water-infrastructure/rural-and-small-systems-guidebook-sustainable-water-and-wastewater). Topics may include, for example: assessment of the system’s overall strengths and areas for improvement, asset management, energy management, rate design, improved communications with local officials, effective utility management, and identifying funding sources or other topics that help facilities maintain long-term managerial, financial, and operational success. Applicants should also describe their approach to reaching target audiences of small publicly-owned wastewater systems, especially small facilities that require additional management capacity to effectively improve the long-term sustainability of operations and/or are out of compliance with discharge permits.

Applicants should describe in detail their approach for utilizing and sharing existing information and materials on pollution prevention, facility operation and maintenance, effective utility management, wastewater treatment alternatives, infrastructure funding opportunities, and efficient water use with the communities and facilities being assisted. Applicants should describe in detail an approach for providing onsite training and technical assistance, while also providing https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-water-infrastructure/rural-and-small-systems-guidebook-sustainable-water-and-wastewater https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-water-infrastructure/rural-and-small-systems-guidebook-sustainable-water-and-wastewater products and assistance for a broader (e.g., nationwide) audience. These trainings or technical solutions may use existing materials, including, but not limited to, documents and tools developed by EPA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Indian Health Service (IHS), and other federal agencies. Such trainings or technical solutions could then be developed into or incorporated into existing guidebooks or webinars or other on-line training for transfer to small wastewater systems nationwide, or supported as a “train-the-trainer” approach to increase the reach of the materials.

Examples of training and technical assistance activities for small publicly-owned wastewater systems that support this element include, but are not limited to, the following.

• Provide training to operators, staff, and managers on the sustainable and effective management of small wastewater treatment systems.

• Assist operators to manage small wastewater treatment systems to achieve compliance.

• Provide training to help small wastewater treatment operators obtain and maintain certification.

• Conduct webinars for a national audience of small wastewater treatment systems on topics described in this element.

• Perform onsite trainings or technical solutions that focus on improving performance at local facilities (e.g., training on nutrient removal technologies, rate structures, energy efficiency opportunities, and assessments of sustainability and proper management of small publicly-owned wastewater systems).

objectives of Element (a) of this National Priority Area.

Element (b): Training and Technical Assistance for Onsite/Decentralized Wastewater Systems Onsite/decentralized systems face significant maintenance and management challenges, 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.

Under this element, applicants should describe in detail their approach to providing training and technical assistance on aspects of decentralized system planning, installation, operation and maintenance, and management approaches. Applicants should also describe in detail their approach for utilizing and sharing existing information and materials on appropriate treatment and dispersal options and funding opportunities to the appropriate identified audience(s).

Applicants may use documents and tools developed by EPA for these trainings. Such trainings or technical solutions could be adapted into webinars, developed into guidebooks for transfer to communities nationwide, or supported as a "train-the-trainer" approach to increase the reach of the materials.

Examples of training and technical assistance activities for onsite/decentralized wastewater systems that support this element include, but are not limited to, the following.

• Preliminary needs analysis.

• Consideration of alternatives for wastewater treatment options, including advanced treatment, nutrient control, low-impact development, and other green infrastructure practices.

• Project planning, siting, and design.

• Development of maintenance schedules.

• Assistance identifying and applying for funding sources.

• Assistance forming responsible management entities (RMEs) and supporting the development of a long-term business plan.

• Training of community leaders, service providers, and regulatory officials to assist in consideration of alternatives, to highlight the importance of management, and to facilitate certification of installers and operators.

• Outreach to individual system owners and the general public on the basics of decentralized systems, such as how they function and the wastewater treatment process.

• Outreach to individual system owners and the general public on proper preventative and corrective maintenance techniques.

objectives of Element (b) of this National Priority Area.

National Priority Area 3: Training and Technical Assistance for Private Drinking Water Well Owners to Help Improve Water Quality

Under this National Priority Area, EPA is soliciting applications to provide training and technical assistance to private drinking water well owners. For the purposes of this announcement, a “private well” is defined as a well owned by a homeowner or group of homeowners that supplies drinking water to fewer than 25 people and contains fewer than 15 service connections.

