LANSING — Local communities can apply for funding under the Community Pollution Prevention Grant Program through the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy for projects that will limit the number of sanitary sewerage overflows or reduce the amount of energy needed to operate wastewater pond mixers.

The maximum grant amount that local governments, wastewater treatment organizations and other entities are eligible for is $25,000. Applicants must provide matching funds of at least 25% of the total project budget.

The Community P2 grants can be used to install programmable logic controllers, supervisory control and data acquisition systems or backup generators for a key pump station that has a history of SSOs. When a sanitary sewer overflows, untreated domestic, commercial or industrial wastewater is discharged into the environment before being processed at a wastewater treatment plant. SSOs can contaminate water, causing serious water quality problems, and back up into homes, causing property damage and threatening public health.

The grants can also be used to install solar powered wastewater pond mixers to aid in the removal of phosphorus and lowering a facility’s overall power needs. Phosphorus is a nutrient that can promote the growth of algal blooms, some of which produce toxins that are harmful to humans and animals.

Priority will be given to applicants that are wastewater authorities, at-risk communities and have not met their permitted phosphorus effluent limit, and/or have a documented history of sanitary sewerage overflows. Awards will be given to applicants that meet the eligibility requirements and on a first-come-first-served basis until funding is depleted. The deadline to apply is Aug. 31.

More information about applying for the grant has been posted to the Community P2 Grants Program website. Applicants can contact Erica Richard of EGLE’s Materials Management Division at 517-284-8337 or RichardE1@Michigan.gov for more information.