The NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) and the NYS Department of Health (DOH) are pleased to announce a webinar on Thursday, July 16th at 10 AM to discuss $50 million in available grant funding to local governments this year for critical drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects through Governor Cuomo’s NYS Water Grants Program.

USDA Rural Development is holding a listening session to hear comments on the 2014 Farm Bill provision that requires the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) to encourage private financing of rural water and waste disposal facilities and how it impacts USDA’s Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant programs. Included in Section 6019 of the Farm Bill, the requirement would:

Agency: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Policy and Administration

Due: January 14, 2015

Award Date: June 2015

Eligible Applicants:

·         States

·         Indian Tribes

·         Irrigation Districts

·         Other organizations with water or power delivery authority located in the western United States or United States Territories as identified in the Reclamation Act of June 17, 1902, as amended

Cost Share: At least 50% (may include in-kind donations)

A $10.8 million no-interest loan was awarded to the eastern Sullivan County Town of Fallsburg last week so it can upgrade a wastewater treatment plant.

The state Environmental Facilities Corporation’s board of directors announced the money will go toward improvements at the Loch Sheldrake Wastewater Treatment Plant, which was built in 1938 and last renovated in 1980. Upgrades will include a membrane bioreactor for secondary treatment at the plant and an ultraviolet light system for disinfection.