District Receives Nearly $870,000 Federal Grant to Mitigate and Divert Harmful Pollutants from Municipal Industrial Vehicles

WASHINGTON, DC, November 30, 2021— The Department of Energy and Environment announces the District was awarded a $866,000 federal grant to help minimize pollutant leaches from municipal industrial vehicles such as snow plows, leaf vacuums, street sweepers, and trash trucks, and in turn reduce pollutant runoff into local sewers and local waterways. The grant comes from the U.S Department of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grants (OSG) Program.

Municipal industrial vehicles leach critical pollutant sources—including heavy metals, salt, oils, and sediment—onto roadways that drain into local sewers and local waterways.  The EPA funding will be used to design and construct two protective canopies for such vehicles totalling 55,100 square feet and to regrade the surrounding area where the vehicles are stored. DOEE anticipates the project will divert approximately 41,188 gallons of stormwater from these industrial vehicles.

“DOEE is proud to receive this funding as it will bolster Mayor Bowser’s ongoing efforts to make the District a greener, sustainable, more beautiful city for current and future generations,” said DOEE Director Tommy Wells. “The District is grateful for EPA’s generous support and look forward to continuing to be partners in our work to make our waterways healthier.”

The District’s stormwater improvements have an added benefit of supporting the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay. Much of the urban runoff from the District eventually runs into the Potomac River and other waterways that ultimately feed into the Chesapeake Bay.

The grant is the result of the America’s Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) of 2018. That act amended section 221 of the Clean Water Act, which reauthorized the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grants program. The amendments expanded project eligibilities to include stormwater management projects and authorized appropriations for the program. Grants are awarded to states, which will then provide sub-awards to eligible entities for projects that address infrastructure needs for sewer overflows and stormwater management.