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Greetings!
Sharing a weekly list of federal water resources with a municipal/utility focus.
Looking for something specific? Need help getting to the right contact or information? Let me help you find it! I can help narrow this list for your project and I also often have additional resources to share not listed here. Learn more about EPA’s Office of the Municipal Ombudsman. Please reach out to municipalombudsman@epa.gov (Do not reply to this e-mail).
Note: Newer items are included in this weekly list, for a more comprehensive list of resources please visit Municipal Resources.
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Press Releases/News
Resources
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EPA Region 2 Technical Assistance and Funding Resources August 2025 - EPA Region 2 serves New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and eight Indian Nations
- Open Space Institute [external with EPA funding] Report – “Protecting Land for Water Quality: Strategies for Nonpoint Source Management Programs”. Learn how other agencies have leveraged land protection strategies to achieve nonpoint source program goals, and current approaches and future opportunities for advancing land protection.
- EPA Office of Inspector General Report: Lessons Learned from Prior Oversight of the EPA's Disaster Response Efforts
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EPA's Proposed Rule: Reconsideration of 2009 Endangerment Finding and Greenhouse Gas Vehicle Standards. Comment period EXTENDED - Comments must be received on or before September 22, 2025.
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EPA Proposes Extensions to the Deadlines for Coal Combustion Residuals Management Units and Schedules Public Hearing. EPA will hold an online public hearing about this proposed rulemaking on September 12, 2025, starting at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. For more information and to register to speak at or attend virtually, visit the public hearing webpage. The current comment period closes August 21, 2025. EPA is working on reopening the comment period until September 15, 2025.
- GAO Report: Water Infrastructure Resilience: Agencies Could Better Assess Efforts to Assist Communities Vulnerable to Natural Disasters
- See more at Municipal Resources - General Resources
Webcasts/Workshops
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September 9: Environmental Finance Center Network [external with federal funding] Septic to Sewer in a Changing Climate. Explores how septic systems work, the challenges they face in a changing climate, and options for transitioning to more resilient sewer solutions.
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September 10: EPA's Water Workforce Webinar on Enhancing the Careers of Water Utility Administrative Professionals. This webinar will focus on an innovative initiative led by the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) in partnership with Water Finance Assistance and others to provide leadership and management training and a certificate to water and wastewater utility administrative professionals. This certification program will provide administrative professionals with a set of skills to better prepare them to make informed decisions, effectively manage resources, and add more value to their utility. PDHs available.
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WIFIA Loan Office Hours: EPA's Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan program for water/wastewater infrastructure has Office Hours sessions as open forums for questions about WIFIA funding, the application process, and more.
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September 12: EPA's Public Hearing on the Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) Management Unit Deadline Extension Proposed Rule. In response to requests for a public hearing and a comment period extension, EPA is working on extending the public comment period for this rulemaking to allow for a public hearing.
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September 17: EPA Tools & Resources Webinar: Artificial Intelligence in Disaster Preparedness, Response, and Recovery. EPA's Homeland Security Research Program has been working to leverage AI and enhance disaster readiness and this presentation will showcase real-world applications of AI and its future potential in disaster preparedness and recovery. EPA is researching AI technology integration in a way that can significantly improve predictive capabilities, streamline response efforts, and optimize recovery processes, ultimately reducing the impact on communities. Learn about successful implementation of AI in current disaster management scenarios, providing tangible examples of technology-driven improvements in environmental cleanup outcomes. View flyer here.
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September 17: EPA's Managing Your Roadway Stormwater Assets to Reduce Pollution, Achieve Water Quality Objectives, and Protect Communities from Flooding. Stormwater assets are vulnerable to system failures that cause upsets, flooding, and system damage if they are not properly maintained and upgraded when necessary. Cities, counties, and states manage roadway stormwater assets to keep waterways clean and prevent localized flooding. Stormwater asset management planning is a proven approach that helps provide reliable levels of service to customers, helps plan system renewal and upgrades, and minimizes the total cost of owning and operating the assets. In this webinar, speakers from three state Departments of Transportation will showcase a variety of approaches to stormwater asset management in the roadway context.
