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Home My WebLink About06-05-24 Correspondence - EPA - EPA Region 8 Water Division_ Program UpdatesFrom:Mullins, Matthew (he/him/his)To:Bozeman Public Comment Subject:[EXTERNAL]EPA Region 8 Water Division: Program Updates Date:Wednesday, June 5, 2024 11:30:44 AM Attachments:TA Factsheet and Program Updates June2024.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. June 5, 2024Program updates Upcoming Opportunities Are you prepared for Wildfires? Drought? Flooding? ExtremeWeather? These events pose significant challenges to drinking water andwastewater operations within our region. Climate change will make theseevents even more challenging. EPA's Creating Resilient Water Utilities isoffering free Technical Assistance (TA) to interested stakeholders. EPA’s Creating Resilient Water Utilities (CRWU) initiative provides the water sector and its stakeholders with practical tools, training, and technical assistanceneeded to increase their infrastructure’s resilience to these hazards. Requestfree help today and take steps to protect your community’s multi-milliondollar infrastructure investments. The deadline to sign up for this TA isAugust 15 and will be available on a first come first served basis. If selected,CRWU would begin working with your community between October 2024 andJuly 2025. If you are interested in this FREE assessment, please click the linkbelow. Click Here to Request a Free Risk Assessment; Mullins.Matthew@epa.gov Closing America’s Wastewater Access Gap: EPA is offering free technicalassistance for communities with failing decentralized (septic) wastewatersystems, or communities with no existing wastewater systems at all. Doseptic systems back up into homes or cause sewage to pool in yards? Doesthe town or county struggle to provide adequate sanitation services to its residents? Does the community struggle to rebuild damaged or non-functioning wastewater and septic systems? If any of these conditions apply,then your community may be eligible for assistancethrough this initiative. Communities – including homeowners and utilities –and all states, Tribes, and territories can request no-cost technical assistance. Technical assistance can help assess current wastewater infrastructure, recommend options, and support development of fundingapplications for the community. More information can be found here:https://www.epa.gov/water-infrastructure/closing-americas-wastewater-access-gap. Click Here to Request Free Technical Assistance; Email SepticHelp@epa.gov with questions Community Change Grant: EPA’s new Environmental and ClimateJustice Community Change Grants program (Community Change Grants) willinvest approximately $2 billion of Inflation Reduction Act funds inenvironmental and climate justice activities to benefit disadvantagedcommunities 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 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 isNovember 2024. To learn more about the grant, view a recording of theDecember 2023 informational webinar here. Free Technical Assistance to helpin preparing a grant application is available and can be accessed here. Click here for more information Deadline to apply is November 21, 2024 Environmental Justice Community Collaboration: EPA Region 8’sEnvironmental Justice (EJ) Program welcomes you to join our EnvironmentalJustice (EJ) Community Collaboration. This meeting is open to all communitymembers, rights holders and partners in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota,South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and 28 Tribal nations. At this virtual event we will hear from EPA Region 8’s Regional Administrator KC Becker, and willdiscuss available technical assistance, providing a chance to hear from andask questions to Region 8’s TCTAC and Grantmaker, as well as learn moreabout open grant opportunities, and we will hear from various successful andinnovative past and ongoing projects supported with EJ funding throughout EPA Region 8. The event will also allow attendees to speak with EJ program staff, technical assistance centers, EJ grantees, ask questions, highlightconcerns, and learn more about EJ program updates. Hearing fromcommunity members will help EPA better understand and more effectivelyserve local communities. This meeting will also provide an opportunity tonetwork with other community members and organizations engaged insimilar work. Register here for the Community Collaboration Meeting Monday, June 10, 2024: 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM MT Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program: The EnergyEfficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program is designed toassist states, local governments, and Tribes in implementing strategies toreduce energy use, to reduce fossil fuel emissions, and to improve energyefficiency. DOE provides technical assistance offerings for eligible entities,including the EECBG Program Blueprints and the opportunity to host aCommunity Energy Fellow in your local government or Tribe. To learn moreabout the Technical Assistance available and request it, click here. Click here for more information Deadline to apply for local governments is October 31, 2024 Water & Wastewater Sector Cyber Incident Response Webinar: CISA Region 8 is hosting a Water & Wastewater Sector Cyber Incident ResponseWebinar in June. The webinar will review the Water and Wastewater SectorCybersecurity Toolkit, including the Incident Response Guide which outlineshow water utility owners and operators can expect to work with federalpartners as they prepare for, respond to, and mitigate the impact of a cyberincident. Register here for the Webinar Tuesday, June 18, 2024: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM MT Small Drinking Water Systems Webinar - Inorganics Treatment:Arsenic and Nitrate Part 1 of this presentation will focus on a biological nitrate treatment pilot study conducted at a water treatment plant. The case study used an innovative denitrification system that at times achievedcomplete denitrification. Part 2 of the presentation will provide an overview ofarsenic chemistry and treatment considerations. Part 3 of the presentationwill provide an overview of an enforcement case at a mobile home park forviolation of the Arsenic rule. The unique challenges and successes of trying tobring a small public water system back into compliance will also bediscussed. To view the Webinar Flyer, Click Here Register here for the Webinar Tuesday, June 25, 2024: 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM MT State Asset Management Initiatives: Attendees will learn how the statesare encouraging and assisting public water systems to