Illinois EPA Funding for Emerging Contaminants in Drinking Water

IL EPA News

Published September 4th, 2025

Detected February 27th, 2026

Summary

The Illinois EPA announced over $40 million in grant funding for small or disadvantaged communities to address emerging contaminants like PFAS and Manganese in drinking water. Applications are due by August 31, 2026, with a maximum award of $15 million per applicant.

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What changed

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) has announced a new grant program, the Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities (EC-SDC) Grant Program, offering over $40 million to assist communities in addressing Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) or Manganese in their drinking and/or source water. This funding opportunity, detailed in a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), is specifically aimed at small or disadvantaged communities and will cover eligible costs including design engineering, construction engineering, and construction incurred after January 1, 2025, with a cap of $15 million per applicant.

Eligible communities must be on the Illinois EPA’s Public Water Supply Loan Program Emerging Contaminant Intended Funding Lists for FY2025 and FY2026. Applications are to be submitted through the Amplifund program and will be accepted until 1:00 PM (CST) on August 31, 2026. Awards will be made on a first-come, first-serve basis after eligibility review. This initiative aims to help communities that may lack sufficient resources to tackle these significant drinking water issues, ensuring safer water for residents.

What to do next

Review eligibility criteria for the EC-SDC Grant Program.
Prepare and submit grant applications through Amplifund by August 31, 2026.
Ensure pre-qualification through the GATA Grantee Portal.

Source document (simplified)

September 4, 2025 Kim Bigg s, Il linois EP A FOR IMMEDIA TE RELEASE 217 -558- 1536 kim.biggs@illinois.gov New Funding Av ailable to Address Emer ging C ontaminants in S mall or Disadv antaged Communities Illinois EP A gr ant funding foc uses on p rojects a ddre s sing PF AS and Mang anese Springfield --Illinois Environm ental Pr otection Agency (Illinois EP A) Acting Dir ector James Jennings today announc ed a new funding opportunity to fund pr ojects addres sing emerging cont aminants in drinking and/ or sour ce water in smal l o r disadvantag ed communities. The Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvant aged Communitie s (EC-SDC) Gr ant Pr ogr am will pr ovide over $40 mil lion to assist communitie s in completing construction pr ojects to addr es s P er- and P olyfluoroa lkyl Substance s (PF AS) or Mangane se in drinking and/ or source wa ter. A Notice of F unding Opportunity (NOFO) for this opportunity has been posted to t he Illinois EP A website. The EC-SDC Gr ant pr og r am will fund projec ts for communitie s on the Illinois EP A ’ s Public W ater Supply Loan Pr ogr am Emerging Contaminant Int ended Funding Lists f or FY2025 and FY2026. Emer ging contaminants ar e identified by the U. S. Envir on mental Pr otection A gency (U. S. EP A) Contaminant Candidate Lis ts (CCL) 1 -5. PFAS ar e a series of man-made chemicals that do not easily br eak down in the environm ent. Exposur e to PF AS in drinking water has been link ed to numerous human health is sues, including incr eased risk of certain cancer s. Manganese is a na tur ally occurrin g miner al that is found in many items, including foo d. Drinking wa ter with high lev els of manganese can c ause neur ological and cognitiv e iss ues. “Both PF AS and manganese ar e significant is s ues f or drinking wa ter sys tems thr oughout the s tate, and small and d isadvantaged c ommunities often lack sufficient re sour ces to addr ess thes e emerging contaminants, ” said Acting Director Jenning s. “ These fund s will be vital to help com munities that f ace challenge s due to their size or financial r esour c es pro vide saf e drinking water t o their re sidents.” Funding f or the EC-SDC Gr ant Progr am is made possible by funding appropr iated b y Congr es s from t he State and T ribal Assistance Gr ant (ST AG). Applicants that qualify will be awarded based on the funding needs of the pr oject, with a limit of $15 mil lion per applicant. Eligible c osts wil l include design engineering, construction engineering, and construction c osts incurr ed after January 1, 2025.

EC -SDC NOFO/2 All r equired f orms and information are available on the Illinois EP A ’ s EC-SDC webpage and in Amplifund. Applications wil l be accepted until 1:00 PM (CST) August 31, 2026. Applicatio ns will be r evie wed f or eligibility and completenes s and awarded on a firs t- come, first-serve basis. Applicants must be pr e -qualified through the Gr ant Accountability and T r ansparency Act (GA T A) Grant ee P ortal. Applications must be s ubmitted within the Amplifund prog r am at th e link found h ere: https://il.amplifund. com/P ublic/Op portunities/Details/7743455c-99a7-4f32-a8f7-babd11bfa5ba. ### The Illinois EP A was cr eat ed in 1970 as p art of the Il linois Envir onmental P r otection A ct, maki ng it the l on ges t- standing en viro n mental p r otection agen cy in the United Sta tes. The missio n of the Ill inois EP A is to saf eguar d enviro n mental qu ality, consist ent with the social and economic ne eds of the State of Illinois, so as to pr otect health, w elf are, proper ty, and the quality of lif e. For more i nfor mation, visit the Il linois EP A ’ s website at https:// epa.illin ois.g ov/.