CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Today, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced funding from a variety of federal agencies for environmental protection, economic development, public safety, and research programs in West Virginia, as well as conservation efforts at the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.

EPA FUNDING: Senator Capito, Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, announced two grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WV DEP) for water pollution control and the statewide Underground Storage Tank Program.

“It’s critical we protect water resources across our state and boost efforts aimed at leak protection and prevention in underground storage tanks,” Ranking Member Capito said. “As Ranking Member of the EPW Committee, I am pleased to see these resources going to West Virginia to support WV DEP’s efforts to improve our infrastructure and protect the environment.” 

USDA FUNDING: Senator Capito announced grant and loan funding for a variety of rural development projects, including several water system upgrades from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“I’m happy to see these resources coming to strengthen our rural communities’ ability to provide safe and reliable water services in West Virginia. Whether it is a water line extension or maintenance of existing services, it is vital to our communities to continue to make investments like these that lead to safer and reliable services,” Senator Capito said.

DOI FUNDING: Senator Capito announced a variety of grants from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) National Parks Service (NPS) for programs that will bolster rehabilitation and preservation efforts at the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.

“I was proud to work with the NPS to secure resources that will advance our goal of making the New River Gorge a place for visitors from across West Virginia, and the country, a destination for generations to come. I encourage everyone to visit the Gorge to see firsthand its natural beauty and everything it offers,” Senator Capito said.

DOJ FUNDING: Senator Capito, a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, announced a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to Bluefield, W.Va. that will support continuums of care for youth success and crime prevention.

“This grant will equip Bluefield with resources that will help make the community safer and set our younger population on a path to reach their full potential. I was proud to deliver these resources that will be used towards efforts that prevent crime and provide more paths to success for our young people,” Senator Capito said.

COMMERCE FUNDING: Senator Capito, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, announced a grant award from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) to create a comprehensive economic development framework in Brooke County, W.Va.

“Ensuring that communities across West Virginia have the resources they need to keep growing local economies and maximizing their potential is incredibly important. This grant will help set the northern panhandle up for more success in the future and I was happy to play a role in securing this funding for communities there,” Senator Capito said.

NSF FUNDING: Senator Capito, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, announced grants to West Virginia University (WVU) from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).

“WVU is consistently on the cutting edge of critical research that will allows us to better understand the world and unlock new technologies. I am proud to see resources from the EPSCoR program going to WVU to aid these research projects that will give students the opportunity to learn and expand our knowledge base,” Senator Capito said.

Individual EPA award details listed below:

  • $600,000 in EPA funding to the WV DEP (Charleston, W.Va.) to carry out its program to maintain, protect, and improve the water quality of its rivers, lakes, streams, groundwater, and other waterbodies. 
  • $47,000 in EPA funding to the WV DEP (Charleston, W.Va.) to assist the WV DEP’s Underground Storage Tank (UST) program that aims to protect the environment by preventing petroleum and hazardous substance releases.

Individual USDA award details listed below:

  • $4,799,000 in USDA Rural Development Grant and Loan Funding to the Red Sulphur Public Service District (Peterstown, W.Va.) to extend the Red Sulphur Public Service District's (PSD) waterline to over 80 new customers on Adair, Little Rich Creek, and Pinhook Roads. These areas have population densities to progress a water line extension project that would bring new residential customers to the PSD and provide safe drinking water to citizens within the proposed project.
  • $1,600,000 in USDA Rural Development Grant and Loan Funding to the Town of Triadelphia, W.Va. to upgrade the sewer collection system for the town of Triadelphia, West Virginia. There are 50 damaged system-line locations needing repair. The project also will replace and repair various service lateral lines, manholes, and features. The collection system currently has excessive inflow and infiltration causing a range of costly environmental issues. The project will provide the town with a collection system substantially less prone to inflow and infiltration.
  • $1,100,000 in USDA Rural Development Grant and Loan Funding to the Town of Wardensville, W.Va. to make upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant and lift stations; conduct a study of system inflow and infiltration; and install a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system for the wastewater collection and treatment system of the Town of Wardensville, W.Va. The system serves 373 households and small businesses within the corporate limits and several adjacent areas.  
  • $940,000 in USDA Rural Development Loan Funding to the Claywood Park Public Service District (Davisville, W.Va.) to upgrade Claywood Park Public Service District's waterlines in the Dutch Ridge Road and Meadville Road areas of Wood County. These communities have grown and established themselves around the existing waterlines. By increasing the waterline size, the district will also be able to provide fire protection to these communities.
  • $814,000 in USDA Rural Development Grant Funding to the Mason County Public Service District (Point Pleasant, W.Va.) to improve the Mason County Public Service District sewer system. The project includes approximately 82,000 linear feet of gravity and pressure sewer; 180 grinder pumps; five lift stations; and 16,600 linear feet of transmission force main. It will provide a centralized sewer system collecting and transmitting from the project area to the district's Camp Conley wastewater treatment plant.

DOI award details listed below:

  • $1,450,000 in NPS funding to the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve to restore 500 acres at 16 Abandoned Mine Land (AML) sites where legacy mining impacts have left the land unable to support native forest and/or are responsible for major erosion and sedimentation.
  • $460,000 in NPS funding to the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve for coalfield restoration research with a focus on AML restoration effects on water quality and aquatic or semi-aquatic species/communities to directly inform future mine restoration activities.
  • $420,000 in NPS funding to the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve for coke oven stabilization, restoration, and hazard mitigation.
  • $21,000 in NPS funding to the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve to construct physical safety closures on 13 abandoned mine adits and remove old mining equipment and debris on a 3-mile section of mine bench in Gauley River National Recreation Area.

DOJ award details listed below:

  • $450,000 DOJ Grant to the City of Bluefield, W.Va. to support the planning and assessment process to develop a continuum of care with a focus on positive youth development, prevention, diversion, and treatment services for youth in Mercer County, W.Va. The target population is youth between the ages of 4-18 with a special priority of the Black population in Bluefield. This includes planning and assessing promising and evidence-based prevention and intervention services over an 18-month timeline that will inform the development of a community-based continuum of care for youth at risk of becoming or already involved in the juvenile justice system. Additionally, within the continuum of care plan, economic impact strategies will be outlined to provide cost savings to be reinvested in the community.

Commerce award details listed below:

  • $70,000 EDA Grant to Region 11 Council (Weirton, W.Va.) to support the development and implementation of a comprehensive economic development strategy (CEDS) for the region served by the Region 11 Council. The CEDS process is designed to bring together the public and private sectors in the creation of an economic development roadmap to diversify and strengthen the regional economy.

NSF award details listed below:

  • $371,990 NSF EPSCoR grant to WVU (Morgantown, W.Va.) to support a project titled "REU Site: Undergraduate Research in Applied Analysis at West Virginia University."
  • $328,317 NSF EPSCoR grant to WVU (Morgantown, W.Va.) to support a project titled "Collaborative Research: Understanding the impacts of an ongoing megadrought: Synthesizing the role of soil moisture in driving ecosystem fluxes from site to regional scales."
  • $252,331 NSF EPSCoR grant to WVU (Morgantown, W.Va.) to support a project titled “Family of Origin, Geographic Constraints, and Career Intentions of Graduate Students in the Sciences.”

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