Approximately 30 million Americans receive their drinking water from private drinking water wells. Private drinking water well owners face many challenges in providing safe water.

Protection of private drinking water wells does not fall under the authority of the SDWA, so these drinking water well owners often face challenges in obtaining the assistance they need to keep their drinking water wells in good working order and to protect the quality of their water supply. These challenges include where to go or whom to contact for accurate and timely information and technical assistance on all aspects of private drinking water well ownership, including well construction, operation, maintenance, well testing, local and state health and other relevant regulations or programs, local ground water quality and quantity concerns, and well emergency contacts and procedures.

For this National Priority Area, applicants should describe their approach to providing training and technical assistance to private drinking water well owners. Training and technical assistance may be provided through face-to-face meetings and site visits or through remote learning approaches. This assistance may also include circuit-rider and multi-state regional technical assistance programs and training.

Applicants should describe their proposed approach to making training and technical assistance available nationally in all 50 states and the U.S. territories as described under Section I.C, Providing Training and Technical Assistance on a National Basis, including how they will reach out to private drinking water well owners on tribal lands, and how they will provide training and technical assistance to these private drinking water well owners. EPA encourages applications that include non-traditional or innovative approaches in addition to conventional or traditional approaches for technical assistance and training. The applicant should demonstrate how these non-traditional or innovative approaches in conjunction with conventional or traditional approaches show the potential to more effectively reach the intended audience than only conventional or traditional means.

The goals of the training and technical assistance activities are to assist private drinking water well owners with information they need to protect their drinking water supply and improve water quality. Applicants should describe how they will document and report on progress toward meeting these goals as described in Section I.D, EPA’s Strategic Plan and Anticipated Environmental Results. Applicants should also describe a process whereby they will consult with the appropriate regulatory authority (such as the state or territorial primacy agency or the EPA regional direct implementation coordinators) in each state, tribe, or territory in which the assistance is to be expended or otherwise made available prior to providing training and technical assistance in that state, tribe, or territory. In particular, applicants should indicate how they will work with the state, territory, or EPA to identify the drinking water well owners in greatest need of assistance; how they will keep those agencies, the EPA grant project officer, and appropriate EPA regional coordinators informed regarding the assistance provided; and how they will document these results.

Examples of eligible training and technical assistance activities for private drinking water wells that support this National Priority Area include, but are not limited to, the following.

• Developing and/or providing online and hard copy information and materials on topics of interest to private drinking water well owners, such as well construction, well maintenance and operation, well testing, ground water quality and protection, state regulations impacting private wells, water rights, and how to respond to well contamination emergencies.

• Providing information, technical assistance, and training to other organizations with activities that affect private drinking water well owners.

• Adequately manning a hotline with a toll-free number for private drinking water well owners to call for timely assistance and advice on private drinking water well matters.

• Providing electronic newsletters or using social media to provide topical or emergency information quickly to private drinking water well owners with internet access.

• Educating private drinking water well owners through face-to-face visits regarding potential or actual threats to their wells and whom to contact for help.

• Providing technical assistance or outreach on options for connecting private wells to public water systems.

objectives of this National Priority Area.

All eligible applications will be evaluated based on the criteria in Section V including how well and thoroughly the National Priority Area is addressed (see Section V). EPA anticipates awarding approximately one to two cooperative agreements under this National Priority Area, ranging from approximately $850,000 to no more than $1,700,000. It is anticipated that the total amount of all awards under this priority area will be approximately $1,700,000 in federal funding, with project periods of up to 18 months, depending on the amount requested and the overall size and scope of the project(s).

C. Providing Training and Technical Assistance on a National Basis Applications for projects under all of the National Priority Areas described above should demonstrate the applicant’s ability and approach to making training and technical assistance available on a national basis. Applicants should make training and technical assistance available nationally in all 50 states and the U.S. territories (i.e., Guam, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa), including to tribally-owned and -operated systems, through a combination of face-to-face/onsite and remote training and technical assistance approaches. The training and technical assistance may include circuit-rider and multi-state regional technical assistance, or some other program design that makes training and technical assistance available nationally. Applicants should describe how they will reach out to tribally-owned and -operated systems and how they will provide training and technical assistance to these systems. Please note the “Providing Training and Technical Assistance on a National Basis” evaluation criteria in Section V.

