The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is now accepting applications for grants and loans to improve drinking water infrastructure. Federal funds made available through American Rescue Plan (ARPA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) covers the following types of projects for small and disadvantaged community waterworks:
- Facilities to improve drinking water quality
- Transmission and distribution: improvements in water pressure and prevention of contamination in infrastructure and lead service line replacements
- New sources to replace contaminated drinking water or increase drought resilience, including aquifer storage and recovery system for water storage
- Green infrastructure, including green roofs, rainwater harvesting collection, permeable pavement
- Storage of drinking water, such as to prevent contaminants or match water demands
- Buying of water systems and interconnection of systems
- New community water systems
- Constructing publicly owned treatment works
- Projects related to implementation of a nonpoint source pollution management program established under the Clean Water Act (CWA)
- Decentralized wastewater treatment systems that treat municipal wastewater or domestic sewage
- Management and treatment of stormwater or subsurface drainage water
- Water conservation, efficiency, or reuse measures
- Development and implementation of a conservation and management plan under the CWA
- Watershed projects meeting the criteria set forth in the CWA
- Energy consumption reduction for publicly owned treatment works
- Reuse or recycling of wastewater, stormwater, or subsurface drainage water
- Security of publicly owned treatment works
- Some stormwater infrastructure, lead remediation, and certain rehabilitations of dams and reservoirs are available for SLFRF funding
Official notice of the funding program can be found the Virginia Regulatory Townhall Website at this link. Applications are due by either April 8, 2022 or May 6, 2022 depending on the specific source of federal funding. For more information and how to apply go to https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/drinking-water/arpa/