Federal grant programs / Environmental Protection Agency

Innovative Water Infrastructure Workforce Development Program (SDWA 1459E) (66.445)

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$19.4 million
• Grant awards21
• Typical award$600,000
• Awarded in FY 2025$0
• Size rank1325 of 1824
• Type of assistanceCooperative agreement

Key findings

• It is the 1325th largest of 1,824 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 17 largest recipients received 100% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 15 states and territories.

What the program funds

To inform the public about the role of water and wastewater systems in their communities, increase awareness of career opportunities in the water utility sector, and provide exposure to water utility careers through various work-based opportunities. Funding priorities include, but are not limited to: (1) increasing awareness of career opportunities, and providing exposure to water utilities to address the workforce needs of water utilities; and (2) providing hands-on contextualized learning opportunities to assist the development and utilization of innovative activities relating to workforce development and career opportunities in the water utility sector.

From the federal Assistance Listing. Read the full listing on SAM.gov.

Open opportunities

No opportunity under this program is open or forecast on Grants.gov right now. Programs often post once a year, so the funding history below shows what to expect.

Rules from the program listing

Who can apply

Eligible applicants are nonprofit professional or service organizations, nonprofit labor organizations, nonprofit community colleges, institutions of higher education, other nonprofit training and educational institutions, or public works departments and agencies. Nonprofit organizations described in Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that engage in lobbying activities as defined in Section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 are not eligible to apply. For-profit organizations and individuals are not eligible to apply. The EPA may ask applicants to demonstrate that they are eligible for funding. For certain competitive funding opportunities under this assistance listing, the Agency may limit eligibility to compete to a number or subset of eligible applicants consistent with the Agency’s Assistance Agreement Competition Policy.

What the money can and cannot pay for

Grants and cooperative agreements are available to support recipients' allowable direct costs in approved scopes of work plus allowable indirect costs, in accordance with established EPA policies and regulations. The funds will support increased awareness of career opportunities and exposure to water utility careers through various work-based learning opportunities, connect individuals to career pathways related to water utilities, and provide direct connection to industry employers. Assistance agreement awards under this program may involve or relate to geospatial information. Further information regarding geospatial information may be obtained by viewing the following website: Geospatial Resources at EPA. Specific uses and restrictions on funds will be described in detail in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).;

Matching requirements

This program has no statutory formula. Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Deadlines

For competitive awards, deadlines will be specified in the NOFO.

Award range and average, in the agency's words

$200,000 to $1,000,000/fiscal year: Average: $500,000/fiscal year.

Examples of funded projects

Fiscal Year2025: Developed a regional water and wastewater workforce collaborative to address regional workforce needs. Provide training and a clear career path for future water and wastewater operators in secondary education/career tech, through community college, and on to possible apprenticeships, internships, or bachelor’s degree programs. Recruited future operators through targeted and innovative approaches (both in-person and virtual, such as job fairs, billboards, live streaming, social media, and push notifications). Placed qualified program participants into internships and operator in training positions with local utilities. Created a network of career and guidance counselors will be supported by a toolkit of resources to employ when encouraging students to explore careers in water and wastewater treatment. The toolkit will inform career and guidance counselors of the needs and requirements for water utility positions, assist them in sharing information with students, and connect them with local utilities that may be seeking interns or be willing to engage in additional education opportunities for students such as treatment facility tours, job shadowing, or focused service-learning projects. Develop instructional content that addresses foundational topics and emerging areas of focus for water and wastewater professionals to better prepare them for the challenges of utility management.

Continue reading on SAM.gov

Quoted from the program's federal Assistance Listing. The notice of funding opportunity is the official source for each competition's rules.

Who usually wins

Nonprofits received 74% of the money, colleges and universities 21% and state and local governments 4.7%.

By state

7 states have a page for this program: those that received at least $1 million or 10 awards.

Award amounts are federal obligations reported to USAspending.gov for fiscal 2021 to 2025; see how our data works.