Emerging Contaminants (EC) Program for both DWSRF and CWSRF

1. What can the program do for you?

The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) and Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) are authorized by the Safe Drinking Water Act to provide low-cost financial assistance for planning, acquisition, design, and construction of water and wastewater infrastructure.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) appropriated additional funds through the DWSRF and CWSRF for projects that reduce exposure to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and other emerging contaminants through drinking water and to help address discharges through wastewater and, potentially, nonpoint sources.

Funding is available through the CWSRF Emerging Contaminants (CWSRF-EC) program and the DWSRF Emerging Contaminants (DWSRF-EC) program.

2. Who can borrow?

Eligible applicants for the CWSRF-EC program include:

  • Wastewater treatment management agencies, including interstate agencies and water supply corporations that have been designated and approved as a management agency in the Texas Water Quality Management Plan
  • Cities, commissions, counties, districts, river authorities, or other public bodies created by or pursuant to state law that have authority to dispose of sewage, industrial waste, or other waste
  • Intermunicipal, interstate, or State agencies
  • Authorized Indian tribal organizations
  • Private entities for nonpoint source projects or estuary projects only

(A water supply corporation that has been designated and approved as a management agency in the Texas Water Quality Management Plan is considered a "municipality" and is therefore eligible for funding for Publicly Owned Treatment Works and other activities.)

Recipients eligible to receive assistance are dependent on project type and are defined in section 603(c) of the Clean Water Act.

Eligible applicants for the DWSRF-EC program include:

  • Existing community Public Water Systems (PWSs) including political subdivisions, nonprofit water supply corporations, and privately-owned community water systems
  • Non-profit, non-community public water systems
  • State agencies

3. What types of projects can I use EC funding for?

For a project to be eligible for CWSRF-EC or DWSRF-EC, it must be eligible under the CWSRF or DWSRF programs AND specifically reduce exposure to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and other emerging contaminants.

CWSRF-EC Program

For the CWSRF-EC program, "emerging contaminants" are broadly defined on page 36 (Attachment 1- Appendix B) of the EPA's Implementation of the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law document. Main categories of emerging contaminants include PFAS, biological contaminants and microorganisms, compounds of pharmaceuticals and personal care products, nanomaterials, and microplastics/nanoplastics.

Example of eligible project costs include planning, acquisition, design, and construction of projects for:

  • Wastewater Treatment Facilities (installation of treatment technologies)
  • Water Reuse (application of treatment technologies in water reuse/reclamation projects)
  • Stormwater (projects to trap and/or treat contaminants in runoff)
  • Non-Point Source Projects (landfills, surface water protection and restoration)

Ineligible projects include operation and maintenance activities, including monitoring; UNLESS, the monitoring is for the specific purpose of project development (planning, design) and leading to a capital improvement project (construction).

More examples of eligible projects can be found in the latest CWSRF-EC IUP.

DWSRF-EC Program

For the DWSRF-EC program, "emerging contaminants" are defined in the EPA's Contaminant Candidate Lists (CCL1- CCL5). In general, this program focusses on addressing PFAS but other projects that address contaminants listed on the EPA Contaminant Candidate Lists may also be eligible for funding, at a lower priority.

Example of eligible project costs include planning, acquisition, design, and construction of projects for:

  • New treatment facilities or upgrades to existing water treatment facility to address emerging contaminants
  • Development of new source to address emerging contaminants
  • Consolidation with another water system that does not have emerging contaminants or has removal capability
  • Infrastructure for pilot testing for treatment alternatives
  • Creation of new community water system to address unsafe drinking water provided by individual wells (i.e., privately owned) or surface water sources

More examples of eligible projects can be found in the latest DWSRF-EC IUP.

4. How much funding is available?

The amount of funding available for projects for the SFY 2023 are as follows:

  • CWSRF-EC: $3,026.000
  • DWSRF-EC: $57,910,960

5. Are loans or grants offered?

All project funding will be in the form of 100% principal forgiveness (similar to grants).

6. When can I apply for EC financial assistance?

To be included in the initial Project Priority Lists for State Fiscal Year 2023, entities submitted a completed Project Information Form (PIF) by Wednesday, June 7, 2023.

Watch this space for a future solicitation period, planned for the second quarter of 2024.

Note: The TWDB is not able to use the Online Loan Application System (OLA) for these submittals. PIFs must be submitted by email using the Microsoft Word version of the form.

7. Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities Grant

In addition to the CWSRF-EC program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced funding available through the Emerging Contaminants in Small and Disadvantaged Communities Grant (EC-SDC) program, of which $114,696,000 has been allotted to Texas.

An entity is considered eligible disadvantaged community if it:

  • May have emerging contaminants,
  • 51% or more of the proposed project has an Annual Median Household Income (AMHI) level less than 150% of the state's AMHI level, and
  • The unemployment rate for the project beneficiaries is >50% the state unemployment rate or the population has declined, or the system is <25,000 connections.

The TWDB uses PIFs received under the DWSRF Emerging Contaminants program to consider funding under this separate EPA EC-SDC program.

Please refer to the EPA's EC-SDC Grant program webpage for more information.

Special Requirements

Financial assistance through the CWSRF-EC and DWSRF-EC programs require compliance with applicable rules, policies, and statutes, including:

Note: All CWSRF-EC and DWSRF-EC projects will be considered "Equivalency" projects, which must follow all federal requirements. More information on funding requirements is available in the 2023 CWSRF-EC IUP and 2023 DWSRF-EC IUP.

Where Can I Get More Information About…?

Funding

In order to provide you with a single point of contact at the TWDB, our project implementation staff is organized into six regional project implementation teams. Each team is led by a manager that serves as the primary point of contact for both our existing and future customers. For assistance with the application or any questions related to your project, please look up contact information for your Regional Team.

Outreach and Upcoming Workshops

Please visit the TWDB's Financial Assistance webpage for updates on our funding assistance workshops.

Stay Informed on TWDB Funding Opportunities

Please sign up for the TWDB Financial Assistance Information email list to be notified of future TWDB funding opportunities and solicitation notices.

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