00A00885

Description:
The purpose of this agreement is to provide assistance to Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) to implement its project to support the Long Island Sound Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan. The goal of the plan is to protect and restore Long Island Sound by upgrading wastewater treatment facilities to remove nitrogen in Massachusetts waterbodies that are in the Long Island Sound watershed.

Activities:
This award will fund nitrogen removal upgrades for wastewater treatment plants in the Massachusetts portion of the Long Island Sound watershed for the benefit of Long Island Sound water quality. Multiple facilities will be improved during the project period. Under the first year of this grant, the recipient will provide funds to the City of Chicopee to support upgrades at the Chicopee Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF) to remove nitrogen. These improvements include upgrades to existing tanks and equipment to provide nitrogen removal, coupled with upgrades to the solids handling process/equipment.

Subrecipient:
The subrecipient for the first year of funding under this grant will be the City of Chicopee. Subrecipients for future years of this award have yet to be determined. Subawards will cover design and construction-related activities.

Outcomes:
Ranging from minor to quite significant upgrades, this award allows facilities' upgrades to occur in a manner that is less burdensome to the municipalities and more timely for implementing the Long Island Sound Study's Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan. MassDEP will direct these funds to municipalities and sewer authorities, which will defray the cost of their nitrogen removal treatment plant upgrades.

Under the first year of this grant, the recipient will partner with the City of Chicopee to:
- Guide the design and specifications of water pollution control facility upgrades
- Put the construction of these upgrades out to bid to a qualified subcontractor
- Initiate construction through substantial completion

These deliverables, including upgrades to existing tanks and equipment, solids handling process/equipment, and upgrades or low-cost retrofits to wastewater treatment facilities, will reduce contaminant and nutrient loads (nitrogen) from land-based sources in the watershed of Long Island Sound. Future years of this grant will provide funds for additional facilities.

There are direct beneficiaries of this project throughout the Long Island Sound watershed - from the general population of Chicopee (where the initial project is sited) to downstream populations along the Connecticut River in Massachusetts and Connecticut, where the river feeds into the Long Island Sound.

The project prioritizes the implementation of the Justice40 Initiative, a government-wide initiative with the goal of delivering 40 percent of the overall benefits of relevant federal investments to disadvantaged communities. This project directly benefits the City of Chicopee, a community historically unable to invest in necessary water infrastructure improvements. The Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act allow states to define disadvantaged communities through affordability criteria as being the most in need. Using the criteria set forth in the Massachusetts program, Chicopee is designated as a Tier 3 disadvantaged community (having the highest need on a scale of Tiers 1 through 3), meaning it demonstrates the need for financial assistance to construct necessary infrastructure improvements.

Massachusetts Department Of Environmental Protection

66.437 - Long Island Sound Program

EPA Region 1: Boston [EPA - RO]

Gardner, Massachusetts United States

City-Wide

None

Infrastructure $8,500,000 (81%) percent this Project Grant was funded by the 2021 Infrastructure Act.
Amendment Since initial award the End Date has been extended from 09/30/27 to 07/31/28 and the total obligations have increased 133% from $4,500,000 to $10,500,000.