Jump to main content.

EPA Grant Programs Covered by State Grant Measures

1.  Clean Air Act: Section 105: Section 105 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) establishes a grant program for eligible air pollution control agencies to carry out programs for the prevention and control of air pollution or implementation of national primary and secondary ambient air quality standards.  Implementation is broadly defined to include the planning, development, establishment, carrying out, improvement and maintenance of a continuing air program.  Grant funds for the §105 program are appropriated by Congress in EPA’s State and Tribal Assistance Grant (STAG) appropriation.  The funds are available for the benefit and use of state, local and tribal air pollution control agencies.  Separate amounts are requested for states/locals and for tribes.

To assist regions and recipients to carry out the priorities of the CAA, OAR issues annual national technical program guidance accompanied by grant program guidance.  The guidance covers the continuing air program area funded by CAA §105, the State Indoor Radon Grant Program funded under TSCA (see below), and other grants to state, local and, to some degree, tribal agencies.   The guidance focuses on annual and continuing funding priorities and addresses implementation of relevant Agency-wide policies (e.g., environmental results, competition, etc.) that affect grant assistance.   The initial draft guidance for the forthcoming fiscal year beginning in October is issued in February and the final version in April.  The first link below is to the FY 2009 National Guidance page and on that page is a link to the grant appendix (Appendix A) of the guidance (the second link).   That page also contains links to a grant template measure table and the full suite of annual commitments in ACS.

http://www.epa.gov/ocfo/npmguidance/index.htm 
http://www.epa.gov/ocfo/npmguidance/oar/2008/final a_grant_guidance.pdf

2.  Indoor Radon: State and Tribal radon programs are critical to the Agency’s national radon risk reduction effort and its achievements.  Each year EPA distributes funds in the form of grants to the States and Tribes to finance, in part, their radon risk reduction programs.  The States and Tribes must provide matching funds (a minimum of 40%) to receive EPA funds. By law, these funds are not available to individuals or homeowners.
The States and Tribes may use SIRG funds for a wide variety of purposes, including:

State Indoor Radon Grant (SIRG) Program

3.  Toxic Substances Compliance:  The Toxic Substances Control Act STAG program annually awards states, territories and tribes funds to conduct inspections for compliance with the PCB regulations, the asbestos-in-schools requirements, worker protection standards, and authorized state sections 402 and 406 lead-based paint requirements.
In the asbestos program, states focus on the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (based on identified non-compliance and risk), and the asbestos Model Accreditation Plan (MAP). States help reduce public exposure to asbestos hazards in indoor environments through compliance assistance, compliance monitoring and case development as applicable.
The PCB program is part of the Agency's Persistent Bio-accumulative Toxics program. Due to their persistence, PCBs in food and water present major environmental/public health problems.
In the lead-base paint program, authorized states conduct compliance and enforcement activities under sections 402 and 406 of TSCA. Section 402 requires that individuals engaged in lead hazard activities are properly trained, the training programs are accredited, and that contractors are certified and conduct those activities in accordance with established work practice standards. TSCA section 406(b) requires each person who performs (for compensation) renovation and remodeling of target housing to provide a lead hazard information pamphlet to the owner and occupant of such housing prior to commencing the renovation.
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/state/grants/tsca.html

4.  Pesticides Enforcement: The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) State and Tribal Assistance Grant (STAG) Program seeks to assist states, territories, the District of Columbia and Indian tribes in developing and maintaining comprehensive pesticide programs that address all aspects of pesticide enforcement and special pesticide initiatives, sponsoring cooperative surveillance, monitoring and analytical procedures, and encouraging regulatory activities within the states and tribes. 
Two specific compliance monitoring and enforcement activities have been identified as major priorities for this program:

Other typical program activities include:
1.) Inspections and observations at pesticide application sites to ensure user compliance with label directions and acceptable use practices
2.) Inspections of pesticide products at producing facilities and in the retail marketplace to ensure industry compliance with registration, classification and labeling requirements 
3.) Initiation of appropriate enforcement action when violations are detected including civil and criminal prosecution, stop sale orders, seizures, recalls and warning notices
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/state/grants/fifra.html 

5.  Lead:  EPA’s Lead Risk Reduction program alleviates the threat to human health, particularly to young children, posed by exposure to lead-based paint and other sources of lead in the environment.  The program is a key contributor to the Federal government’s goal to virtually eliminate childhood lead poisoning by 2010, and has adopted that goal as its key performance measure.  To accomplish that goal, the Agency is working to: establish hazard control methods and standards to ensure that homeowners and others have access to safe, reliable and effective methods to reduce lead exposure; maintain a national infrastructure of lead remediation professionals trained and certified to implement those standards; and provide information to housing occupants so they can make informed decisions about lead hazards in their homes.  Activities associated with this grant program will also support implementation of the forthcoming new rule on renovation, repair and painting activities.

