Illinois announces $1M for unsewered communities’ planning

May 31, 2023
Funding through the Unsewered Communities Planning Grant Program will help communities to develop plans for wastewater collection and treatment.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $1 million in grant awards to help develop plans for wastewater collection and treatment solutions for unsewered communities.

Illinois has more than 200 "unsewered" communities that lack wastewater collection and/or treatment systems. Many of these communities have patchwork systems or decades-old underground "wildcat" pipes that illegally discharge to surface waters. While a lack of planning capacity is often a significant initial barrier for these communities, the biggest hurdle remains the lack of local revenue to invest in the construction and long-term operations and maintenance of modern collection and/or treatment facilities.

The funding distributed through the Unsewered Communities Planning Grant Program will help small and disadvantaged communities to develop project plans for wastewater collection and treatment.

"Proper wastewater collection and treatment is important for the health and welfare of Illinois' communities," said Illinois EPA Director John Kim. "This grant program was created to assist those communities with the initial funding to develop a formal plan to address the wastewater needs, which could ultimately lead to them submitting an application for an Unsewered Communities Construction Grant from Illinois EPA."

Information from the Project Plans may also be used to apply for a grant from the Unsewered Communities Construction Grant Program (UCCGP), which was also announced by Illinois EPA in September 2020. Over the next five years, Illinois EPA UCCGP is making $100 million available through Governor Pritzker's bipartisan Rebuild Illinois Capital Plan for construction of wastewater collection and/or treatment facilities.

The grant recipients are as follows:

County of Applicant

Applicant

Grant Amount

Bureau

Cherry

$30,000

Cass

Beardstown

$26,000

Christian

Pana

$30,000

Taylorville

$29,000

Coles

Ashmore

$30,000

Effingham

Effingham

$30,000

Grundy

Braceville

$30,000

Henderson

Lomax

$30,000

Iroquois

Buckley

$30,000

Woodland

$30,000

Jackson

Grand Tower

$30,000

Jefferson

Belle Rive

$27,500

Jersey

Elsah

$22,500

Kane

Hillcrest

$7,000

Kendall

Lisbon

$30,000

LaSalle

Leland

$30,000

Ransom

$25,000

Rutland

$30,000

Streator

$30,000

Lee

Compton

$30,000

Dixon

$24,000

Livingston

Saunemin

$30,000

Macoupin

Modesto

$30,000

Madison and St. Clair

Collinsville

$30,000

McHenry

Union

$27,500

McLean

Hudson

$20,000

Moultrie

Sullivan

$30,000

Ogle

Burlington

$17,500

Davis Junction

$25,000

Piatt

Mansfield

$30,000

Pike

New Salem Township

$30,000

Putnam

Magnolia

$20,000

Standard

$30,000

Rock Island

Port Byron

$19,000

Schuyler

Browning

$30,000

Scott

Manchester

$26,000

Whiteside

Rock Falls

$24,000