Surveys, Studies, Investigations, Demonstrations, and Training Grants - Section 1442 of the Safe Drinking Water Act
Active
- Assistance listing
- 66.424
- Grant awards
- 283 $265,969,199 in federal obligations
Program facts
- Assistance types
-
- Project Grant
- Cooperative Agreement
- Treasury accounts
-
- 68-0107-0-1-304
- 68-0108-0-1-304
- More information
Program details come from SAM.gov Assistance Listings. Updated . Grant award figures come from USAspending.gov.
About this program
The Environmental Protection Agency funds training and technical assistance to develop and expand capabilities of programs serving small public water systems, rural water systems, and tribal water entities under the Safe Drinking Water Act, with the most recent grant award dated January 5, 2026 (CFDA 66.424).
The program funds concrete training and technical assistance activities for small water systems to achieve Safe Drinking Water Act compliance and build technical, managerial, and financial capacity. Recent awards support classroom and online training in operator certification, regulatory compliance, asset management, rate-setting, lead service line identification and replacement strategies, risk and resilience assessments, emergency response planning, and system sustainability. Recipients also deliver on-site technical assistance to address specific compliance violations, water audits, and infrastructure funding access. The program additionally funds training for state and tribal underground injection control and source water protection programs, training for private well owners, workforce development initiatives, and targeted outreach on lead in drinking water in schools and childcare facilities.
Awards are predominantly Project Grants (97 percent) with a small share of Cooperative Agreements (3 percent). Funding is heavily concentrated within the Environmental Protection Agency, with the EPA Office for Water—Funding Office leading on federal dollars obligated at $147.2 million across 26 awards, followed by the main EPA entity at $109.9 million across 247 awards; eight distinct EPA entities account for the full portfolio. Combined federal obligated funding totals $266 million across 283 awards since 1998, with a declining recent cadence: eleven awards in 2022, declining to one award in 2026 through January.
Representative recent awards include $10.9 million to the Rural Community Assistance Partnership to provide technical, managerial, and financial capacity-building training and technical assistance across all fifty states, territories, and tribal communities (October 2025); $9.9 million to the National Rural Water Association for a circuit rider model deploying full-time training specialists across all states, tribal communities, and U.S. territories (August 2025); and $7.7 million to the University of New Mexico Environmental Finance Center to provide training and technical assistance in all fifty states and territories (January 2026).
An open opportunity under solicitation EPA-OW-OGWDW-26-01 seeks applications from nonprofit organizations and educational institutions to provide training and technical assistance; the due date is May 13, 2026, and eligible applicants are restricted to nonprofits and public institutions of higher education. Recent opportunities posted in 2024 focused on training for improved protection of drinking water sources (due June 10, 2024) and small public water systems (due November 25, 2024).
Objective and description
- Objective
To support developing, expanding, planning, implementing, and improving environmental training associated with source water and drinking water. To develop and expand capabilities of programs to carry out the purposes of the Safe Drinking Water Act (S
- Description
Funding supports training associated with source water and drinking water, and projects to develop and expand capabilities of programs to carry out the purposes of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Assistance is for expanding, planning, implementing, and providing training and technical assistance to enable small public water systems to meet the requirements of the SDWA.
Eligibility
- Applicant eligibility
Assistance under this program is generally available to States, local governments, territories, Indian Tribes, and possessions of the U.S. (including the District of Columbia); public and private universities and colleges; hospitals; laboratories; and public or private nonprofit institutions. Nonprofit organizations described in Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that engage in lobbying activities as defined in Section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 are not eligible to apply. For certain competitive funding opportunities under this assistance listing, the Agency may limit eligibility to compete to a number or subset of eligible applicants consistent with the Agency's Policy for the Competition of Assistance Agreements.
- Beneficiary eligibility
State and local governments, U.S. territories and possessions, Indian Tribes, universities and colleges, hospitals, laboratories, and other public and private nonprofit institutions.
- Uses of assistance
The funds will support investigations, studies, demonstrations, and training associated with source water and drinking water. Grants and cooperative agreements are available to support recipients' allowable direct costs incident to approved scopes of work, plus allowable indirect costs, in accordance with established EPA policies and regulations. Assistance agreement awards under this program may involve or relate to geospatial information. Further information regarding geospatial information may be obtained by viewing the following website: Geospatial Resources at EPA. Specific uses and restrictions on funds will be described in detail in the competitive announcements. Generally, this program makes Federal awards on a discretionary basis. A discretionary award means an award in which the Federal awarding agency, in keeping with specific statutory authority that enables the agency to exercise judgement ("discretion"), selects the recipient and/or the amount of Federal funding awarded through a competitive process or based on merit of proposals. A discretionary award may be selected on a non-competitive basis, as appropriate. For further information, please contact the Headquarters or regional office.
- Length and time phasing of assistance
EPA may negotiate the project period with each applicant based on project requirements. The term of the grant shall be determined at the time of grant award.
