The New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH) and New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation (NYS EFC) are taking a step to help municipalities by offering grants to help pay for planning and development of an engineering report for drinking water infrastructure projects that address emerging contaminants. These projects work toward protecting public health by addressing perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), or 1, 4-dioxane. These toxins are found in plastics, stain resistant and stick resistant coatings, and solvents.
Emerging contaminants are trace amounts of chemicals that have been detected in the water supply. When consumed, these chemicals can have a harmful effect on a person’s health. It is important to take steps toward eliminating these emerging contaminants to prevent any toxic health issues.
There is $185 million available in grant funding from NYS DOH and NYS EFC for water treatment system upgrades to combat emerging contaminants. This program is intended to initiate the construction of projects to combat emerging contaminants by providing funding for the first steps in the project planning phase.
Eligible applicants include cities, district corporations, counties, villages, towns, county or town improvement districts, public benefit corporations, public authorities, school districts, and Indian Nations or Tribes with reservation wholly or partly within New York State.
Eligible projects include providing treatment to remove emerging contaminants, extending or installing new public water system infrastructure to serve areas affected by emerging contaminants, and developing or connecting to a new water source that is not affected by emerging contaminants.
Projects are evaluated for reduction in risk to public health, readiness to advance to construction, and the level of demonstrated support from the community. Higher levels of these factors lead to a better chance that the project will be chosen for this opportunity.
Encorus Group can help with the identification of and engineering design for the elimination of emerging contaminants from drinking water. If you are eligible for these grants and would like to pursue them, contact Environmental Engineer Mary Padasak at mpadasak@encorus.com or (716) 592-3980 ext. 144.
For more information about this grant program and the application requirements, visit https://www.efc.ny.gov/EmergingContaminants.
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