O’Mara to area municipalities: Deadline extended to apply for state funding for local water projects ~ Read more

Elmira, N.Y., May 20—State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C,I-Big Flats), chairman of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee, today alerted municipalities across the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions that the state has extended this year’s deadline for submitting applications for the second round of funding under the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2015 to Monday, June 20, 2016.

O’Mara, who strongly supported and fought for the establishment of the grant program as part of last year’s state budget and for $200 million in increased funding for the program in the 2016-17 budget, said, "It’s great news that the state continues to take steps to distribute this vital funding to help localities statewide undertake these water infrastructure and quality projects as quickly as possible. We're hopeful that ongoing state assistance will prove successful in helping localities undertake these critical projects, including sewer and pipeline repairs. We're also hopeful that it can represent a long-term model for how the state-local partnership can be strengthened for the good of local environments, local economies and local property taxpayers by helping municipalities meet vital infrastructure needs while remaining within the property tax cap."

The grant program seeks to provide badly needed assistance to localities throughout the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions, and statewide, to undertake both drinking water and wastewater infrastructure improvement projects, including sewer and pipeline repairs.

A total of $175 million will be available during this second round of funding. 

The state expedited this year’s funding process and applications became available through the state Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) on Wednesday, February 3, 2016 at www.efc.ny.gov/NYSwatergrants.

The application deadline has been extended to Monday, June 20, 2016.  

Municipalities with questions should e-mail NYSwatergrants@efc.ny.gov, or call EFC at 518-402-6924.

In addition to the grants, EFC and the state Department of Health (DOH) also offer either zero-percent or low- interest financing to communities to further reduce the cost of infrastructure projects.  More information on these loans is available at: www.efc.ny.gov/CWSRF (for wastewater projects) and www.efc.ny.gov/DWSRF (for drinking water projects).