How to apply
- Preapplication coordination
Intergovernmental review applies to this assistance listing when there is construction associated with a demonstration project. EPA financial assistance programs and activities subject to intergovernmental review that are subject to review under State single point of contact procedures are identified at https://www.epa.gov/grants/epa-financial-assistance-programs-subject-executive-order-12372-and-section-204. Applicants for programs or activities subject to Intergovernmental Review that are not subject to State single point of contact review must provide directly affected State, areawide, regional, and local entities at least 60 days to review their application following notification by EPA that the application has been selected for funding as provided by 40 CFR 29.8(a) and (c). Regarding pre-application assistance with respect to competitive funding opportunities under this assistance listing, EPA will generally specify the nature of the pre-application assistance, if any, that will be available to applicants in the NOFO. For additional information, contact the individual(s) listed in the NOFO.
- Criteria for selecting proposals
The evaluation and selection criteria for competitive awards under this assistance listing will be described in the NOFO.
- Award procedure
For competitive awards, EPA will review and evaluate applications in accordance with the terms, conditions, and criteria stated in the NOFO. Competitions will be conducted in accordance with EPA policies/regulations for competing assistance agreements.
- Deadlines
For competitive awards, deadlines will be specified in the Notice of Funding Opportunity.
- Time to approval or disapproval
Approximately 180 days.
- Appeals
Assistance agreement competition-related disputes will be resolved in accordance with the dispute resolution procedures published in 70 FR (Federal Register) 3629, 3630 (January 26, 2005). Copies of these procedures may also be found at: https://www.epa.gov/grants/grant-competition-dispute-resolution-procedures. Disputes relating to matters other than the competitive selection of recipients will be resolved under 2 CFR 1500 Subpart E, as applicable.
Grant opportunities
Show all 16
Grant awards
Latest 10 of 283 listed here. See the rest on GovTribe.
Top recipients by federal obligations
| Rank | Recipient | Federal obligations | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated | $90,933,500 | 34% |
| 2 | National Rural Water Association | $81,101,948 | 30% |
| 3 | Association Of State Drinking Water Administrators | $15,364,700 | 6% |
| 4 | University Of New Mexico | $14,758,586 | 6% |
| 5 | University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill | $11,005,000 | 4% |
| 6 | Ground Water Protection Council | $5,694,999 | 2% |
| 7 | New Mexico Institute Of Mining And Technology | $3,166,666 | 1% |
| 8 | West Virginia University Research Corporation | $3,000,000 | 1% |
| 9 | Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service | $2,987,500 | 1% |
| 10 | Osage Nation | $2,982,024 | 1% |
10 of 37 recipients listed here. See the rest on GovTribe.
Federal obligations by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Federal obligations |
|---|---|
| FY2026 | $798,000 |
| FY2025 | $28,100,000 |
| FY2024 | $26,740,000 |
| FY2023 | $23,310,000 |
| FY2022 | $23,835,000 |
| FY2021 | $17,125,000 |
| FY2020 | $13,498,600 |
| FY2019 | $576,000 |
| FY2018 | $21,811,000 |
| FY2017 | $10,462,187 |
| FY2016 | $11,255,388 |
| FY2015 | $11,323,999 |
| FY2014 | $12,737,857 |
| FY2013 | $1,137,143 |
| FY2012 | $14,606,638 |
| FY2011 | $1,674,968 |
| FY2010 | $1,384,596 |
| FY2009 | $1,979,666 |
| FY2008 | $11,359,887 |
| FY2007 | $2,706,595 |
| FY2006 | $6,103,800 |
| FY2005 | $6,936,661 |
| FY2004 | $8,256,064 |
| FY2003 | $8,110,650 |
Show all 24
Quick answers
What is Assistance Listing 66.424?
Assistance Listing 66.424 is Surveys, Studies, Investigations, Demonstrations, and Training Grants - Section 1442 of the Safe Drinking Water Act, a federal grant program run by Environmental Protection Agency.
What is the CFDA number for Surveys, Studies, Investigations, Demonstrations, and Training Grants - Section 1442 of the Safe Drinking Water Act?
Its CFDA number is 66.424: Assistance Listing numbers were called CFDA numbers before 2018.
How much funding has Assistance Listing 66.424 awarded?
283 grant awards under 66.424 have obligated $265,969,199 in federal funds to 37 recipients.
Who receives the most funding from 66.424?
The recipients obligated the most under Surveys, Studies, Investigations, Demonstrations, and Training Grants - Section 1442 of the Safe Drinking Water Act are Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated ($90,933,500), National Rural Water Association ($81,101,948) and Association Of State Drinking Water Administrators ($15,364,700).
How much did 66.424 obligate in fiscal year 2025?
Grants under 66.424 obligated $28,100,000 in federal funds in fiscal year 2025.
Are there open grant opportunities under 66.424?
No opportunity listed under 66.424 is open now. The latest, Training and Technical Assistance to Improve Water Quality and Enable Small Public Water Systems to Provide Safe Drinking Water, was posted on April 13, 2026.
On GovTribe
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