United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water
(4204)
Washington, DC 20460
EPA832-F-97-001
February 1997
The Hardship Grants Program for
Rural Communities
The U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA) has
developed guidelines for a new grant program to
help small, disadvantaged rural communities
address their wastewater treatment needs. The
1996 Congressional Appropriations Act reserved
$50 million from Clean Water State Revolving
Fund appropriations to start the new Hardship
Grants Program for Rural Communities.
provided a high degree of flexibility in how they
manage the new Hardship Grants Program, and
are responsible for selecting projects.
...a new grant program to
help small, disadvantaged
rural communities
Many rural communities lack the resources to Under the new program, EPA will award grants
afford the full cost of Clean Water State
Revolving Fund loans to improve their outdated
or failing wastewater treatment services, lire
Hardship Grants Program is designed to
complement the Clean Water State Revolving
Fund Program, which allows states to make
loans to communities and individuals for high-
priority water-quality projects. States are
to the states, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Territories,
which in turn will provide hardship assistance to
small communities (see diagram at left). EPA's
guidelines encourage the states to assist rural
communities by supplementing Clean Water
State Revolving Fund loans with hardship grant
assistance.
How the program works...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency makes grants to each
State, plus Puerto Rico and U.S. Territories (Step 1), and then
States provide assistance to eligible rural communities (Step 2).
US EPA
Communities
States may award
hardship assistance to
qualifying communities
for the planning, design,
and construction of
publicly owned treatment
works or alternative
wastewater services, such
as on-site treatment
systems (including septic).
States may also use
hardship assistance to
provide training, technical
assistance and educational
programs on the
operation and
maintenance of
wastewater treatment
systems.
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Under the Hardship Grants Program, any rural
community with fewer than 3,000 residents can
qualify for hardship assistance from its state
program if it meets the following criteria:
• The community lacks access to
centralized wastewater treatment or
collection systems, or needs
improvements to on-site wastewater
treatment systems;
• The proposed project will improve public
health or reduce environmental risk;
• The community's per capita income rate
is less than 80 per cent of the national
average; and
• Its unemployment rate exceeds the
national average by one percentage point
or more.
Copies of the new national Hardship Grants
Program for Rural Communities guidelines, as well
as contact information for your state program
representative, are available by contacting EPA
(see below). Q
HOW CAN MY COMMUNITY
APPLY FOR ASSISTANCE?
f. 1. rf 4l, •. Atfi. <. ^ 4, S % - s^
To apply for assistance under the Hardship
Grants Program for Rural Communities,
your community will need to:
1 V V, 1
, v+ Contact your state's Hardship Grants
Program representative, from whom
you can obtain the following
information:
E
•+ State-specific and national Hardship
Grants Program guidelines;
„. i"' - - i - i
4- Application information for the
Clean, Water State Revolving Fund
t „ .. Program and the Hardship Grants
, Program; and
4" Information about how your
proposed project may be added to
your state's Clean Water State
Revolving Fund Intended Use Plan
>*,
For more information...
For a copy of the national Hardship Grants Program for Rural Communities guidelines or for
your state's Hardship Grants Program representative, please contact:
Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program, Mailcode 4204
.U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20460
© Telephone: (202) 260-2268 T Fax: (202) 260-1827
Internet web site: httpy/www.epa.gov/OWM
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For additional copies of this fact sheet, or to receive other information about EPA, please call the National
Center for Environmental Publications and Information toll-free at (800) 490-9198.
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