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EPA grants $1 million to improve drinking water
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Posted on Nov 29 2000
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will make available $1,124,300 to improve drinking water system infrastructure in the CNMI, according to Division of Environmental Quality Director Ignacio V. Cabrera.
Mr. Cabrera said the funding comes from money the U.S. Congress authorized under the 1996 amendments to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
The purpose of the funding is to improve compliance with the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations or to otherwise further the health protection objectives of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
Locally, the DEQ is responsible for developing and implementing the CNMI Safe Drinking Water Program which must be at least as stringent as the federal program.
In addition to the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. (CUC), DEQ regulates approximately 100 other public water systems. Based on federal guidelines, these drinking water infrastructure grant funds will only be available to CUC.
Available funding which has been accumulating over several years could not be utilized until the CNMI develop its own program to prioritize potential projects. Mr. Cabrera estimates that an additional $240,000 will become available annually in the years to come.
DEQ and CUC have jointly developed the CNMI Safe Drinking Water Infrastructure Grant Program. The program specifies how, on an annual basis, infrastructure improvement projects submitted by CUC will be prioritized and ranked in order to assure the most important projects receive available funding.
As mandated by federal requirements, a public hearing will be held which should allow the community to comment on the project prioritization method, the ranking of all the identified projects, and the estimated amount of funds to be awarded to each project.
The public hearing will be held Thursday, Dec. 7, 2000 at 7:00 p.m. at Susupe Multi-Purpose Center on Saipan. All interested parties are invited to attend and provide comments on this program. Copies of the CNMI Safe Drinking Water Infrastructure Grant Program will be available at the meeting or can be picked up ahead of time at the DEQ Office located at Morgen Building, San Jose. (LFR)
