In Brief

The EPA announced the availability of over $20 million in grant funding to support training for workers who protect and treat our nation’s drinking water and provide critical wastewater services.

The Long Island Sound Eelgrass Management and Restoration Strategy, Version 1.0 is now available online. This living document provides guidance for short and long-term actions that should be taken to manage and restore eelgrass meadows in Long Island Sound and act as a resource for other estuaries in the region facing similar issues. 

Seven New England tribes received more than $1.28 million in funding from EPA Region 1 for comprehensive, economy-wide climate mitigation planning as part of the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program.

The Lake Champlain Basin Program, in partnership with NEIWPCC, released a request for pre-proposals for research projects that will improve understanding of water and ecosystem resources in the Lake Champlain Basin and guide effective management. The total request for each project may range from $25,000 to $300,000.

Scientists are testing four types of water fleas to filter pollutants out of wastewater, including arsenic and PFOS.

The EPA announced $7.5 billion in available Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) funding, which is a low-interest loan program that helps communities invest in drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure.

The EPA’s “Advancing Water Equity and Access for All Commitment” will invest $500 million for technical assistance to help communities invest in water infrastructure to close America’s water equity gap.

The report, Returning the Urban Sea to Abundance (2020-2021), is now available online. The document is a Congressionally authorized two-year review of implementation of the Long Island Sound Study Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan.

A new $19 million grant program funded by the EPA will support drinking water systems in underserved, small and disadvantaged communities that are working to prepare for and reduce vulnerability to impacts from climate change, ranging from extreme flooding to extreme drought.

Nearly $1.2 million in funding will support ongoing projects that restore habitat for Atlantic salmon in the Gulf of Maine region. 

A study led by Penn State published in the journal Nature Climate Change shows that of nearly 800 rivers, warming occurred in 87% and oxygen loss occurred in 70%.

Up to $3.6 million in funding is available for locally focused environmental education grants under the EPA’s 2023 Environmental Education (EE) Local Grant Program.

Accolades

Katie Darr, environmental analyst and Lake Champlain Basin Program citizen advisory committee coordinator, served as keynote speaker at the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership’s 14th International Summit.

Matthew Vaughan, environmental analyst and chief scientist at the Lake Champlain Basin Program, presented an overview of the potential water quality impacts of the July 2023 flood events to the Lake Champlain Steering Committee. Vaughan also spoke about the state of Lake Champlain as part of the “Love the Lake” series at ECHO, and presented a “Science Café” to NEIWPCC staff about the latest science happening on Lake Champlain.

Lillian Zemba, environmental analyst, collaborated with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to plan and host an underground storage tank (UST) inspector training for UST regulators in EPA Region 4.