The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of $2,883,000 in funding through the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant program to help communities address stormwater and sewer infrastructure needs in Region 7.
EPA’s grant funding is available to states to support projects in cities and towns that will strengthen their stormwater collection systems to be more resilient against increasingly intense rain events.
Funding allotments for Region 7 states are broken down below:
- Iowa: $326,000
- Kansas: $461,000
- Missouri: $1,567,000
- Nebraska: $529,000
“This funding is an opportunity for small and financially struggling communities to obtain no-cost grants for critical stormwater and sewer system needs,” said EPA Region 7 Administrator Meg McCollister in a press release.
“No-cost grants help to ensure that upgrade prices do not get passed on to utility customers, and that’s a win for our community members,” said McCollister.
According to the press release this grant program will prioritize stormwater infrastructure projects in small and/or financially stressed and disadvantaged communities and prevent cost-share requirements from being passed on to those communities.
When rain and floodwaters overrun sewer and stormwater systems, they bypass treatment and transport pollution and sewage directly into creeks, streams and rivers. The untreated discharge is a threat to human health, economic prosperity and ecological function.
