Bio-Rad Laboratories provides this ROADMAP to assist State, local, tribal, and territorial government entities and other eligible non-profit organizations seeking government funding for enhancements to their ongoing wastewater surveillance and pathogen detection efforts.
CDC announced a new competitive cooperative agreement on March 18, 2022, that will provide funding to establish the US Pathogen Genomics Centers of Excellence (PGCoE) network.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The EPA Office of Water is responsible for working with states, tribes, and stakeholders to develop recommended safe water quality levels for toxins, nutrients, and pathogens in America’s waters. To achieve these goals funding is made accessible for wastewater projects through grants to states and local governments primarily through the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) Program. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) authorized increased funding for wastewater infrastructure projects, and the EPA’s guidance for utilizing these funds includes making investments in proactive wastewater pathogen testing. Details on the WIFIA Program can be found here, and IIJA funds are available to private and non-profit entities through state departments of health and environmental quality.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The CDC’s Division of State and Local Readiness Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) cooperative agreement program provides grants to state, local, and territorial public health departments to build and strengthen their abilities to effectively respond to a range of public health threats, including infectious diseases. In 2021, the CDC awarded $2 billion to this program through the American Rescue Plan. Details on the funding opportunities from the CDC’s Division of State and Local Readiness can be found here, and CDC funds for wastewater projects are available through state, local, and territorial departments of health and environmental quality.
Department of Commerce
The Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration operates the Public Works and Economic Adjustment Assistance programs which fund a wide range of technical, planning, and public works and infrastructure assistance, including water and wastewater projects, in regions experiencing adverse economic changes. The American Rescue Plan, allocated $3 billion in supplemental funding to the EDA to assist communities nationwide in their economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Details on the funding opportunities from the EDA can be found here, and EDA funds for wastewater projects are available through state departments of health and environmental quality.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Utilizing powers provided by the Stafford Act, President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order on March 13, 2020, stipulating that FEMA provide up to a 100 percent federal cost-share to State and local governments as well as other nonprofit entities for expenditures on certain emergency protective measures taken in response to the COVID pandemic. Details on the FEMA Public Assistance Program can be found here, and the application portal for FEMA Public Assistance grants can be found here. Local government and authorities, state agencies, tribal governments, and certain private non-profits organizations are eligible to apply.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
HUD’s Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) program provides support of state and local government infrastructure improvements focused on improving the health and welfare of low- and moderate-income communities. In 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provided $5 billion for the CDBG program to states, metropolitan cities, urban counties, and insular areas. At least 70 percent of every grant must be expended for activities that benefit low- and moderate-income persons including providing access to new or significantly improved infrastructure such as wastewater activities and projects. Details for the CDBG program can be found here, and funds are available to private and non-profit entities through state departments of health and environmental quality.
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
The USDA’s Rural Utilities Service provides loan and grant programs to state and local governmental entities and private nonprofits in rural communities for infrastructure and infrastructure improvements, including for wastewater services through its Water and Environmental Programs (WEP). Specifics on the program’s scope and objectives as well as how to apply can be found here.
Department of Defense (DoD)
The Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) operates water resource projects throughout the country as part of its civil works activities. The Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) authorized USACE to provide credit assistance, secured (direct) loans, or loan guarantees, for a broad range of water projects including wastewater infrastructure improvements through The Corps Water Infrastructure Financing Program (CWIFP). The DoD is also a member of the CDC’s National Sewage Surveillance Interagency Leadership Committee which collects, analyzes, and integrates wastewater-based COVID-19 data with COVID-19 case and syndromic data to assist state and local partners to make informed decisions. Specifics on the CWIFP and how to secure funding from the program can be found here.