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September 16-18: Registration Open for Area of Concern Cross-Agency Partnership Summit hosted by EPA and the Ohio Lake Erie Commission in Toledo, Ohio - This three-day meeting is open to government officials, businesses, industries, universities, and other interested community members working toward restoring Great Lakes Areas of Concern. The program allows partners to network, participate in engaging program planning sessions, take field trips, and contribute to the long-term success of the program.
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October 2, 9, 16, 23 (10am-12:30pm ET): DOE's Better Plants Municipal Drinking Water Virtual Training. Virtual Trainings are hosted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Each Virtual Training helps partners develop technical expertise to overcome barriers to adopting energy efficiency and emissions reduction best practices and technologies.
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October 18-22: 2025 Council of Infrastructure Financing Authorities (CIFA) SRF Workshop: Flow & Harmony: Advancing SRFs Through Community and Innovation [external with federal participation] in New Orleans, LA.
- See more at Municipal Resources - Webcasts
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Federal Funding
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EPA's Chesapeake Center for Collaborative Computing. The Chesapeake Center for Collaborative Computing (C4) is a cloud based infrastructure that supports collection, aggregation, storage, analysis, and dissemination of data for the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership. It also provides on-site support to non-federal partners located at the Chesapeake Bay Program Office (CBPO) in Annapolis, MD. The recipient of this award will administer the C4 by operating and maintaining the existing environment, expanding and enhancing the infrastructure to meet partnership needs as they change over time, and assessing technological advances to ensure cost-effectiveness and efficiency of operations. Apply by September 10, 2025.
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EPA’s Midsize and Large Drinking Water System Infrastructure Resilience and Sustainability Program. This grant program assists medium and large size public water systems with protecting drinking water sources from natural hazards, extreme weather events, and cybersecurity threats. Eligible applicants for this grant program include public water systems that serve a population of 10,000 people or more. Press release: EPA Announces Availability of $9 Million to Protect Drinking Water from Natural Hazards and Cybersecurity Threats. Funding will help advance new Water Sector Cybersecurity Recommendations. Apply by October 6, 2025.
CLOSING SOON
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USDA's Rural Housing Preservation Grant. Provides qualified public agencies, private nonprofit organizations, which may include but not be limited to, Faith-Based and Community Organizations, and other eligible entities grant funds to assist very low- and low-income homeowners in repairing and rehabilitating their homes in rural areas. In addition, the HPG program assists rental property owners and cooperative housing complexes in repairing and rehabilitating their units if they agree to make such units available to low- and very low-income persons. Apply by September 4, 2025.
- USFWS' 2025 State and Interstate Aquatic Nuisance Species Management Plan Grant Program. Pre-proposals are due on September 4, 2025. Apply by Dec 15, 2025.
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EPA's Chesapeake Center for Collaborative Computing. The Chesapeake Center for Collaborative Computing (C4) is a cloud based infrastructure that supports collection, aggregation, storage, analysis, and dissemination of data for the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership. It also provides on-site support to non-federal partners located at the Chesapeake Bay Program Office (CBPO) in Annapolis, MD. The recipient of this award will administer the C4 by operating and maintaining the existing environment, expanding and enhancing the infrastructure to meet partnership needs as they change over time, and assessing technological advances to ensure cost-effectiveness and efficiency of operations. Apply by September 10, 2025.
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Maritime Administration's Port Infrastructure Development Program. Program funds projects that improve the safety, efficiency, or reliability of the movement of goods through ports or intermodal connections to ports. Apply by September 10, 2025.
