Innovative Water Infrastructure Workforce Development Grant
EPA will fund cooperative agreement projects that expand drinking water and wastewater utility workforce pipelines, training, apprenticeships, internships, education, and career awareness for eligible IHEs, nonprofits, and public works departments/agencies.
⚑ Cooperative agreement · Eligibility limited to IHEs, nonprofit organizations, and public works departments/agencies · Focus is workforce development and career awareness, not research
This is mainly a workforce-development and training grant for water-utility career pipelines, which is only loosely related to IPPRA’s usual survey/risk/public-opinion portfolio. Deven Carlson and David Hogg could potentially contribute on program evaluation or education/workforce design, but the core topic is not their standing research line.
JUDGED AGAINST THE ROSTER'S PUBLICATION DOSSIER · GPT-5.4-MINI · 2026-08-20
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| IPPRA | 40 partial | portfolio topics: water_resources, public_health, environment; signature methods: community engaged; social/behavioral work is minor; funds training education, not research (capped); capped at 40 (non-research funding) |
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 40 partial | technical depth: substantial; funds training education (capped) |
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 10 none | deep-tech content; no commercialization signal |
Description
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is soliciting applications under the authority of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) section 1459E to accelerate career pipelines in the water utilities sector and provide access to water utility workforce opportunities. This action advances the Administration’s priorities, including the goals of Make America Healthy Again, by focusing on building the nation’s water workforce which is critical to ensuring public health and environment protection. Consistent with the law, this action will help inform people about the role of water and wastewater utilities in their communities and increase the awareness of water utility career opportunities.
The purpose of this funding opportunity is to support expanding career opportunities in the drinking water and wastewater utility sector and elevating public awareness about jobs in the water workforce. Eligible applicants under this funding opportunity are Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs), nonprofit organizations, and public works departments and agencies. Eligible activities include apprenticeship and internship programs, education programs designed for elementary, secondary, and higher education students, regional industry collaborations, and training programs designed to support decentralized workforce. Efforts should aim for measurable results and clearly show tangible benefits for water systems and communities. The proposed activities support the Agency’s Powering the Great American Comeback Initiative’s Pillar 1: Clean Air, Land, and Water for Every American. Examples include training individuals through an apprenticeship program and placing them into water sector jobs, training individuals for industry accreditation, and developing collaborations with community colleges, technical schools, utilities to address the water utility employment needs.
Eligibility
See Section 2 of the full announcement for eligibility information.
Apply
View on Grants.gov → CONTACT: Dannell Brown Grants Specialist <WaterWorkforceNOFO@epa.gov>
Proposal brief SEE AN EXAMPLE →
A one-page internal memo: fit assessment, submission requirements, document scaffold, and next steps dated back from the deadline — tailored to your project idea if you add one.
Proposal shell · Federal (generic) conventions SEE A FEDERAL EXAMPLE →
Funder-faithful document skeletons — Federal (generic)'s document set with section headings, page limits, reviewer guidance, and writing prompts; add a project idea to get [DRAFT] starter bullets. Download as .md for Word or Overleaf.