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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-12-24 Correspondence - Environmental Protection Agency - EPA Region 8 Water Division_ Program UpdatesFrom:Mullins, Matthew (he/him/his)To:Agenda Subject:[EXTERNAL]EPA Region 8 Water Division: Program Updates Date:Friday, January 12, 2024 7:59:37 AM Attachments:Program updates Jan 2024.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Jan 12, 2024Program Updates Upcoming Opportunities New Grant opportunity: EPA’s new Environmental and ClimateJustice Community Change Grants program (Community Change Grants) will invest approximately $2 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funds in environmental and climate justice activities to benefit disadvantagedcommunities through projects that reduce pollution, increase communityclimate resilience, and build community capacity to respond to environmentaland climate justice challenges. These place-based investments will befocused on community-driven initiatives to be responsive to community andstakeholder input. EPA expects most awards will be between $10-20 millionfor multi-faceted projects addressing a range of pollution, climate change,and other priority issues. For more information and a list of eligible activities,please click here. This grant is now open and the deadline to apply is a yearfrom now, November 2024. To ask questions or learn more about the grant, join the Community Change grants informational webinar. View the Recording of the Informational Webinar hosted in December here Request free Technical Assistance to aid in preparing a Grant Application for this Grant here Colorado Community-Based Water Resilience Workshop: This free,virtual Community-Based Water Resilience workshop will provide an overview of drought and wildfire impacts on water resilience, as well as feature lessonslearned from past wildfires and their impact on water utilities andcommunities. A panel discussion will feature speakers who have experiencedwildfires and their lasting impacts. In addition, a tabletop exercise focused onwildfires in the urban interface will give all participants a chance to discuss their plans and preparations for sustaining operations in the face of extended water outages. EPA will apply for continuing education units (CEUs) for thosewith Colorado drinking water and/or wastewater operator licenses. Register here for the Webinar Wednesday, January 17, 2024: 9:00–3:45 PM MDT It's Winter - Are Your Generators Ready?: Winter brings storms andpower outages, so it’s important that water and wastewater systems haveconfidence that backup generators will be ready to perform when needed.Join U.S. EPA for this webinar that will cover SOPs and lessons learnedregarding generator O&M to ensure there are no surprises when generatorsare turned on. Register here for the Webinar Friday, January 19, 2024: 11:00–12:00 PM MDT Tools, and Training to Increase Water System Resilience: This trainingwebinar is intended to provide an overview of the resiliency guides, tools,strategies, and resources available to water utility owners and operators. Thispresentation will communicate the real-world challenges and successes ofutilities in adapting to the impacts of climate change and focus on EPA’sCreating Resilient Water Utilities efforts to provide technical assistance tosmall water systems through a utility case study. Available software toestimate potential damages from disaster scenarios; evaluate preparednessstrategies; and identify prioritized response actions and efficient repair strategies will be demonstrated. Simulation and analysis tools can help water utilities predict how their systemwill respond to expected, and unexpected, incidents and help informdecisions to make water distribution systems more resilient over time. Register here for the Webinar Tuesday, January 30, 2024: 12:00–1:30 PM MDT Water Technical Assistance: Communities can request no-cost directWaterTA to evaluate their drinking water, wastewater, stormwaterinfrastructure, and water quality improvement needs. EPA's WaterTAprograms offer a wide range of services, including: · Identifying water infrastructure or water quality improvement needs · Planning for capital improvements · Building technical, managerial, and financial capacity · Preparing for and developing application materials for financing a project through the SRFs or other EPA-supported funding opportunities Click here for more information WaterTA Request form to request Technical Assistance We look forward to continuing to serve you by providing information onGrant Opportunities, Webinars, Trainings, and other exciting information. To unsubscribe from our email list, reply back “unsubscribe” If you were forwarded this email and want to subscribe: Click here to subscribe, reply back “subscribe” For questions on webinars and workshops, contact EPA via the email address listed on the registration page. For questions