State wins $1.9 million federal award to support local renewable energy planning and deployment

EGLE to launch the Michigan Renewable Energy Academy to provide community support

Michigan is set to launch the Michigan Renewable Energy Academy (REA) with new resources from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. The State will receive $1.9 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Renewable Energy Siting through Technical Engagement and Planning (R-STEP) program to improve planning, siting, and permitting processes for large-scale renewable energy facilities.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) will lead the REA in partnership with the University of Michigan’s Graham Sustainability Institute, Michigan State University Extension, 5 Lakes Energy, and the Michigan Association of Planning.

“This investment from the U.S. Department of Energy is another tool to help Michigan communities continue to build out renewable energy at the scope and scale necessary to meet the goals of the MI Healthy Climate Plan, the state’s climate action roadmap,” said EGLE Director Phil Roos. “EGLE’s Renewable Energy Academy will be a one-stop-shop where communities can receive technical assistance and support as they pursue more sustainable, clean energy resources.”

The academy will be a community-centered resource for expertise in renewable energy siting, providing technical aid at no out-of-pocket cost to Michigan communities. The program will prioritize local participation and capacity building, especially to underserved communities, and help local and tribal governments navigate the complexities and harness the benefits of hosting renewable energy facilities.

“Clean wind and solar energy and storage systems are keys to a climate-healthy future for our state and world,” said Liz Browne, director of EGLE’s Materials Management Division. “EGLE and its partners in the Michigan REA are ready to offer guidance and expertise to communities for renewable energy planning and siting.”

Nationally, seven states will share a total of $10 million through R-STEP to develop and expand statewide initiatives comparable to the REA. These collaboratives will bring together stakeholders from all perspectives in the energy planning process: state and regional agencies, universities, developers, technical experts, public service commissions, farmers, unions, tribes, community organizations, and others. Learn more online about the selected state-based collaboratives, including the full list of partners.

The DOE also announced it will open a second round of the program with up to $12 million available for states.

In Michigan, R-STEP dollars will fund a consolidation of all resources, services, and experts relevant to energy planning and zoning into the one-stop shop with the REA.

These R-STEP dollars complement existing EGLE efforts to support communities in playing a role in the clean energy transition and helping Michigan meet the goals of the MI Healthy Climate Plan, including the Catalyst Communities program and the recently announced Renewable Ready Communities Award funding opportunity.

Through a grant from EGLE, the University of Michigan’s Graham Sustainability Institute – one of the state’s partners on the REA – already is promoting a menu of offerings and services for communities that includes an introduction to renewables planning and zoning for elected and appointed officials, a series of mini-workshops on zoning for principal- and accessory-use wind and solar, tours of renewable energy sites, individualized presentations and workshops for township and county officials with no out-of-pocket cost, no-charge reviews of zoning ordinances, and more.

To meet the goals of the MI Healthy Climate Plan and recently enacted laws that require 100% renewable energy by 2040, removing barriers to rapid renewable deployment is critical. Enabling large-scale renewable energy projects can unlock opportunities for community wealth-building, create good-paying jobs and support workforce development, increase grid resilience and energy independence, and support electricity bill savings, especially in rural or underserved communities.

R-STEP is funded by the DOE’s Solar Energy Technologies Office and Wind Energy Technologies Office. The DOE website also includes more information about large-scale renewable energy siting.

Learn more about renewable energy initiatives in Michigan on EGLE’s Renewable Energy webpage.

EGLE awards 27 grants to conduct stream cleanups and monitoring

More than $100,000 will help local governments and nonprofit organizations improve Michigan waterways

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) today announced $102,273 through 27 grants to local governments and nonprofit organizations for stream cleanup and monitoring through the Michigan Clean Water Corps (MiCorps) Program. These annual grants help foster local stewardship and a sense of community while providing valuable data used to protect Michigan’s waters.

The MiCorps Volunteer Stream Cleanup Program provides grants to local units of government to clean and improve Michigan waterways. Local governments often partner with nonprofits or other volunteer groups for the cleanups, which include removal of trash and other manmade debris from streams and stream banks.

The cleanup grant program began in 1998 and is funded by fees from the sale of Michigan’s specialty water quality protection license plates, available from the Secretary of State’s Office.

The local governments selected to receive cleanup funding in 2024 are:

• City of Ann Arbor, $4,020.
• City of Battle Creek, $2,878.
• City of Ecorse, $5,000.
• City of Lansing, $5,000.
• Grand Traverse Conservation District, $2,168.
• Macatawa Coordinating Council, $3,540.
• Muskegon Conservation District, $2,663.
• Newaygo Conservation District $5,000.
• Ottawa County Water Resources, $1,250.
• Joseph Conservation District, $1,926.
• Shiawassee County Health Department, $5,000.
• Van Buren Conservation District, $1,708.

