ŠERA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water EPA- 820-F-10-011
4305T
December 2010
EPA Grants Available to Implement Beach Monitoring
and Public Notification Programs in 2011
Summary
EPA is making almost $10 million in grants
available in 2011 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 2011, 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 the Grand Portage Band
of the Minnesota Chippewa and the Makah
Tribe, as well as any 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. EPA also implements 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
$154,000 to $539,000, 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:
+ States that meet the eligibility requirements
for implementation grants and 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.
+ EPA may award program implementation
grants to local governments in states that the
Agency determines have not met the
requirements for implementation grants.
+ 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.
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2011 Allocation
For the state or
territory of:
Alabama
Alaska
Am. Samoa
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Guam
Hawaii
Illinois
Indiana
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
CNMI
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Puerto Rico
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Texas
U.S. Virgin
Islands
Virginia
Washington
Wisconsin
This year's
allocation is
expected to
be:
$268,000
$154,000
$306,000
$524,000
$228,000
$216,000
$539,000
$293,000
$307,000
$331,000
$249,000
$209,000
$325,000
$260,000
$276,000
$263,000
$288,000
$209,000
$262,000
$209,000
$285,000
$357,000
$311,000
$306,000
$228,000
$234,000
$227,000
$123,000
$220,000
$305,000
$392,000
$306,000
$282,000
$277,000
$231,000
Portion of the
total that is the
supplemental
allocation
$5,628
$4,183
$4,183
$9,888
$4,260
$5,628
$11,257
$6,997
$4,183
$8,443
$5,705
$2,814
$2,814
$5,628
$7,074
$8,443
$9,811
$4,183
$4,183
$4,260
$7,074
$8,443
$8,443
$2,814
$4,260
$5,551
$4,260
$0
$6,997
$8,443
$8,443
$2,814
$5,628
$6,920
$5,628
The funding and project periods for fiscal year
2011 implementation grants will last one year.
Who Is Eligible to Apply?
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. In order for
a tribe to be eligible, it must have coastal and
Great Lakes recreational waters next to beaches
or similar points of access used by the public,
and also demonstrate that it meets the "treatment
in the same manner as a state" criteria contained
in Clean Water Act section 518(e). EPA
encourages those tribes with coastal recreation
waters to contact their EPA regional beach
program coordinator (see
http: //water, epa. gov/tvpe/oceb/beaches/where yo
ulive state .cfm#region) for further information
on 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 Office's beach
program coordinator for further information.
In July 2002, EPA published the National Beach
Guidance and Required Performance Criteria
for Grants (823-B-02-004) which explains the
requirements for states, territories, tribes, and
local governments to qualify for implementation
grants (see
http://water.epa.gov/grants funding/beachgrants
/guidance index.cfm.) To get a free printed copy
of the guidance call 202-566-1729 ore-mail:
center.water-resource(g),epa.gov.
How Does a State or Territory Apply?
Eligible states and territories may get an
application from their EPA regional beach
program coordinator (listed online and in the
Federal Register Notice of Availability for the
BEACH grants) or on EPA's website at
http://water.epa.gov/grants_funding/beachgrants
/grants index.cfm.
For More Information
Please contact your EPA Regional beach
program coordinator or EPA Headquarters at
(202) 566-0400.
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