The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding for water is basically earmarked for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and can be divided into two grant categories. Both are State Revolving Fund State and Tribal Assistance Grants (STAG), but one is Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF), and the other is Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF). While they may sound quite similar, they finance different types of projects.

Both types of programs provide funding for state-level loan revolving funds to finance infrastructure improvements. The CWSRF is for public wastewater systems and other water quality projects, while the DWSRF is for community water systems and nonprofit non-community water systems, that is, CWSRF is for wastewater systems, while DWSRF is for drinking water systems.

ARRA contains six billion dollars ($6,000,000,000) for these water projects, four billion for CWSRF and two billion for DWSRF. It is hoped that this is based on the need for infrastructure improvements, rather than the relative value of wastewater versus drinking water.

For the CWSRF, the breakdown is as follows:

$3,869,608,000 for state programs; $60,000,000 (1.5%) set-aside for projects on (Indian) tribal lands; $39,392,000 (1%) for water quality management planning; and $31,000,000 for EPA - Management & Oversight (1/2 of this is held in reserve for future years and not available for EPA to obligate immediately.

For the DWSRF, the breakdown is as follows:

$1,950,000,000 for state programs; $30,000,000 (1.5%) set-aside for projects on (Indian) tribal lands; $20,000,000 for EPA - Management & Oversight (1/2 of this is held in reserve for future years and not available for EPA to obligate immediately.

Projects for CWSRF funding are based on the National Water Program, meeting public health and water quality goals, which also protects the nation's aquatic systems (rivers, lakes, wetlands, etc.). Priority is to be given to "shovel ready" projects, and a goal is to use at least 20% of the program funds for "green" projects, "to the extent applications are available."

DWSRF projects are selected for funding based on addressing the most serious risks to human health, compliance with requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act, and assisting systems that need assistance based on the cost per household. Additional priority to be given to "shovel ready" projects, and a goal is to use at least 20% of the program funds for "green" projects, "to the extent applications are available."

More information may be found on ARRA at http://arrahelp.blogspot.com, a blog where questions about ARRA will be answered as well as the author is able to answer them. Regular blogs are also posted about ARRA-related matters, so it can be a good resource for those who need to know more.

Learn more about this author, Mark Johnson.
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