Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A partnership grant application has resulted in a multi-million-dollar award which will expand efforts to meet Lowndes County’s wastewater disposal crisis.

Texas A&M and the Black Belt Unincorporated Wastewater Program were awarded a combined total of $15 million dollars in grant funding to benefit households in Lowndes, Wilcox and Hale counties needing new or improved septic systems. The funding is part of more than $325

million in funding granted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for 21 selected applications to help disadvantaged communities tackle environmental and climate justice challenges through projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience and build community capacity. 

“After receiving notification of the Community Change Grant award, the Black Belt Unincorporated Wastewater Program (BBUWP) is ecstatic and even more focused on our work to solve the wastewater issues in the Black Belt counties of Alabama,” said BBUWP Executive Director Sherry Bradley and President Perman Hardy in a media release. “The Biden-Harris administration has given us a safety net to continue our work of single-family onsite system installations, as part of a larger ongoing effort to incorporate decentralized wastewater systems — both clustered and onsite — and innovative management options to address wastewater challenges throughout the Black Belt. 

The EPA announced the Community Change Grants Program award July 25. Made possible by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the program is the single largest investment in environmental and climate justice in history. The funding announcement is the first phase of nearly $2 billion from the program that was designed based on community input to award grants on a rolling basis.

Selected applications are the first to come under the Community Change Grants Program’s rolling application process. The process, facilitated through stakeholder engagement and community feedback, is designed to ensure that applicants have ample time to prepare and take advantage of this historic resource. 

According to Bradley, the grant funding is earmarked for climate change efforts. Towards that end, septic systems installed with the award dollars will use solar panels to power pumps when needed.

Texas A&M University and the BBUWP will install onsite wastewater treatment systems for 350 households that lack adequate wastewater management in Alabama’s Hale, Lowndes, and Wilcox counties. The project also will develop a training, certification, and post-secondary bridge program to produce in-demand wastewater-professionals for this rural area.

The Community Change Grants Program Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), administered through the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights, is still accepting applications through Nov. 21. The EPA will continue to review applications and announce selections on a rolling basis.

Track I of the program, Community-Driven Investments for Change, is expected to award approximately $1.96 billion for 150 projects for $10-20 million each. Track II, Meaningful Engagement for Equitable Governance, is expected to award approximately $40 million for 20 projects for $1-3 million each. 

“These efforts are facilitated by the Consortium of Alabama Rural Water and Wastewater Management (CARWW), which ties many partners together and facilitates communication and the sharing of ideas and expertise. Texas A&M University — under the leadership of Dr. Amal Bakchan — saw the tremendous opportunity provided by this grant and assembled key participants to implement this community change project,” Bradley said. “We want people to know [the program] is a partnership].” 

“We are glad to be part of the Team,” Hardy added.

To learn more about the Community Change Grants and Technical Assistance visit EPA’s Inflation Reduction Act Community Change Grants Program webpage.