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USFWS' FY2025 Golden Mussel Prevention and Control in the Western United States. Funds projects in the listed principle areas of the Western United States towards the fulfillment of the top priorities similar to those identified in the State of California's Golden Mussel Response Framework (April 14, 2025). Apply by September 17, 2025,
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EPA's Innovative Solutions for Improving Water Quality and Strengthening Local Economies in the Gulf of America Watershed. applications to improve water quality and/or Gulf habitat through nutrient reduction and/or mitigation of harmful algal blooms (“HABs”), including Sargassum Inundation Events, via demonstration projects that are enhanced by innovative technology. Applications must align with the Administration’s “Powering the Great American Comeback” initiative and align with EPA statutory authorities. Activities must take place in the Gulf of America watershed within the contiguous United States. Apply by September 19, 2025.
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EPA's FY 2026 Brownfields Job Training Grants Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)has been published, and a public outreach webinar about the NOFO will be held on Thursday, July 24, 2025, at 1:00PM ET / 10:00AM PT. View more details on the FY 2026 Brownfields Job Training Grants web page. Apply by September 26, 2025
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Delta Regional Authority (DRA) is making approximately $2.5 million in funding available for the 2025 LDD Community Support Pilot Program, a noncompetitive grant opportunity providing capacity-building and community support resources to Local Development Districts (LDDs) within the lower Mississippi River Delta and Alabama Black Belt regions. This program targets capacity-building and community support resources to LDDs that are helping economically distressed, isolated areas of distress, and persistent poverty communities navigate federal, state, and other resources that impact economic and community development. The program is designed to enhance the region’s resiliency and ability to compete for and leverage resources. The $2.5 million is open to the 45 LDDs serving communities within the 255 counties and parishes of the DRA eight-state service region. Apply by September 26, 2025.
This list only includes newly added items or reminders of those expiring soon, see more at Municipal Resources - Federal Funding
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Technical Assistance
- EPA offers free Tackling Emerging Contaminants (TEC) Water Technical Assistance (WaterTA) (Emerging Contaminants like PFAS, services to support small or disadvantaged communities. These services include diagnostic water quality sampling, preliminary treatment design, and identifying solutions for contamination issues. TEC WaterTA can provide assistance with addressing concerns with any of the contaminants listed in any of the EPA’s Contaminant Candidate Lists (CCLs). Examples include PFOA, PFOS, perchlorate, manganese, 1,4-dioxane, and others. TEC WaterTA cannot address contaminants for which the EPA has set a maximum contaminant level (MCL) under the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWR) other than PFAS.
- EPA's Closing America’s Wastewater Access Gap Initiative – Seeking New Communities. EPA’s free technical assistance initiative, Closing America’s Wastewater Access Gap, is seeking communities in need of help with failing septic systems or total lack of wastewater infrastructure (i.e. straight pipes). This is an opportunity for no-cost assistance to address longstanding wastewater infrastructure failures in small and rural communities across the country and connect those communities to an unprecedented amount of funding still available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. If your community, or one you know of, needs assistance – please complete this short form to request assistance to see if you qualify.
- EPA’s Office of the Municipal Ombudsman provides a unique service specifically for utilities/municipalities in identifying technical assistance opportunities, brainstorming federal funding options, clean water act flexibilities, integrated planning assistance, navigating EPA’s programs and more. Please reach out to municipalombudsman@epa.gov or 202-564-1709 to discuss your projects, permits, or other clean water concerns today - Happy to schedule a time to connect and discuss how our office might assist!
- EPA’s Water Technical Assistance Page includes a one-stop-shop EPA water technical assistance request form where communities can request no-cost direct water technical assistance to evaluate their drinking water, wastewater, stormwater infrastructure, and water quality improvement needs. Communities will be selected on a rolling basis
- See more at Municipal Resources - Technical Assistance
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Meet with the Municipal Ombudsman
Take care,
Jamie Piziali, Municipal Ombudsman
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of the Municipal Ombudsman is an independent, impartial, and confidential resource to assist municipalities in navigating clean water. Learn more at www.epa.gov/ocir/municipal-ombudsman
Note: Please reach out to funding agencies or program managers directly for updates regarding specific grants, funding cycles, technical assistance, and status of NOFOs. Many agencies have their Requests for Applications (RFAs) and assistance programs under review.
The information in this publication comes from many resources and federal listservs. See more on our Municipal Resources page.
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