All communities deserve access to safe, clean, and reliable water. Yet too many communities
across America face challenges in providing clean and safe water to their residents.
The Clean Water Rural, Small, and Tribal (RST) grant program is part of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Technical Assistance (WaterTA) efforts that
supports communities’ efforts to identify water challenges, develop plans, build technical,
financial, and managerial capacity, comply with the Clean Water Act, and access water
infrastructure funding.
The EPA is soliciting applications to provide training and technical assistance to rural, small,
and Tribal municipalities, publicly owned wastewater treatment works, and decentralized
wastewater treatment systems for the prevention, reduction, and elimination of pollution.
Eligible activities include training and technical assistance only. For examples of Water
Technical Assistance, please see the Implementation of EPA Water Technical Assistance
memo. Infrastructure construction projects such as repairing water or sewer lines, adding
new equipment, or upgrading, retrofitting, or rehabilitating existing equipment are not
eligible for funding under this announcement.
The Agency is seeking applications from organizations that serve a range of geographic
service areas with project budgets appropriate to the number of rural, small, and Tribal
entities to be supported.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (P.L. 117-58, Nov. 15, 2021) provides an
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additional $11.7 billion in funding to the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund (CWSRF)
with 49% of those funds available as grants and principal forgiveness loans to communities
that meet the state’s affordability criteria or certain project types, consistent with the Clean
Water Act. This is a historic opportunity to upgrade clean water infrastructure in rural, small,
and Tribal communities.
Note that this announcement is not funded by the IIJA. However, awards made under this
announcement can help communities access CWSRF funds, including IIJA funds, as described
herein.
The EPA’s current priorities include working to advance equity, address climate change, and
responsibly support and implement the IIJA. These priorities include helping ensure that
communities that have struggled to access public funding receive the help they need. The
EPA aims to maximize the potential for the IIJA funds to significantly benefit rural, small, or
Tribal communities with clean water projects. The result is that more communities will have
applications for funding, quality wastewater infrastructure, and reliable wastewater
services. Awards made through this announcement are intended also to enable
communities to comply with environmental regulations and build their technical,
managerial, and financial capacity to sustainably operate wastewater infrastructure.
Providing this support will allow communities to better protect both public health and the
environment.