develop assetmanagement plans as described in their capacity development strategies.Attendees will also hear lessons learned and successes of asset managementinitiatives from the state of Utah. Utilizing asset management ensures watersystems across the nation can achieve a future of sustainable, safe drinkingwater while also building the resilience of their communities. This webinar will highlight new initiatives states have adopted in response to recent amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act. These are part of EPA’s 2024State Asset Management Initiatives Document. EPA will present how theDocument can help states and technical assistance (TA) providers identify thestate resources and initiatives that communities can take advantage of whenworking to build their system capacity. Register here for the Webinar Wednesday, June 26, 2024: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM MT Is there a Grant for that? EPA’s Clearinghouse provides a searchabledatabase of existing funding opportunities within Air, Land, and Water. Userscan search between the funding type, amount, eligible users, and eligibleuses. With over 2000 funding opportunities across the clearinghouse, it’s anexcellent place to start your search for your next grant. On top of fundingopportunities, the Clearinghouse has a number of other resources includingreports, case studies, and webinars about financing mechanisms andapproaches that can help communities. Click here for more Information More Technical Assistance! With a historical amount of funding available,technical assistance can help you and your community with Planning, ProjectDevelopment, Partnerships, Engagement, Financing, and Finding FundingOpportunities. Check out the attached Fact Sheet for a list of TechnicalAssistance opportunities available at no cost! 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 addresslisted on the registration page. For questions on Technical Assistance (TA) and funding opportunities forclean water and drinking water infrastructure, contact Tamara Barbakova atBarbakova.Tamara@epa.gov. Additional Information: https://www.epa.gov/environmental-topics/water-topics U.S. EPA Technical Assistance Programs This form is periodically updated to highlight current TA opportunities. Last update April 2024. Who can apply for technical assistance? Depending on the program, eligible entities include, but are not limited to, community-based organizations, nonprofits, local and state governments, tribes, faith-based organizations and institutes of higher education. Check out each program below to find out if you are eligible for technical assistance. Are you new to grants and need help navigating the grants process? Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (EJ TCTACs) EJ TCTACs provide training and other assistance free of charge to help underserved communities build capacity for developing stronger grant applications and navigating grant application systems. EJ TCTACs can provide communities: • Training in writing grant proposals and managing grant funding. • Guidance on community engagement, meeting facilitation and grant related translation and interpretation services. • Direct access to environmental energy grant resources and information. For more information, visit www.bit.ly/EJTCTAC Do you have a water infrastructure project in mind? Water Technical Assistance (WaterTA) Water Technical Assistance (WaterTA) provides free, direct support for communities to identify water challenges, develop plans to address them, prepare applications to finance projects and build technical, managerial and financial capacity. WaterTA can help communities: • Identify water infrastructure or water quality improvement needs. • Plan for capital improvements. • Build technical, managerial and financial capacity. • Prepare for and develop application materials for financing a project. For more information, visit www.bit.ly/EPA-WaterTA Do you need help cleaning up a brownfield site? Technical Assistance toBrownfields (TAB) Providers A brownfield is a property where the expansion, redevelopment or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant. TAB providers offer free technical assistance to address brownfield sites and increase understanding and involvement in cleanup, revitalization and reuse. TAB providers can help communities: •Prepare Brownfields grant applications. •Perform site inventories. •Review historical information. •Design site investigations, sampling and field analysis. •Plan cleanup and redevelopment. For more information, visit www.bit.ly/EPA-TAB Are you looking to revitalize the infrastructure of your community? Community Change Technical Assistance (CCTA) CCTA provider EnDyna supports applicants and recipients of the Community Change Grants, transformative funding for disadvantaged and low-income communities in support of projects that reduce pollution, increase climate resilience and build capacity in response to environmental and climate justice challenges. CCTA can provide communities with: •Assistance developing, preparing and submitting a grant application. •Guidance with project planning and development. •Support in conducting community outreach. •Support with developing partnerships and governance structures. •Guidance with grants management and reporting post-award. For more information, visit www.bit.ly/EPA-CCTA For up-to-date information about all EPA funding opportunities, visit epa.gov/grants June 5, 2024 Program Updates Community Change Grant: EPA’s new Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants program (Community Change Grants) will invest approximately $2 billion of 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 November 2024. To learn more about the grant, view a recording of the December 2023 informational webinar here. Free Technical Assistance to help in preparing a grant application is available and can be accessed here. Click here for more information Deadline to apply is November 21, 2024 Are you prepared for Wildfires? Drought? Flooding? Extreme Weather? These events pose significant challenges to drinking water and wastewater operations within our region. Climate change will make these events even more challenging. EPA's Creating Resilient Water Utilities is offering free Technical Assistance (TA) to interested stakeholders. EPA’s Creating Resilient Water Utilities (CRWU) initiative provides the water sector and its stakeholders with practical tools, training, and technical assistance needed to increase their infrastructure’s resilience to these hazards. Request free help today and take steps to protect your community’s multi-million dollar infrastructure investments. The deadline to sign up for this TA is August 