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Clean Water Act Section 319

EPA has released the final Nonpoint Source Program and Grants Guidelines for States and Territories. These guidelines are applicable for FY 2014 and subsequent section 319 grant awards. They replace the guidelines that had been in effect since the FY 2004 grant cycle.

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Background Information

The 1987 amendments to the Clean Water Act (CWA) established the Section 319 Nonpoint Source Management Program. Section 319 addresses the need for greater federal leadership to help focus state and local nonpoint source efforts. Under Section 319, states, territories and tribes receive grant money that supports a wide variety of activities including technical assistance, financial assistance, education, training, technology transfer, demonstration projects and monitoring to assess the success of specific nonpoint source implementation projects.

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Applying for and Administering 319 Grants

A photo of a clear lake.The Section 319 Nonpoint Source Management Program provides funding to states, territories and tribes to mitigate nonpoint source pollution. (Photo courtesy of NRCS)

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Current Section 319 Grant Guidance

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Past Section 319 Grant Guidance

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Reports and Project Summaries

  • A National Evaluation of the Clean Water Act Section 319 Program (November 2011) - This national program evaluation was conducted by EPA to improve understanding of how states utilize and leverage their 319 funds to achieve nonpoint source management program goals and to identify opportunities for improvement of the 319 program.
  • Section 319 Nonpoint Source Success Stories - This site demonstrates the successful implementation of the Section 319 Clean Water Act Nonpoint Source program. The site provides examples of successful solutions to a variety of water quality problems caused by nonpoint source pollution.
  • Section 319 Final Project Reports - This document describes the purpose of Section 319 final reports, the information that should be included in the report, examples of especially effective elements from 319 reports, and ways to expand the final report to be used for outreach and education, building partnerships and many other uses.
  • Section 319 National Monitoring Program Exit - Projects that comprise a small subset of NPS pollution control projects funded under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act as amended in 1987. The goal of the program is to support 20–30 watershed projects nationwide that meet a minimum set of project planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation requirements designed to lead to successful documentation of project effectiveness with respect to water quality protection or improvement.
  • Section 319 Nonpoint Source National Monitoring Program Successes and Recommendations (November 2000, pre-print) (PDF) (36 pp, 2.2MB, About PDF) Exit - The Section 319 National Monitoring Program projects have quantified water quality improvements from nonpoint source controls and strengthened strategies for effective future watershed programs. Highlights are given from 23 Section 319 National Monitoring Program projects.
  • Nonpoint Sources: Picking Up the Pace - EPA's Draft Proposed National Strategy for Strengthening Nonpoint Source Management, prepared for Presentation by EPA at the Wye River Conference Center to a Meeting of Stakeholders in the National Nonpoint Source Program on October 14, 1997. (Archived.)
  • Building Capacity for Nonpoint Source Management (September 2003) - The case studies included in this document from September 2003 highlight watershed groups, local governments, and organizations engaged in innovative approaches for building capacity, such as group building and organization (establishing partnerships and soliciting volunteers), organizing capital resources and fiscal management (obtaining private grants and federal funding), and using technical and specialized resources (using experts, developing innovative projects, procuring office space and equipment, etc.).
  • Nonpoint Source Minigrants (May 2001) - This report from May 2001 describes mini-grants programs used by various states, local agencies, and non-profit organizations to implement efforts to address nonpoint source pollution and to protect or restore watersheds. Many of these are implemented as sub-awards, through state grant or contract mechanisms, of funds received by the state as part of an EPA grant under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act. Others are purely state-funded. In addition, the report closes with some examples of similar mini-grants used by estuary programs in the National Estuary Program under Section 320 of the CWA. The report is a product of the Grants Workgroup of the state-EPA Nonpoint Source Partnership.

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Nonpoint Source Program Contacts and Websites for States, Territories, Tribes and EPA Regions

The Where You Live page contains lists of nonpoint source program contacts for states, territories, tribes and EPA Regions as well as links to state, territory and EPA Regional websites.

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