Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities Grant

Public Water Suppliers may be eligible for grant funding to address emerging contaminants in drinking water for small and/or disadvantaged communities.

Information on qualifying for an EC-SDC Grant through MassDEP

Background

Many public water suppliers (PWS) in Massachusetts have detected elevated levels of PFAS and other emerging contaminants (EC) in their drinking water sources. On February 13, 2023, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) announced the availability of the Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities Grant (EC-SDC). This program provides states with grant funds to assist small and/or disadvantaged communities to improve their drinking water by carrying out projects and activities to address emerging contaminants, including PFAS and manganese. Emerging contaminants are those included on EPA’s Contaminant Candidate Lists.

EPA allotted $38,204,000 in fiscal years 2022 and 2023, $19,249,000 in fiscal year 2024, and $19,554,000 in fiscal year 2025 (total: $77,007,000) to Massachusetts from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law EC-SDC grant program and should be receiving additional funding in fiscal year 2026. Please see the EC-SDC Grant Recipients story-map at the bottom of this page for the most up to date grantees and award amounts. The projects awarded through this grant program will benefit small or disadvantaged communities as defined by the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) §1459A(c). MassDEP is using this funding to carry out the following activities:

1. Provide grant funding and technical assistance to PWS and/or communities to plan, design and construct long-term solutions to address emerging contaminants.
2. Implement outreach and education programs to inform the consumers, PWS owners and operators, EC-SDC grantees, and the general public in small or disadvantaged communities about emerging contaminants and the EC-SDC grant program.
3. Provide laboratory equipment, supplies, and analyses of emerging contaminants to PWS in small or disadvantaged communities through increased capacity of the MassDEP State Environmental Laboratory.
4. Provide funding to support small and/or disadvantaged communities via the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) Drinking Water Assistance Center (DW-ASSIST) for research and testing of emerging contaminants, training and workforce development, and technical assistance.
5. Provide funding for Massachusetts State personnel to effectively manage and run the EC-SDC grant program.

Eligible Public Water Suppliers (PWS)

A PWS may be eligible for EC-SDC grant funding if the PWS has a project to address one or more  emerging contaminant(s) and meets one of the following criteria below:

• The PWS must be a Community PWS (publicly- or privately-owned) or a non-profit non-community (Transient Non-Community (TNC) or Non-Transient Non-Community (NTNC)) water systems and,
  • The PWS must be located in a disadvantaged community (as defined by the  Clean Water Trust’s Disadvantaged Community Program) and/or
  • The PWS must be small (serving less than 10,000 population)
    • Please Note: Small PWS that are NOT located in a disadvantaged community, as defined by the Clean Water Trust, may be considered if they can demonstrate that the PWS lacks capacity to incur debt sufficient to finance the project or activity.

Special Eligibility Cases:

There are two special eligibility cases, one in which a for-profit TNC or NTNC or a medium or large Community PWS (that does not meet the definition of a small or disadvantaged PWS) may be able to receive grant funding. The other is for households with private wells.

1. For-profit (not tax exempt) non-community water systems and medium/large Community PWS are not eligible for the grant unless the project meets one of the special eligibility cases described below.
   • The project will consolidate or interconnect for-profit TNC/NTNC system(s) with a Community PWS. The Community PWS must be the grantee, and one of the following two criteria must be met:
     • The Community PWS meets the definition of a small and/or disadvantaged system; or
     • The Community PWS does not meet the definition of a small and/or disadvantaged system, but the for-profit TNC/NTNC meets the definition of a small system.  
2. EC-SDC grant funding may be available to connect households with private wells to a Community PWS (including the water main and the service connections to the houses). The Community PWS must meet the definition of small and/or disadvantaged and the Community PWS must be the grantee.

Eligible Projects

EPA has detailed several categories of projects eligible for an EC-SDC grants in Appendix C and D of its Implementation Manual.  Categories include the following:

1. Research and Testing
2. Planning and Design to Address Emerging Contaminant(s)
3. Treatment of Emerging Contaminant(s)
4. Source Water Activities Related to Emerging Contaminant(s)
5. Storage
6. Water System Restructuring, Interconnection, Consolidation, or Creation
7. Providing Households Access to Drinking Water Services (only PWS, not homeowners, are eligible to receive a grant)
8. Technical Assistance
9. Public Communication, Engagement, and Education
10. Private Wells Activities
11. Workforce Development

Project Review and Grant Awarding

PWS who believe they may be eligible for EC-SDC grant funding should complete a Needs Assessment Survey Form and submit to MassDEP’s Drinking Water Program (DWP) at [e-mail] (Subject: EC-SDC Grant, PWSID #). The EC-SDC grant is a noncompetitive grant, and does not have a traditional application process. Needs Assessment Survey Forms are accepted on a rolling basis. All projects will be reviewed by MassDEP and EPA on an individual basis. For additional information on EPA’s requirements for EC-SDC grant funding, please review the EPA’s Updated EC-SDC Implementation Manual Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities Grant Program: Grant Implementation Document (epa.gov).

Once an eligible project is approved by MassDEP, the PWS will receive a Scope of Work (SOW)/ Application to complete and return to MassDEP.  MassDEP will review the SOW/ Application for completeness and if approved, MassDEP will forward the project information to EPA for review.  After EPA confirms a project, MassDEP will send an award letter to the PWS notifying them that the grant has been awarded.  This letter will also include the contract intake form and thereafter, contract paperwork to be completed by the PWS. Once all contract paperwork is successfully completed and submitted to MassDEP, the PWS will receive a Notice To Proceed letter and be approved to submit grant invoices.

Projects that are not determined to be eligible for EC-SDC funds will be provided technical assistance to address emerging contaminants. Public Water Suppliers will also be referred to other opportunities for funding including the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program.

MassDEP DWP has partnered with the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) Drinking Water Assistance Center (DW-ASSIST) to provide technical assistance and pilot and/or bench scale testing of treatment to small and/or disadvantaged public water systems in support of their potential EC-SDC projects. Testing services are available on-site via use of UMass’ Mobile Water Innovation Laboratory, or on-campus at UMass laboratories. Testing services can include jar testing, rapid small-scale column tests, and bench scale pilot testing for eligible PWS. Please note that services will be available on a case-by-case basis, as determined by MassDEP and UMass. Please refer to Water Treatment Testing Services for EC-SDC for more information.

MassDEP Resources for Completing EC-SDC Forms

Instructional Video for completing an EC-SDC Grant Scope of Work Long Form (SOW-L)

Instructional Video for completing an EC-SDC Grant Scope of Work Short Form (SOW-S)  

EC-SDC Grant Contract Intake Form Guidance

Instructions for Installing Adobe Reader

EPA Resources

EPA Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities Grant Webpage

EPA EC-SDC Grant Implementation Manual - April 2025

EPA Water Technical Assistance Programs

EC-SDC Grant Recipients

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