Supplemental Appropriation for Hurricanes Helene and Milton and Hawai’i Wildfires
On December 21, 2024, the American Relief Act, 2025, (“the Act”) was signed into law. The funding in Title VII of the Act for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) includes $3 billion in disaster relief of a Supplemental Appropriation for Hurricanes Helene and/or Milton and Hawai’i Wildfires (SA-HMW) for the State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs: $1.23 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) programs and $1.77 billion for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) programs, available only to states or territories in EPA Regions 3, 4, and 9 for wastewater treatment works and drinking water facilities impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton and the Hawai’i Wildfires. An additional $85 million was appropriated to CWSRF programs, available only to states in EPA Regions 3 and 4 impacted by Hurricanes Helene and/or Milton, for decentralized wastewater treatment systems.
For information and guidelines on how the EPA will award and administer SA-HMW funding, please see SA-HMW Implementation Memorandum.
CWSRF Supplemental Appropriation for Hurricanes Helene and Milton
This Capitalization Grant provides additional funding from the EPA for the CWSRF in areas of Florida affected by Hurricanes Helene and/or Milton.
- The Florida allotment of $806,392,000* is available for CWSRF publicly owned treatment works (POTW) projects and $35,950,000 is available for CWSRF projects to connect homes served by decentralized systems to centralized wastewater systems.
- Eligible entities must be a CWSRF-eligible entity that was damaged, demonstrates impact, or had a loss or disruption of a mission-essential function, including loss of function where there was potential impact to public health, caused by Hurricanes Helene and/or Milton.
- Eligible projects must be CWSRF-eligible, whose purpose is to reduce flood or fire damage risk and vulnerability or to enhance resiliency to rapid hydrologic change or natural disaster at treatment works, as defined by section 212 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (i.e., POTWs). A list of eligible projects is included as Attachment 3 to EPA’s SA-HMW Implementation Memorandum.
- Funds were also allocated to Florida to assist communities in connecting homes served by decentralized wastewater treatment systems to centralized wastewater systems. Entities eligible for the CWSRF decentralized funding are an otherwise CWSRF-eligible entity whose community was impacted by Hurricane Helene or Milton. An eligible project is an otherwise CWSRF-eligible project for the planning, design, or construction of a project to connect homes served by decentralized wastewater treatment systems to centralized wastewater treatment systems. Installation/construction of collection system components and equipment in the public right of way is eligible. Work on private property is not eligible.
- A financially disadvantaged community means a community where the per capita income is less than the state’s per capita income.
- For additional information or documents regarding the Clean Water Program, see our Clean Water Program Manual.
DWSRF Supplemental Appropriation for Hurricanes Helene and Milton
This Capitalization Grant provides additional funding from the EPA for the DWSRF in areas of Florida affected by Hurricanes Helene and/or Milton.
- The Florida allotment of $844,671,000* is available for DWSRF public water system (PWS) facilities and for non-profit PWS facilities that were damaged and demonstrate impact or had a loss or disruption of a mission-essential function, including loss of function where there was potential impact to public health, caused by Hurricane Helene or Milton.
- Eligible projects must be DWSRF-eligible, whose purpose is to reduce flood or fire damage risk and vulnerability or to enhance resiliency to rapid hydrologic change or natural disaster at the treatment works, as defined by section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act. A list of eligible projects is included as Attachment 3 to EPA’s SA-HMW Implementation Memorandum.
- A financially disadvantaged community means a community where the median household income is less than the state’s median household income.
- For additional information or documents regarding the Drinking Water Program, see our Drinking Water Program Manual.
General Agreement Details
- Funding can be used for planning, design, and/or construction. For construction projects, applicants are encouraged to also request funding for planning and design to address unforeseen needs; unused planning and design funding may be used for construction.
- Due to federal timelines associated with the SA-HMW funding, projects receiving SA-HMW funding will receive a single loan agreement for planning, design, and/or construction funding, as applicable.
- All agreements will contain deadlines for the submittal and acceptance of SRF required planning and design readiness-to-proceed documentation before construction funding will be made available.
- Time extensions will not be available for SA-HMW agreements.
- All funds must be reimbursed within three months following the completion of construction date included in the loan agreement; after that date, any remaining funds will no longer be available.
- Funding will be provided with 50% Principal Forgiveness and 0% interest. For financially disadvantaged communities and decentralized projects, funding will be provided with 100% principal forgiveness.
- Federal funding requirements for SRF capitalization grant projects, such as the Davis-Bacon Act (fair wages), American Iron and Steel (AIS), Disadvantaged Business Entities, and EPA signage will apply. Build America Buy America (BABA) purchasing requirements do not apply.
How to Apply
Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. EDT on June 30, 2025. To submit an application, complete a Drinking Water SRF Request for Inclusion and/or Clean Water SRF Request for Inclusion and email it to SRFRFI@FloridaDEP.gov. Hard copies will also be accepted, post marked no later than June 30, 2025, though electronic submittal is encouraged. To submit a hard copy, contact Catherine Murray at 850-245-2966 or Eric Meyers at 850-245-2969.
Together with the completed RFI, please include a description of the project, the facility ID number, project location, proof of impacts to the system (e.g., photographs, power outage reports, mutual aid costs, Water Tracker reports, FLAWarn reports, etc.), and an explanation of how the project is eligible for SA-HMW funding (for reference, see Attachment 3 to EPA’s SA-HMW Implementation Memo).
Please be aware that additional information and documentation regarding the eligibility of a proposed project for SA-HMW funding (including documentation of Hurricane Helene and/or Milton impacts) may be required for planning approval of the proposed project once a loan agreement has been executed. That is, projects that appear to be eligible for SA-HMW may be listed for funding at the August 2025 Priority List Management Meeting, but a final determination on project eligibility will be made during the review of planning documentation submitted in accordance with the executed loan agreement. Projects determined not to meet SA-HMW eligibility requirements will not be funded with SA-HMW funding beyond the planning phase.
Questions regarding SA-HWM funding or the application process can be directed to:
*The Department may elect to transfer up to 33% between funds, depending on demand.
