|  | Beach Standards, Monitoring, & Notification            Recent                     Additions | Contact                     Us |                     Print                     Version                     Search:                     EPA Home                    > Water > Water                     Science > Beach Standards, Monitoring, & Notification                     > Grants                     > 2003 > Fact Sheet |
|--|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| EPA Makes Grants Available to States to Implement Water Quality                 Monitoring and Public Notification Programs at the Nation's BeachesUnited States                       Environmental Protection                      AgencyOffice of Water                      4303EPA-823-F-03-002                      March 2003
Summary
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making $9.935 million                 in grants available in 2003 to eligible states to protect public                 health at the Nation's beaches. These grants are available to                 coastal and Great Lakes states to implement programs to monitor                 water quality at the beach and to notify the public when water                 quality problems exist.
Background
Each year state, tribal, and local health and environmental protection                 agencies monitor the quality of water at the Nation's beaches.                 When bacteria levels in the water are too high, these agencies                 notify the public of beach warnings or closings. State and local                 monitoring and notification programs differ across the country                 and provide different levels of protection for swimmers. 

To improve water quality testing at the beach and to help beach                 managers better inform the public when there are water quality                 problems, Congress passed the Beaches Environmental Assessment                 and Coastal Health Act (BEACH Act) in October 2000. This Act authorizes                 EPA to award grants to eligible states, tribes, and territories                 to develop and implement beach water quality monitoring programs                 at coastal and Great Lakes recreational waters near beaches. These                 grants also support the development and implementation of programs                 to inform the public about the risk of exposure to disease-causing                 microorganisms in the waters at the Nation=s beaches.
Funding
In 2003, EPA expects to award about $9.935 million in grants                 to eligible states and territories for beach program implementation.                 Once EPA receives all applications for funding, EPA will award                 grants to eligible states and territories. For this third year                 of the BEACH Grants, EPA expects to award grants based on an allocation                 formula to all eligible states and territories who apply. EPA                 consulted with various states and the Coastal States Organization                 in 2002 to develop this formula, which considers three factors:                 1) length of beach season, 2) miles of beach and 3) number of                 people that use the beach. EPA used the same formula a was used                 in 2002 but updated it to use the 2000 Census data instead of                 the 1990 Census data to estimate coastal population because it                 is the more current information.

Based on this allocation formula, the size of the Implementation                 Grant Award ranges from $149,025 to $544,552 if all 35 eligible                 states and territories apply. EPA expects all 35 eligible governments                 to apply. If fewer apply or qualify for the grants, then EPA will                 redistribute available funds to states and as follows:
-  States that meet program  performance                   criteria  published by EPA in June 2002 (EPA-823-B-02-004)                   will receive the full amount of funds for which they qualify                   under the allocation formula.
- EPA may award grants for continued program development to                   states that have not met the performance criteria. These grants                   will help them meet the performance criteria for implementation                   grants. Therefore, we expect that funding levels for continued                   program development grants will be lower than the amount described                   in 1. above. 
- EPA may award program implementation grants to local governments                   in states that have not met the requirements for program implementation.                 
- EPA may use the grant allocation formula to make additional                   funds available for implementation grants to states that have                   met the performance criteria.

If all 35 eligible states and territories apply and meet the                 performance criteria, the distribution of the $ 9.935 million                 in funds for year 2003 will be: 
For the state or territory of:The year 2003 allocation is:For the state or territory of:The year 2003 allocation is:Alabama$261,514Mississippi$256,481Alaska$149,025New Hampshire$203,594American Samoa$300,364New Jersey$282,586California$532,164New York $359,215Connecticut$223,921North Carolina$305,007Delaware$210,299Northern Mariana Is.$301,648Florida $544,552Ohio $224,227Georgia $287,442Oregon$229,757Guam$300,860Pennsylvania$223,012Hawaii $322,897Puerto Rico$328,757Illinois $245,043Rhode Island$212,340Indiana$204,963South Carolina $298,726Louisiana $380,052Texas$387,508Maine$257,766U.S. Virgin Is.$301,483Maryland $273,429Virginia $281,693Massachusetts $257,453Washington$274,585Michigan $283,360Wisconsin$225,970Minnesota$203,309  How Long Will the Funding and Project Periods Last?
The expected funding and project period for Implementation Grants                 awarded in 2003 is one year. In future years, EPA may award more                 grants to eligible states, tribes, territories and local governments                 to support the development and implementation of monitoring and                 notification programs.
Who Is Eligible to Apply?
States and territories eligible for the BEACH grants are states                 that have coastal and Great Lakes recreational waters adjacent                 to beaches or similar points of access used by the public. Under                 the BEACH Act, EPA can also award grants to eligible tribes. To                 receive BEACH Act grants, tribes must have coastal recreation                 waters. (These are waters designated under Clean Water Act Section                 303(c) for use for swimming, bathing, surfing or similar water                 contact activities). A tribe must also meet the "treatment                 in the same manner as a state" criteria under CWA section                 518(e) to receive BEACH Act grant funds. EPA believes there are                 currently no tribes that have met these requirements for BEACH                 Act grant funding.

In July 2002, EPA published the National                 Beach Guidance and Required Performance Criteria for Grants                 (document number EPA-823-B-02-004) which explains the requirements                 for states, tribes, and local governments to qualify for these                 grants. You can find this document on EPA's website at http://epa.gov/beaches.                 You can also get the guidance by writing or calling the Office                 of Water Resources Center, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,                 Mail Code 4100T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.                 20460. (202-566-1731) or by sending an e-mail to: [email protected].

The BEACH Act authorizes EPA to give a grant to a local government                 for implementation of a monitoring and notification program only                 if EPA determines that the state is not meeting the requirements                 of the statute one year after EPA publishes performance criteria                 for beach programs. EPA published performance criteria in July                 19, 2002. Therefore, July 19, 2003, is the earliest date a local                 government would be eligible for beach grants, given that its                 state is not meeting the requirements of the statute. A local                 government may apply for funding to help them develop and implement                 a beach monitoring and notification program that is consistent                 with EPA performance criteria. 
How Does a State or Territory Apply?
Eligible states and territories may get an application from their                 regional EPA beach contact. These contacts are listed in the Federal                 Register Notice of Availability for the BEACH grants, which is                 available on EPA's Beach Watch web site at http://epa.gov/beaches.
For More Information
For more information on the BEACH grants, please contact your                 EPA Regional beach program representative or Charles Kovatch at                 202-566–0399 ([email protected]).

 

| Oceans, Coasts & Estuaries | 
 
EPA Home |                                Privacy and                                Security Notice |                                Contact Us

 

  |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|