“A bill to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to establish the Southeast New England Program, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes in the Environmental Protection Agency the Southeast New England Program to protect, enhance, and restore coastal watersheds of southeast New England (i.e., watersheds of Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts draining into coastal waters between Long Island Sound and the Gulf of Maine) through grants for projects such as pollution reduction, contaminated site restoration, ecosystem protection, water quality improvement, watershed monitoring, stormwater runoff reduction, resilience promotion, workforce development, and technical assistance; coordination of federal agencies affecting water quality and living resources; interagency agreements and working groups; contracts for services; and adequate staffing. Grants may be awarded to states, counties, local governments, federally recognized Indian tribes, regional planning organizations, nonprofits, and institutions of higher education, with a federal cost share not to exceed 75%; of grant funds in a fiscal year, not more than 10% may be used for technical assistance grants and not more than 5% of total funds for administrative expenses. It authorizes appropriations of $30 million for each of FY2027 through FY2031, to remain available until expended.