Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Funding
What is the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act?
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is a historic investment in United States water infrastructure, investing more than $50 billion through programs overseen by the EPA. These programs will support projects that create safe drinking water, provide clean water for communities, and protect regional water basins and waterways.
Lake Champlain Basin Program IIJA Funding Tasks
The LCBP’s role is to direct resources, convene partners, and commit personnel time to the following four categories of work under the IIJA funding. Find current requests for proposals here.
AOP Restoration & Implementation
This task supports a new Aquatic Organism Passage (AOP) Restoration Specialist position to plan and implement projects that enhance habitat connectivity, water quality, and flood risk reduction by removing dams and right-sizing culverts. The AOP restoration specialist also supports partners’ work by coordinating knowledge sharing and collaboration, including facilitating the NY-LCB Dam Task Force. This task also creates a competitive grants category and a fund to be used for responsive, flexible, and strategic investment in critical gaps and opportunities.
Strategic Land Acquisition Grants Program
This task supports a new grant program to provide funding for the purchase or easements of lands that provide high value for water quality or aquatic, riparian, or shoreline habitat improvement in the Lake Champlain Basin. The grants support activities associated with land acquisition or easements, including actual costs for land acquisition or easements, project development, closing costs, mapping, stewardship, and outreach to communities to generate support for conservation.
Wetland and Floodplain Restoration Program in New York
This task supports a grant program to restore critical floodplains and wetlands in the New York portion of the Lake Champlain Basin. Projects restore the natural structure and function of wetland or floodplain systems, filter nutrients and other pollutants, restore and maintain healthy ecosystems, and prevent damage by future flooding. Activities supported may include engineering, surveys, design, modeling, native riparian plantings, fill removal, culvert enhancements or replacements, invasive species management, education and outreach, and site maintenance.
Native Tree Nurseries
Aquatic Invasive Species Management and Spread Prevention
This task supports a grant program for the management of Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) in the Lake Champlain Basin. The funding supports equipment, technologies, or other resources required to manage and prevent aquatic invasive species spread directly in Lake Champlain or other bodies of water in the Basin. Infrastructure investments are a priority, but a portion of the funding may support workforce development initiatives to enhance skills in aquatic invasive species management and spread prevention.