Aqua Talk : Funding opportunity

Friday, April 12, 2019

Funding opportunity

Grant opportunities for lead testing in schools

House Bill 17-1306 directed the Water Quality Control Division to establish a grant program to test for lead in drinking water at public schools. The bill provided the division with $300,000 annually to award and distribute to eligible public schools to implement voluntary lead testing at their facilities.

We are looking forward to another successful year of the grant funding program and the Request for Application (RFA) period for state fiscal year (SFY) 2019-20 will be announced on April 17, 2019. The initial application period will end on June 17, 2019 at 2 p.m. MST.

Depending on the grant demand, we may have an open enrollment period sometime after July 15, 2019, but we encourage schools to apply early to secure funding. When the request for the application period is officially announced, the application and additional program information will be on the lead testing in schools webpage.

Eligibility

Eligible schools include public schools that:

Are not subject to the federal lead and copper rule, 40 CRF part 141, subpart I;
Have not tested for lead yet;
Or are in the process of lead testing its drinking water.

A public school – means a school that derives its support, in whole or in part, from moneys raised by a general state, county, or district tax. Public school includes a public school district; charter school, as that term is defined in section 22-30.5-103(2), C.R.S., including an institute charter school, as that term is defined in section 22-30.5-502(6), C.R.S.; and a board of cooperative services, as that term is defined in section 22-5-103(2), C.R.S.

Details

The money for this funding opportunity is from the Water Quality Improvement Fund.
It covers voluntary lead testing in public schools to detect the presence and concentration of lead in drinking water.
A total of $300,000 has been allocated for State fiscal year 2019-20.
Public schools can apply for reimbursement of up to 100 samples per school or to a maximum amount of $5,000 per school.
The funding period is anticipated to begin July 15, 2019 not to exceed June 30, 2020.

Why is this funding important?

Lead is a toxic metal that can affect almost every organ and system in the body, particularly the central nervous system (brain). Children six years and younger are particularly at risk for lead poisoning because their brains are still growing. Lead can be introduced into drinking water one of two ways: It can be present in the supplier’s source water or it can be introduced by water interacting with the plumbing material (e.g. pipes, fixtures, solder) that may contain lead.

The source of lead in drinking water is most often from old plumbing, not the water supply. Lead in drinking water is a specific concern due to aging infrastructure and older buildings. Buildings built before 1986 are more likely to have fixtures and solder that are high in lead content, or even lead pipes.

Not all schools are required by law to test their water for lead. Our program encourages schools to sample for lead and the program assists the schools to test their water supply and always provide safe drinking water sources.

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