6.  Pesticides Program Implementation: Pesticides program implementation grants ensure that pesticide regulatory decisions made at the national level are translated into results on the local level.  These grants assist states, tribes and partners with worker safety activities, protection of endangered species and water sources, and promotion of environmental stewardshi

7.  Brownfields: State Response Programs oversee assessment and cleanup activities at the majority of brownfields sites across the country.  Section 128(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), as amended, authorized a noncompetitive $50 million grant program to establish and enhance state and tribal response programs.  Generally, these response programs address the assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment of brownfields sites and other sites with actual or perceived contamination.

8.  Hazardous Waste Financial Assistance: The state grants provide for the implementation of an authorized hazardous waste management program for the purpose of controlling the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous wastes, including controlling and cleaning up past and continuing releases from hazardous waste management facilities through corrective action. This program also provides funding for the direct implementation of the RCRA program for the States of Iowa and Alaska.  Funding distributed through State and Tribal Assistance Grants (STAG) also supports tribes, where appropriate, in conducting hazardous waste work on Tribal lands.

States may use these funds for a variety of purposes, including:

9.  Underground Storage Tanks: In FY 2008, grants provide funding for projects necessary for the development and/or implementation of a State underground storage tank (UST) program.  This grant program is implemented by regulations at 40 CFR 35.330.   Additionally, in FY 2008, Leaking Underground Storage Tanks Trust Funds may be used by States and Tribes for UST release prevention assistance agreements. Section 9011 and other applicable provisions of Subtitle I of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) of 1976, as amended, provides the authority for States and Territories.  The annual appropriation act provides the authority for Tribes and Intertribal Consortia.  For states, the LUST prevention assistance agreements are for inspections and other leak detection and prevention activities to implement the Energy Policy Act.  For Tribes, the LUST prevention assistance agreements are for any actions necessary to implement the UST prevention program, as highlighted in EPA’s “Strategy For An EPA/Tribal Partnership To Implement Section 1529 Of The Energy Policy Act Of 2005.”  

10. Public Water System Supervision SDWA: Section 1443(a) Public Water System Supervision SDWA: Section 1443(a):  The Public Water System Supervision (PWSS) Grant funds are used by States to assist them with implementation and enforcement of their State PWSS Programs. The State PWSS programs implement and enforce the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations which are intended to assure that the public is provided an adequate quality of safe drinking water.  Key activities carried out under a PWSS program include developing and maintaining state drinking water regulations; developing and maintaining an inventory of public water systems throughout the state; developing and maintaining a database to hold compliance information on public water systems; certifying laboratories that can perform the analysis of drinking water that will be used to determine compliance with the regulations; and carrying out a carrying out a training, technical assistance,  and enforcement program to ensure that the public water systems comply with all of the state’s requirements.

11.  Underground Injection Control: The Underground Injection Control (UIC) program mission is to protect public health by preventing injection practices that might endanger underground sources of drinking water (USDWs). The UIC Program achieves this through the implementation of the UIC regulations found in 40 CFR 144 through 148.  Each year, UIC program grant money is allocated by Congress under Section 1443 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).  The UIC grant program objective is to foster development and implementation of the UIC program under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The funds are to be used to develop and implement an underground injection control program adequate to enforce the requirements of SDWA.

 12.  Beaches Protection: The Beaches Environmental and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act authorizes EPA to award grants to eligible states, territories, and tribes to develop and implement beach water quality monitoring and notification programs in coastal and Great Lakes recreational waters. Advisories issued as a result of BEACH Act water quality monitoring protect public health by allowing the public to make informed decisions about where and when to enjoy recreational activities in waters adjacent to our Nation's beaches.         

13.  Pollution Control: Section 106: Section 106 of the Clean Water Act authorizes EPA to provide federal assistance to states (including territories, the District of Columbia) and Indian Tribes and interstate agencies to establish and implement ongoing water pollution control programs. These grants may be used to fund a wide range of water quality activities including: water quality planning and assessments; development of water quality standards; ambient monitoring; development of total maximum daily loads; issuing permits; ground water and wetland protection; compliance and enforcement activities; non-point source control activities (including non-point source assessment and management plans); and Unified Watershed Assessments (UWA) under the Clean Water Action Plan (CWAP).

14.  Non-Point Source Pollution: Section 319:  Section 319 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes a national program to address non-point sources of water pollution, the leading cause of water quality degradation in the United States.  Section 319(h) specifically authorizes EPA to award grants to states and tribes with approved Non-point Source Assessment Reports and Non-point Source Management Programs. The funds are to be used to implement programs and projects designed to reduce non-point source pollution. As required by section 319(h), the state’s Non-point Source Management Program describes the state program for non-point source management and serves as the basis for how funds are spent.

Local Navigation

Jump to main content.