The MiCorps Volunteer Stream Monitoring Program provides grants to enable local governments and nonprofits to conduct volunteer-based water quality and stream habitat monitoring through benthic macroinvertebrate surveys and habitat assessments. Three types of monitoring grants are available. Startup grants get groups started with learning and planning, implementation grants fund the first two years of official monitoring, and maintenance grants help groups that are already monitoring replace equipment and continue their program.

The Ottawa Conservation District received a startup grant of $4,701. The Barry Conservation District received an implementation grant of $19,923. Receiving maintenance grants are:

• Berrien Conservation District, $3,000.
• Clinton River Watershed Council, $3,000.
• Friends of the Rouge, $3,000.
• Grass River Natural Area, Inc., $1,839.
• Kalamazoo Nature Center, $3,000.
• Little Forks Conservancy, $2,999.41.
• Lower Grand River Organization of Watersheds, $2,999.
• Manistee Conservation District, $3,000.
• Muskegon River Watershed Assembly, $2,932.55.
• The University of Olivet, $2,964.
• The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay, $3,000.
• Tip of the Mitt, $3,000.
• Joseph Conservation District, $2,760.

EGLE established MiCorps in 2004 to engage the public in collecting water quality data for use in water resources management and protection programs. MiCorps is administered for EGLE by Michigan State University Extension, in partnership with the Michigan Lakes and Streams Association and Huron River Watershed Council.

Questions about the grant award process should be directed to Dr. Paul Steen, Huron River Watershed Council, 734-519-0449 or PSteen@HRWC.org; or Tamara Lipsey, Lake Michigan Unit, Great Lakes Watershed Assessment, Restoration, and Management Section, Water Resources Division, EGLE, 517-342-4372 or LipseyT@Michigan.gov.

To stay up to date on other EGLE news, follow us at Michigan.gov/MIEnvironment.

EGLE announces $95.24 million in MI Clean Water grants to help upgrade water infrastructure, protect health and the environment

Water main replacements in Muskegon Heights, wastewater plant upgrades on Mackinac Island, and lead service line replacements in multiple communities are the goals of more than $95 million in state grants recently awarded to Michigan communities.

The MI Clean Water Plan grants through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF), the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF), and support from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) aim to help communities upgrade aging infrastructure, ensure healthy drinking water, and protect Michigan’s environment.

Seventy percent of Michiganders are served by more than 1,000 community wastewater systems and a similar percentage get drinking water from community water systems. Those systems often struggle to find resources to address legacy issues like aging drinking water and stormwater facilities and emerging challenges like new standards for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) “forever chemicals.”

Governor Gretchen Whitmer, the Michigan Legislature, and federal agencies have ramped up funding for aging water infrastructure – a critical move to help ensure those water systems continue to protect public health and the environment, including Michigan’s unmatched freshwater resources.

More than half of EGLE’s budget has traditionally passed through to Michigan cities, towns, villages, and other local government agencies to finance critical improvements that help them better protect residents and our natural resources.

Grant roundup

Recent grants through the DWSRF: 

• Village of Sheridan for $3,985,000.  This project involves construction of an iron removal plant and water system improvements in the Village of Sheridan. This includes upsizing the watermain, looping to eliminate dead ends, and lead service line replacement. A new watermain will be installed between Well No. 2 and the iron removal plant.

• City of Muskegon Heights for $19,847,000.  The project includes the replacement of aging water mains, improvement of water flows, critical valve installation, and improvement of reliability in the City of Muskegon Heights. Water main replacement will occur in two project areas: 1) along Broadway Avenue from Glade Street to Reynolds Street, which includes the replacement of approximately 5,650 linear feet of cast iron watermain and 57 lead service line replacements, and 2) along Sanford Street from Oakwood Avenue to Norton Avenue, which includes the replacement of approximately 1,350 linear feet of cast iron watermain and 24 lead service line replacements. In addition to the full lead service line replacements along these water main corridors, approximately 530 lead line replacements will also be completed in other areas.

• City of Inkster for $10,905,000.  This project involves replacement of undersized watermains, lead service line replacements, and elimination of a watermain dead end in the City of Inkster. A total of 145 lead service lines will be replaced as a part of this project.

