Water Funding from the 2025 American Relief Act
In September and October of 2024, Hurricanes Helene and Milton made landfall, causing mass destruction and widespread flooding in parts of the southeast. This resulted in major disaster declarations across several states including, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Tennessee, and Florida. In addition to destroying homes, roads, and entire towns, these hurricanes also destroyed water infrastructure and contaminated drinking water sources for thousands of Americans. While progress has been made to restore water systems in impacted areas, there are still many systems in need of assistance.
In December 2024, Congress passed the American Relief Act of 2025, P.L. 118-158, which appropriated funding to help communities restore water systems and rebuild to withstand future disasters. Three funding streams were included within the law:
State Revolving Fund Supplemental Appropriations
The law included $1.23 billion for Clean Water State Revolving Fund programs and $1.77 billion for Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Programs. Funds are available to Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Congress also included funding to help Hawaii continue its response to the 2023 Hawaii wildfires. Funding will be awarded to the states to allow them to provide assistance to eligible applicants.
Funding to Improve Resilience of Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Systems
The law included $85 million to states to improve the resilience of decentralized wastewater treatment systems to flooding, assess the potential to connect homes served by decentralized wastewater treatment systems to centralized wastewater systems, or fund connections from homes served by decentralized wastewater treatment systems to centralized wastewater treatment systems. Funding is being awarded to the states to allow them to provide support to eligible recipients of assistance.
Funding to Address Water Emergencies
The law included $60 million to states to address water emergencies under Section 1442(b) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) or Section 504(a) of the Clean Water Act (CWA). Funds are available to Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Funding is being awarded to the states to help them provide assistance to affected communities.
- Implementation of the 2025 American Relief Act Disaster Supplemental Appropriation for Safe Drinking Water Act Section 1442(b) for Hurricanes Helene and Milton (pdf)
- Implementation of the 2025 American Relief Act Disaster Supplemental Appropriation for Clean Water Act Section 504(a) for Hurricanes Helene and Milton (pdf)