on Technical Assistance (TA) and funding opportunities forclean water and drinking water infrastructure, contact Tamara Barbakova at Barbakova.Tamara@epa.gov. https://www.epa.gov/environmental-topics/water-topicsAdditional Information: Jan 12, 2024 Program Updates Colorado Community-Based Water Resilience Workshop: This free, virtual Community-Based Water Resilience workshop will provide an overview of drought and wildfire impacts on water resilience, as well as feature lessons learned from past wildfires and their impact on water utilities and communities. A panel discussion will feature speakers who have experienced wildfires and their lasting impacts. In addition, a tabletop exercise focused on wildfires in the urban interface will give all participants a chance to discuss their plans and preparations for sustaining operations in the face of extended water outages. EPA will apply for continuing education units (CEUs) for those with Colorado drinking water and/or wastewater operator licenses. Register here for the Webinar Wednesday, January 17, 2024: 9:00–3:45 PM MDT Water Technical Assistance: Communities can request no-cost direct WaterTA to evaluate their drinking water, wastewater, stormwater infrastructure, and water quality improvement needs. EPA's WaterTA programs offer a wide range of services, including: •Identifying water infrastructure or water quality improvement needs •Planning for capital improvements •Building technical, managerial, and financial capacity •Preparing for and developing application materials for financing a project through the SRFs or other EPA-supported funding opportunities Click here for more information WaterTA Request form to request Technical Assistance We look forward to continuing to serve you by providing information on Grant Opportunities, Webinars, Trainings, and other exciting information. To unsubscribe from our email list, reply back “unsubscribe” If you were forwarded this email and want to subscribe: Click here to subscribe, reply back “subscribe” For questions on webinars and workshops, contact EPA via the email address listed on the registration page. For questions on Technical Assistance (TA) and funding opportunities for clean water and drinking water infrastructure, contact Tamara Barbakova at Barbakova.Tamara@epa.gov. Additional Information: https://www.epa.gov/environmental-topics/water-topics Tools, and Training to Increase Water System Resilience: This training webinar is intended to provide an overview of the resiliency guides, tools, strategies, and resources available to water utility owners and operators. This presentation will communicate the real-world challenges and successes of utilities in adapting to the impacts of climate change and focus on EPA’s Creating Resilient Water Utilities efforts to provide technical assistance to small water systems through a utility case study. Available software to estimate potential damages from disaster scenarios; evaluate preparedness strategies; and identify prioritized response actions and efficient repair strategies will be demonstrated. Simulation and analysis tools can help water utilities predict how their system will respond to expected, and unexpected, incidents and help inform decisions to make water distribution systems more resilient over time. Register here for the Webinar Tuesday, January 30, 2024: 12:00–1:30 PM MDT New Grant opportunity: EPA’s new Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants program (Community Change Grants) will invest approximately $2 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funds in environmental and climate justice activities to benefit disadvantaged communities through projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity to respond to environmental and climate justice challenges. These place-based investments will be focused on community-driven initiatives to be responsive to community and stakeholder input. EPA expects most awards will be between $10-20 million for multi-faceted projects addressing a range of pollution, climate change, and other priority issues. For more information and a list of eligible activities, please click here. This grant is now open and the deadline to apply is a year from now, November 2024. To ask questions or learn more about the grant, join the Community Change grants informational webinar. View the Recording of the Informational Webinar hosted in December here Request free Technical Assistance to aid in preparing a Grant Application for this Grant here It's Winter - Are Your Generators Ready?: Winter brings storms and power outages, so it’s important that water and wastewater systems have confidence that backup generators will be ready to perform when needed. Join U.S. EPA for this webinar that will cover SOPs and lessons learned regarding generator O&M to ensure there are no surprises when generators are turned on. Register here for the Webinar Friday, January 19, 2024: 11:00–12:00 PM MDT