Recent grants through the CWSRF: 

• Pontiac-Clinton River Drain Drainage District (Oakland County) for $800,000.  The Pontiac-Clinton River No. 1 Drain Drainage District is a stormwater system located in the City of Pontiac. This project involves stormwater pipe rehabilitation, including spot lining and grouting of existing storm sewer pipes and manholes.

• City of Mackinac Island for $39,700,000.  This project consists of upgrades to the existing wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), including a new headworks facility containing screening and grit removal, three primary clarifiers, three moving bed biofilm reactor trains (each containing two reactors), rapid mix and flocculation basins with mixers for chemical feed, four secondary clarifiers, ultraviolet disinfection, effluent pump station, effluent equalization, effluent forcemain improvements, and sludge handling processes. New headworks, process, and maintenance buildings will be constructed, as well as upgrades to the existing control building. Electrical, control, and instrumentation upgrades will be done throughout the plant.

Earmarks through Federal American Rescue Plan Act: 

• City of Saline for $5,000,000.  This project supports rehabilitation of the City of Saline’s WWTP by managing wet weather flows and critical technology upgrades. Rehabilitation of the WWTP is designed to improve severe weather resilience and mitigate environmental contaminants in the wastewater discharge that feeds into Michigan’s surface waters and the Great Lakes system.  A new headworks facility will be constructed to provide fine screening of the influent wastewater to improve plant operation. Wet weather flows will be improved by the construction of a wet weather storage tank and new primary and secondary clarifiers with modifications to four existing clarifiers. Additionally, aging infrastructure, such as the rotating biological contactors and floating cover digester, will be replaced with modern technology to increase reliability and treatment performance. Updates include upgrading to activated sludge pumping and blower facilities, improving biosolids management, adding new aeration tanks with fine pore diffusers, and completing existing digester tank modifications.

• City of Milan for $3,600,000.  This project involves wastewater treatment upgrades at the City of Milan WWTP. This will include headworks improvements, ultraviolet (UV) disinfection improvements, meters, pumps, and mixer replacements, upgrading the oxidation ditch and clarifiers, and replacing the boiler heating system.

Grants through ED-SDC: 

• City of Ironwood for $11,400,000. The City of Ironwood will use this grant to address concentrations of manganese that have exceeded safe levels. The ED-SDC grant program provides states and territories with grants to public water systems in small or disadvantaged communities to address emerging contaminants, including PFAS.

 Descriptions of funding sources

Drinking Water State Revolving Fund: Low-interest loan program to help public water systems finance the costs of replacement and repair of drinking water infrastructure to protect public health and achieve or maintain compliance with federal Safe Drinking Water Act requirements. The DWSRF provides loans to water systems for eligible infrastructure projects. As water systems repay their loans, the repayments and interest flow back into the DWSRF to support new loans. ARPA funding operates as a grant and may be used in combination with loan dollars to reduce the financial burden on communities to pay for capital improvement debt. ARPA funded grants awarded this fiscal year: $218,398,719.

Clean Water State Revolving Fund: Used by local municipalities to finance construction of water pollution control projects. These projects include wastewater treatment plant upgrades and expansions, combined or sanitary sewer overflow abatement, new sewers designed to reduce existing sources of pollution, and other publicly owned wastewater treatment efforts that improve water quality. The CWSRF can also finance stormwater infrastructure projects to reduce nonpoint sources of water pollution caused by things like agricultural runoff to lakes, streams, and wetlands. As with the DWSRF, ARPA funds can be used in conjunction with CWSRF loan dollars, thereby reducing the debt communities pay for infrastructure improvements. ARPA-funded grants awarded this fiscal year: $137,982,009.

Drinking Water Asset Management Program: Provides grant funding to assist drinking water suppliers with asset management plan development and updates, and/or distribution system materials inventories as defined in Michigan’s revised Lead and Copper Rule. Awarded this fiscal year: $19,695,817.

Consolidation and Contamination Risk Reduction Program: Established to aid drinking water systems to help remove or reduce PFAS or other contaminants. Awarded this fiscal year: $20,336,215.

Substantial Public Health Risk Project Program: Protects public and environmental health by removing direct and continuous discharges of wastewater from surface or groundwater. Awarded this fiscal year: $8,000,000.

 Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities Grant Program: Provides states and territories with grants to public water systems in small or disadvantaged communities to address emerging contaminants, including PFAS.

 Additional Background

• Since January 2019 the State of Michigan has invested over $4 billion to upgrade drinking water, stormwater, and wastewater facilities across the state, supporting over 57,000 jobs.
• In 2022, Governor Whitmer signed a package of bills to help communities access funding for water infrastructure.