The EPA Is Seeking New Communities to Assist with Wastewater Infrastructure Breakdowns

If your municipality is struggling to provide adequate municipal sanitation services to your community, or perhaps your wastewater infrastructure is struggling to recover from a natural hazard event, you should know that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is still seeking new communities across the US to add to its Closing America’s Wastewater Access Gap (CAWAG) Initiative. The CAWAG initiative originally began as a pilot project in 2022 as a partnership with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help address critical wastewater challenges in small and rural communities. 

The pilot program consisted of 11 communities and experienced encouraging success in making strides towards ameliorating the barriers to adequate sanitation in these locations. The results of the pilot led to a commitment in 2024 to expand to 150 communities across the nation. As of last month, the CAWAG team has made it more than halfway to this new goal: 87 communities are now receiving support! They can be seen across the map above.

However, outreach efforts to reach a full 150 communities continue. The EPA is calling for assistance in identifying potentially qualifying communities and encouraging them to apply for assistance through CAWAG, particularly in states that have not yet had a community participate in the initiative. The issues experienced in such communities may range from widespread residential septic backup and/or sewage pooling, struggles by the town to provide adequate sanitation services, or difficulties rebuilding wastewater and septic systems following natural disasters. 

CAWAG communities receive no-cost hands-on technical assistance from experienced TAPs, funding application support, and solutions-oriented help in addressing their unique wastewater needs. The primary goal of CAWAG support is full collaboration with each community in order to identify the best and most practical solutions for all involved.  

Specific examples of no-cost technical assistance support that have been provided include:

• Conducting a formal assessment of community wastewater needs
• Evaluating the feasibility of potential wastewater solutions
• Identifying funding options such as grants and financing
• Aiding the completion of preliminary engineering and paperwork requirements
• Assisting local government in establishing ordinances for wastewater management

If you know of communities near you that could qualify, we encourage you to pass on the word about CAWAG. There is no deadline to apply to the initiative, as communities are selected on a rolling basis. The application is relatively simple: all that is necessary is to fill out the brief, 17-question Water Technical Assistance (WaterTA) Request Form that is available on the EPA’s website. Local leaders, homeowners, and utilities can apply on the behalf of their community, in addition to states, Tribes, and territories themselves.

Questions about the initiative can be directed to the EPA’s CAWAG team lead Zach Lowenstein at Lowenstein.Zachary@epa.gov, or to SepticHelp@epa.gov. Mr. Lowenstein will also accept community referrals through his email. 

More resources:

• Closing America’s Wastewater Access Gap at the US EPA
• Water Technical Assistance (WaterTA) at the US EPA 
• Water Technical Assistance (WaterTA) Request Form at the US EPA
• Closing America’s Wastewater Access Initiative Expansion Fact Sheet (English) 
• Closing America’s Wastewater Access Initiative Expansion Fact Sheet (Spanish)