EPA Announces $20 Million in WIIN Funding for Lead Remediation

On Friday February 18, 2022, US EPA announced $20 million in available grant funding to assist communities and schools with removing sources of lead in drinking water. Under the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act, EPA announced the availability of $10 million for projects to conduct lead service line replacements or implement corrosion control improvements and $10 million for projects that remove sources of lead in drinking water (e.g., fixtures, fountains, outlets and plumbing materials) in schools or childcare facilities.

EPA will award this funding in alignment with the goals of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative, which seeks to deliver at least 40 percent of the benefits of certain federal investments to underserved communities. The agency encourages applications that support equity by prioritizing underserved communities, those with lead reduction projects at drinking water systems with at least one lead action level exceedance within the last three years, as well as those with schools with at least 50% of the children receiving free and reduced lunch, in Head Start facilities, and/or in areas with additional environmental health burdens (e.g., areas with older buildings likely to have lead-based paint).

This WIIN grant will be competed through a Request for Application process. The funding opportunity will remain open for 60 days on www.grants.gov.

Learn more about this grant and EPA’s WIIN grant programs at https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/drinking-water-grants.