Applications will be evaluated based on the criteria in Section V, including the demonstrated ability and described approach to making training and technical assistance available nationally in the maximum number of states and U.S. territories through face-to-face/onsite and/or remote training and technical assistance. EPA will give priority consideration to applications that describe a thorough, quality, and flexible approach that tailors the training and technical assistance techniques and resources to address the specific needs of the target audience in as many states and U.S. territories as possible. A tailored approach should describe how the applicant will use the most appropriate techniques and materials to address the needs of various audiences, such as system managers versus operators or private drinking water well owners, as well as the unique needs of populations determined by geographical, socio-economic, system-type, educational, or other factors. The applicant should take into consideration how state and local regulations and policies impact the implementation of national standards. The approach should also demonstrate how the applicant would balance the use of face-to-face/onsite techniques, which often result in a high level of understanding and knowledge retention for participants, but are usually more expensive and resource-intensive, with the need to provide assistance in a maximum number of states and U.S. territories through remote techniques.

Training and technical assistance may take the following forms.

1. Face-to-face and onsite technical assistance which includes, for example, classroom training, workshops, site visits, and circuit-riders or other multi-state and/or regional approaches to provide onsite technical assistance.2

2. Remote technical assistance which includes, for example, webcasts, video conferencing, hotlines, online courses, and other forms of distance learning.

Training and technical assistance may also include developing and disseminating (through web posting and other means) various resources such as training and educational materials or tools that can be used nationally and/or with state or territorial-specific variations, as appropriate.

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

All applications should also include a discussion of how the applicant will transfer results, effective compliance strategies and resources developed (such as tools, videos, and training materials) to interested stakeholders such as other small systems, states, territories, tribes, local governments, and private drinking water well owners through the development and dissemination of training and educational materials, websites or other means.

D. EPA’s Strategic Plan and Anticipated Environmental Results Applicants must demonstrate in their application how their project and proposed activities link to the Strategic Plan Goal and Objective identified below. This announcement is consistent with EPA’s priority to assist small systems with technical assistance and training to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and long-term system sustainability.

The training and technical assistance activities to be funded under this announcement support EPA’s FY 2018-2022 Strategic Plan, (available at: www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan).

Awards made under this announcement will support Goal 1: A Cleaner, Healthier Environment:

Deliver a cleaner, safer, and healthier environment for all Americans and future generations by carrying out the Agency’s core mission; and Objective 1.2: Provide for Clean and Safe Water:

Ensure waters are clean through improved water infrastructure and, in partnership with states and tribes, sustainably manage programs to support drinking water, aquatic ecosystems, and recreational, economic, and subsistence activities, of the EPA Strategic Plan (available at:

www.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan).

EPA also requires that grant applicants adequately describe environmental outputs and outcomes to be achieved under assistance agreements (see EPA Order 5700.7A1, Environmental Results under Assistance Agreements, www.epa.gov/grants/epa-order-57007a1-epas-policy-environmental-results-under-epa-assistance-agreements. All proposed projects must address the Strategic Plan and include specific statements describing the environmental results of the

2 Applicants should include in their description how they propose to deliver trainings in person under normal circumstances and how they will 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.

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 proposed project in terms of well-defined outputs and, to the maximum extent practicable, well-defined outcomes that will demonstrate how the project will contribute to the overall protection of human health and the environment by ensuring safe drinking water and preventing water pollution. For National Priority Area 1, outputs and outcomes should directly address the goal of helping small public water systems achieve and maintain compliance with the SDWA and provide safe drinking water in the long term. For National Priority Area 2 and National Priority Area 3, outputs and outcomes should address the goal of improving water quality.

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 environmental outputs from the cooperative agreements expected to be awarded under this announcement for National Priority Area 1, Training and Technical Assistance for Small…