84063401

Description: The Environmental Finance Center Network team will provide training and technical assistance with decentralized systems, operations and maintenance of wastewater treatment systems, and financial, technical, and managerial areas of wastewater to provide affected parties the ability to obtain the assistance they need to improve their staff and facilities.

Activities: The Environmental Finance Center Network team will provide services in all 50 states, 5 territories, and to tribal communities. The team of experts provides training in all 50 states and territories to help communities and water and wastewater systems achieve their technical, managerial, and financial goals.

The Environmental Finance Center Network project team will provide at least one training activity in every state and all 5 territories on the topic of the states' choosing; states may request technical assistance or the development of a tool/resource in lieu of training. The team will also provide up to 10 additional trainings specifically focused on tribal systems, as well as direct technical assistance for up to 40 systems, in addition to the in-depth assistances described below.

We will also provide 10 national webinars that can be viewed synchronously or asynchronously to enable systems anywhere in the country to access the content. Topics that are being covered in trainings are introduction to wastewater asset management, activated sludge process control calculations, lift station operations and maintenance, and biological nutrient removal optimization for existing treatment plants.

They will provide a website and a resource library so entities that need assistance can obtain this information via the internet. There will be trainings that are specifically tailored to the respective audience needs as well as some in-person trainings. The Environmental Finance Center Network project team will also do outreach to various entities which touch on regions, tribes, US territories, and government agencies.

Subrecipient: To assist rural, small, and tribal wastewater systems and onsite/decentralized systems, the Southwest Environmental Finance Center will serve as the lead organization on behalf of the Environmental Finance Center Network team, which includes Syracuse University Environmental Finance Center; University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center; Michigan Technological University Environmental Finance Center; Wichita State University Environmental Finance Center; and Environmental Finance Center West (fiscal agent Earth Island Institute). The staff of the Environmental Finance Centers will serve as subject matter experts and will use their national reach and the relationships they have developed with state and local agencies to identify and assist these wastewater systems.

To add to the highly capable team of Environmental Finance Centers, they have partnered with three other entities: Moonshot Missions; Mississippi State University Extension Service; and Morgan State University. Moonshot Missions is a collective of veteran water utility leaders and professionals serving as trusted peer advisors to small and rural communities and their water and wastewater utilities on a national basis. The Mississippi Water Resources Research Institute at Mississippi State University created the Mississippi Private Well Owner Network program which has been an integral part of onsite/decentralized wastewater system assistance in Mississippi for six years. For this project, the Mississippi State University team will expand their Mississippi Private Well Owner Network program to other geographic areas. Morgan State University is one of the nation's premier historically black institutions of higher education. Morgan's School of Engineering has a long and successful record as a top-five institution graduating the highest number of African American engineers nationally and is the largest producer of African American engineers in the state of Maryland. They will work together to provide comprehensive assistance to wastewater systems.

University Of New Mexico

6 - SAFEGUARD AND REVITALIZE COMMUNITIES 6.1 - CLEAN UP AND RESTORE LAND FOR PRODUCTIVE USES AND HEALTHY COMMUNITIES 1 - CORE MISSION 1.3 - REVITALIZE LAND AND PREVENT CONTAMINATION 5 - ENSURE CLEAN AND SAFE WATER FOR ALL COMMUNITIES 5.1 - ENSURE SAFE DRINKING WATER AND RELIABLE WATER INFRASTRUCTURE

66.446 - Technical Assistance for Treatment Works (Clean Water Act [CWA] Section 104(b)(8))

Office of Grants and Debarment (OGD) [EPA - HQ]

Office of Water (OW) [EPA - HQ]

Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131 United States

Single Zip Code

Training and Technical Assistance for Rural, Small and Tribal Municipalities and Wastewater Treatment Systems for Clean Water Act Prevention, Reduction, and Elimination of Pollution (EPA-OW-OWM-22-02)

Amendment Since initial award the End Date has been extended from 08/31/25 to 10/31/26.