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w United States Office of Water 823-F-09-10
T* Environmental Protection Agency 4305T January 2010
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I EPA Grants Available in 2010 for States to Implement
% ^w^iL * Water Quality Monitoring and Public Notification
V^^/y Programs at the Nation's Beaches
EPA is making almost $10 million in grants available in 2010 to eligible coastal and Great Lakes
states, territories and tribes to help them implement programs to monitor water quality at the
beach and to notify the public when water quality problems exist.
Background
Each swimming season, state and local health and environmental protection agencies monitor the
quality of water at the nation's beaches. When bacteria levels in the water are too high, these
agencies notify the public by posting beach warnings or closing the beach.
To improve water quality testing at the beach and to help beach managers better inform the
public when there are water quality problems, Congress passed the Beaches Environmental
Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act in 2000. Section 406 of this Act authorizes EPA
to award grants to eligible states, territories and tribes to develop and implement beach water
quality monitoring and notification programs for coastal and Great Lakes recreational beach
waters. The grants also help these governments develop and implement programs to inform the
public about the risk of exposure to disease-causing microorganisms in the water at the nation's
beaches.
Funding
In 2010, EPA expects to award $9.9 million in grants to eligible states, territories and tribes for
their beach water protection programs. For this tenth year of the BEACH Act grants, EPA has set
aside $100,000 for eligible tribes who may apply to develop a beach program. EPA expects to
apportion these funds evenly among all eligible tribes that apply. EPA expects to award grants to
all eligible states and territories that apply based on an allocation formula. EPA consulted with
states and the Coastal States Organization in 2002 to develop this formula, which considers three
factors: 1) beach season length, 2) total miles of shoreline, and 3) coastal county population.
EPA refers to this as the base formula. This year, EPA is implementing an additional formula as
a supplement to the base formula. The Agency consulted with states in 2005-2006 to develop this
supplemental formula, which considers two factors: 1) beach miles and 2) beach use. The results
of the base and supplemental formulas are added together to arrive at a total grant for each
eligible state and territory.
Based on this allocation formula, the amount of each implementation grant ranges from $86,000
to $531,000, if all 35 eligible states and territories apply. EPA expects all 35 eligible
governments to apply. If fewer apply or qualify for the grants, then EPA will redistribute
available funds to states according to the following principles:
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1) States that meet the eligibility requirements for implementation grants and that
have met the statutory conditions applicable to previously awarded section 406
grants will be awarded the full amount of funds allocated to the state under the
formula described above.
2) EPA may award program implementation grants to local governments in states
that the Agency determines have not met the requirements for implementation
grants.
3) Consistent with CWA section 406(h), EPA will use grant funds to conduct a
beach monitoring and notification program in the case of a state that has no
program for monitoring and notification that is consistent with EPA's grant
performance criteria.
If all 35 eligible states and territories apply and meet the performance criteria, the allocation of
funds for this year will be:
For the state or
territory of:
Alabama
Alaska
American Samoa
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Guam
Hawaii
Illinois
Indiana
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
The allocation is
expected to be:
$264,000
$86,000
$303,000
$520,000
$225,000
$212,000
$531,000
$288,000
$304,000
$326,000
$245,000
$207,000
$323,000
$256,000
$271,000
$257,000
$281,000
$206,000
For the state or
territory of:
Mississippi
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Northern Marianas
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania (Erie County)
Puerto Rico
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Texas
U.S. Virgin Islands
Virginia
Washington
Wisconsin
The allocation is
expected to be:
$259,000
$206,000
$280,000
$351,000
$305,000
$304,000
$225,000
$230,000
$224,000
$330,000
$215,000
$299,000
$386,000
$304,000
$278,000
$272,000
$227,000
How does the allocation described above relate to the August 13, 2008, Federal Register
notice regarding expected changes to the BEACH Act grant allocation formula?
On August 13, 2008, EPA published changes to the allocation formula that the Agency
expected to implement starting with the BEACH Act grants to be awarded in 2010 (73 FR
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47154). The allocation of grant funds for this year includes reallocating older money left
unspent by Alaska according to the announced changes.
How Long Will the Funding and Project Periods Last?
The funding and project periods for the fiscal year 2010 implementation grants will last one year.
Who Is Eligible to Apply?
In order to be eligible for BEACH Act grants, states and territories must have coastal and Great
Lakes recreational waters next to beaches or similar points of access used by the public. Under
the BEACH Act, EPA can also award grants to eligible tribes. To receive BEACH Act grants,
tribes, like states and territories, must have coastal and Great Lakes recreational waters next to
beaches or similar points of access used by the public. In addition, a tribe must demonstrate that
it meets the "treatment in the same manner as a state" criteria contained in section 518(e) of the
Clean Water Act. EPA encourages those tribes with coastal recreation waters to contact their
EPA regional beach program coordinator as soon as possible for further information regarding
the application process.
The BEACH Act also authorizes EPA to give a grant to a local government to implement a
monitoring and notification program, but only if the Agency finds that the state is not
implementing a program that meets the requirements of the Act. Local governments may contact
their EPA regional beach program coordinator for further information about BEACH Act grants.
In July 2002, EPA published the National Beach Guidance and Required Performance Criteria
for Grants which explains the requirements for states, territories, tribes, and local governments to
qualify for implementation grants. This document is on EPA's Web site at
www.epa.gov/waterscience/beaches. A free printed copy of the guidance is available by calling
202-566-1729 or writing to EPA's Office of Water Resource Center at: U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Mail Code 4100T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.
20460, or by sending an e-mail to: center.water-resource@epa.gov. Request EPA document
number 823-B-02-004.
How Does a State or Territory Apply?
Eligible states and territories may get an application from their EPA Regional Office beach
program contact. These contacts are listed in the Federal Register Notice of Availability for the
BEACH grants on EPA's Beaches Web site at www.epa.gov/waterscience/beaches/grants.
To Get More Information
For more information on the BEACH grants, please contact your EPA Regional Office's beach
program representative (see http://www.epa.gov/beaches/plan/whereyoulive_state.html to locate
your representative) or contact EPA Headquarters' Standards and Health Protection Division at
(202) 566-0400.
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