The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a total of $337 million for North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. EPA allocated $276 million in additional supplemental appropriation funds under Title VI of the Clean Water Act to improve water infrastructure resiliency. This follows $409 million appropriated in July for drinking water infrastructure improvements. Additionally, the agency awarded $61 million through the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) for Hurricane Helene recovery.
“These funds are critical to North Carolina as they continue to recover and look to the future to build stronger and more resilient water systems that can withstand severe weather,” said EPA Regional Administrator Kevin McOmber. “As the first anniversary of Hurricane Helene approaches, we are reminded how critical access to safe, clean water is, especially in the most difficult of times.”
North Carolina received $253,681,000 for its Clean Water Safe Revolving Fund, which may now make low-interest loans with principal forgiveness toward the cost of planning, design and construction of eligible treatment works improvement projects.
North Carolina also received $22,510,000 for a new Decentralized Clean Water Safe Revolving Fund to improve the resilience of septic systems and assess and connect homes served by septic systems to centralized wastewater systems.
The $61,006,486 granted to North Carolina under the RCRA may be used to manage solid and hazardous waste debris, conduct site assessments to identify and address contamination, rehabilitate damaged waste management facilities and plan for future severe weather events.