15 and will be available on a first come first served basis. If selected, CRWU would begin working with your community between October 2024 and July 2025. If you are interested in this FREE assessment, please click the link below. Click Here to Request a Free Risk Assessment; Mullins.Matthew@epa.gov Closing America’s Wastewater Access Gap: EPA is offering free technical assistance for communities with failing decentralized (septic) wastewater systems, or communities with no existing wastewater systems at all. Do septic systems back up into homes or cause sewage to pool in yards? Does the town or county struggle to provide adequate sanitation services to its residents? Does the community struggle to rebuild damaged or non-functioning wastewater and septic systems? If any of these conditions apply, then your community may be eligible for assistance through this initiative. Communities – including homeowners and utilities – and all states, Tribes, and territories can request no-cost technical assistance. Technical assistance can help assess current wastewater infrastructure, recommend options, and support development of funding applications for the community. More information can be found here: https://www.epa.gov/water-infrastructure/closing-americas-wastewater- access-gap. Click Here to Request Free Technical Assistance; Email SepticHelp@epa.gov with questions Water & Wastewater Sector Cyber Incident Response Webinar: CISA Region 8 is hosting a Water & Wastewater Sector Cyber Incident Response Webinar in June. The webinar will review the Water and Wastewater Sector Cybersecurity Toolkit, including the Incident Response Guide which outlines how water utility owners and operators can expect to work with federal partners as they prepare for, respond to, and mitigate the impact of a cyber incident. Register here for the Webinar Tuesday, June 18, 2024: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM MT 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 Small Drinking Water Systems Webinar - Inorganics Treatment: Arsenic and Nitrate Part 1 of this presentation will focus on a biological nitrate treatment pilot study conducted at a water treatment plant. The case study used an innovative denitrification system that at times achieved complete denitrification. Part 2 of the presentation will provide an overview of arsenic chemistry and treatment considerations. Part 3 of the presentation will provide an overview of an enforcement case at a mobile home park for violation of the Arsenic rule. The unique challenges and successes of trying to bring a small public water system back into compliance will also be discussed. To view the Webinar Flyer, Click Here Register here for the Webinar Tuesday, June 25, 2024: 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM MT State Asset Management Initiatives: Attendees will learn how the states are encouraging and assisting public water systems to develop asset management plans as described in their capacity development strategies. Attendees will also hear lessons learned and successes of asset management initiatives from the state of Utah. Utilizing asset management ensures water systems across the nation can achieve a future of sustainable, safe drinking water while also building the resilience of their communities. This webinar will highlight new initiatives states have adopted in response to recent amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act. These are part of EPA’s 2024 State Asset Management Initiatives Document. EPA will present how the Document can help states and technical assistance (TA) providers identify the state resources and initiatives that communities can take advantage of when working to build their system capacity. Register here for the Webinar Wednesday, June 26, 2024: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM MT Is there a Grant for that? EPA’s Clearinghouse provides a searchable database of existing funding opportunities within Air, Land, and Water. Users can search between the funding type, amount, eligible users, and eligible uses. With over 2000 funding opportunities across the clearinghouse, it’s an excellent place to start your search for your next grant. On top of funding opportunities, the Clearinghouse has a number of other resources including reports, case studies, and webinars about financing mechanisms and approaches that can help communities. Click here for more Information More Technical Assistance! With a historical amount of funding available, technical assistance can help you and your community with Planning, Project Development, Partnerships, Engagement, Financing, and Finding Funding Opportunities. Check out the attached Fact Sheet for a list of Technical Assistance opportunities available at no cost! Environmental Justice Community Collaboration: EPA Region 8’s Environmental Justice (EJ) Program welcomes you to join our Environmental Justice (EJ) Community Collaboration. This meeting is open to all community members, rights holders and partners in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and 28 Tribal nations. At this virtual event we will hear from EPA Region 8’s Regional Administrator KC Becker, and will discuss available technical assistance, providing a chance to hear from and ask questions to Region 8’s TCTAC and Grantmaker, as well as learn more about open grant opportunities, and we will hear from various successful and innovative past and ongoing projects supported with EJ funding throughout EPA Region 8. The event will also allow attendees to speak with EJ program staff, technical assistance centers, EJ grantees, ask questions, highlight concerns, and learn more about EJ program updates. Hearing from community members will help EPA better understand and more effectively serve local communities. This meeting will also provide an opportunity to network with other community members and organizations engaged in similar work. Register here for the Community Collaboration Meeting Monday, June 10, 2024: 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM MT Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program: The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program is designed to assist states, local governments, and Tribes in implementing strategies to reduce energy use, to reduce fossil fuel emissions, and to improve energy efficiency. DOE provides technical assistance offerings for eligible entities, including the EECBG Program Blueprints and the opportunity to host a Community Energy Fellow in your local government or Tribe. To learn more about the Technical Assistance available and request it, click here. Click here for more information Deadline to apply for local governments is October 31, 2024