EPA announces nearly $50M available for sewer overflow, stormwater projects

The U.S. EPA announced the availability of nearly $50 million in funding through the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant program.

The program provides funds for the planning, design and construction of combined sewer overflow, sanitary sewer overflow, and stormwater management projects.

States can now apply for the grant assistance, which would fund projects to strengthen stormwater collection systems against intense rain events and prevent contaminants from polluting waterways.

The Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant program will also now ensure small and financially distressed communities receive grant assistance at no cost.

“Against the backdrop of extreme weather fueled by the climate crisis, heavy rainfall can flood communities, overload facilities that treat wastewater, and contaminate our waterways with sewage and pollution,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox. “With $50 million in grant funding and new requirements under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Biden-Harris Administration is helping address the threat of stormwater inundation in communities that need it most.”

When mixed with domestic and industrial wastewater in combined sewers, stormwater can contribute to combined sewer overflows during heavy storm events.

In the past, states and communities shared a fixed portion of the costs associated with all projects funded through the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant program. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law changed the program so that 25% of Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant program funds go to available projects in small and/or financially distressed communities; it also limited states’ abilities to pass on the burden of cost sharing to these communities.