This memorandum provides information and guidelines on how EPA will award and administer SRF Capitalization Grants appropriated to the State and Tribal Assistance Grants (STAG) account in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), also known as the “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021” (IIJA).

The City of Newark leveraged batch processing of permits for entire streets or neighborhoods as an effective strategy to reduce time spent by contractors to arrange approval prior to starting work.

The City of Newark sped up contractor timelines, advertised multiple contracts close together to lower costs, and issued varied contract sizes to support local small firms.

The city of Benton Harbor included a pay for success clause in their bid documents that provided contractors with an incentive for each day the work was completed ahead of schedule.

This playbook provides a framework for collecting data, applying a version of the lead service lines predictive analytics developed by BlueConduit, and public usage ideas for small to medium communities around developing lead pipe service line inventories.

The City of Chelsea posted a video to guide customers in identifying whether they have lead service lines in their homes.

The City of Detroit included options for contractors to use directional boring in their contract giving preference to this method to minimize impacts on customer properties.

The City of Akron partnered with Service Line Warranties of America to offer service line warranties for LSLs.

Newark’s lead service line replacement program created 500 local jobs, including 250 for previously unemployed residents. It incorporated apprenticeships and mandated local hiring and subcontracting to support community employment.

BlueConduit developed a whitepaper on using statistical methods for lead service line inventory (LSLI) and lead service line replacement (LSLR) planning in partnership with the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA).