Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (I, D, WF, WE – Sag Harbor) has been notified that Governor Cuomo announced $87 million in grants that are available to municipalities and not-for-profit corporations for water quality improvement projects. The program provides grants for projects that improve water quality, protect drinking water sources, reduce polluted runoff, and restore habitats in New York’s waterbodies. The grants are administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and made available through Governor Cuomo’s Regional Economic Developmental Council initiative.

Municipalities, soil and water conservation districts, and not-for-profit corporations are eligible to apply for the water quality improvement grants. Recipients can be reimbursed 40% to 85% of the projects cost, depending on the type of project. Funding is available for: Municipal wastewater treatment; drinking water protection through land acquisition; salt storage; polluted runoff abatement and control from non-farm sources; aquatic habitat restoration; and municipal separate storm sewer systems.

Primarily funded by the Clean Water Infrastructure Act of 2017 and the Environmental Protection Fund, the grants will be awarded for a variety of projects, including:

• Up to $60 million in funding for municipal waste water treatment facilities. Priority projects include: installing disinfection equipment upgrading municipal systems to correct combined sewer overflows and sanitary sewer overflows; removing phosphorous or nitrogen in discharges; and constructing wastewater systems in communities with inadequate septic systems.
• Approximately $15 million in funding to protect sources of drinking water though land acquisition projects. Applicants can apply for funding to purchase land or conversation easements to protect surface drinking water supplies, protect groundwater drinking water supplies, or install in-waterbody practices to control nutrients.
• Approximately $1 million for projects to reduce nitrogen in Long Island waters.
• Up to $5 million in funding for projects to relocate a salt storage pile away from drinking water and/or construct structures to cover a salt storage pile.
• Approximately $6.45 million for projects to control polluted runoff from non-farm sources. Nonpoint source pollution comes from many sources and is difficult to control. It can occur when rainfall or snowmelt moves over and through the ground and picks up natural and non-human made pollutants, which are then dumped into our waterways.

For more information about project eligibly and how to apply, visit the DEC’s website at: http://www.dec.ny.gov/pubs/4774.html. Information on the Pre-application workshops that will be held statewide can be found on the REDC website at: http://regionalcouncils.ny.gov/. All those who would like to have the application process explained or have process-related questions are encouraged to attend. Eligible applicants can apply for WQIP funding through the Consolidated Funding Application available at https://apps.cio.ny.gov/apps/cfa/. The deadline to apply for grants is July 28, 2017.