The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday that Flint must take additional steps before it can receive a $100 million grant meant to fix the city’s corroded and dilapidated water system.
EPA Acting Regional Administrator Robert Kaplan told city officials in a letter March 17 that the $100 million in federal funds it received is conditional and requires evidence the city has plans to update the city water plant and a water meter replacement program.
The funding, provided under the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act of 2016, was initially approved December in Congress and signed into law by former President Barack Obama. It had to go through a review and approval process before being granted. Current EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt finally approved the grant last week.
Michigan officials and Flint residents have been struggling to get the small, mostly black community’s water system up and running after lead contaminated its water supply.
Officials switched the small Eastern Michigan city’s water supply from Lake Huron in 2015 to the Flint River in a bid to save money. But the state applied the wrong regulations and standards for drinking water, which ultimately resulted in corroded pipes.
EPA’s press release did not mention placing any conditions on the grant, but Kaplan’s letter states the award was based on a plan submitted by Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) in February, which included two projects– water meter replacements and water plant improvements.
“Thus, this conditional award authorizes MDEQ to make funds immediately available only for the three approved projects,” the letter reads.
Flint has budgeted $40 million for service line replacement, $10 million for distribution system repairs, $58.5 million for water treatment plant improvements, and $10 million for meter replacements.
“EPA will make a final determination as to whether the water meter project is eligible for funding if it is included in the revised (plan) submitted to EPA,” Kaplan wrote in the letter.
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