White House Publishes Guidebook for IIJA Infrastructure Implementation
The White House has published the “Building a Better America” guidebook for states, local governments, and Territories to assist in the understanding and coordinating the implementation Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), commonly known as the bipartisan infrastructure law. Over the coming weeks, the Administration will publish subsequent guidebooks to keep the information on how to access the IIJA’s funding resources up to date. Specifically, the guidebook provides local governments:

  • Roadmap to funding resources, detailing how much funding is available per program and how to engage with the appropriate federal agencies and departments to access funding.
  • Explanation of how local entities can prepare to apply for funding resources as the federal government prepares to distribute IIJA funds to existing and new funding programs.

In an effort to relay funding and application information clearly, the guidebook is organized by infrastructure sector and then by specific program. It outlines the responsible agency, available funding amount, funding availability timeframe, funding mechanism, whether it is a grant, loan or both, eligible recipients, and a description of the program and eligible funding uses. For the water sector, the IIJA provided a total of $55 billion to invest in clean water, drinking water, water reuse, conveyance, water storage, and water quality needs.

 

USDOI Announces WaterSMART 2022 Drought Contingency Planning Grant Opportunity
The U.S. Department of the Interior has published a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the WaterSMART Drought Response Program: Drought Contingency Planning Grants for Fiscal Year 2022. The purpose of the WaterSMART Drought Response Program is to support proactive approaches to respond to droughts and drought related impacts by providing assistance that supports developing and updating comprehensive drought plans and implementing projects that build long-term resilience to drought conditions. This NOFO provides funding for project planning activities that increase water reliability and improve water management through expanded use of technologies and modeling capabilities. Eligible applicants include states, tribes, water districts, irrigation districts and other organizations with water or power delivery authorities within the Western U.S. Applications are due by Thursday, April 14, 2022.

 

White House Releases Environmental Justice Screening Tool for Public Comment
The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has released their “beta version” of the Climate and Economic Justice Screen Tool (CEJST) that will support the Administration’s goal of addressing environmental justice issues, by helping the federal government fulfill the Administration’s directive of the Justice40 Initiative. Under the Justice40 Initiative, 40% of the overall benefits from federal investments go towards disadvantaged communities. CEJST will assist in this effort by identifying what and where disadvantage communities are located and ensure they receive federal investments. CEQ is requesting public feedback on the CEJST beta version. A 60-day public comment period will begin after a Request for Information is published on the Federal Register.