AMHERST, M.A., Feb. 21, 2024 – During a visit to North Carolina, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is funding 216 projects in 45 states, Puerto Rico, and the Northern Mariana Islands to bring high-speed internet, state-of-the-art infrastructure, and economic growth to rural communities as part of President Biden's Investing in America agenda.
Secretary Vilsack announced the awards during the Rural Prosperity town hall at Edgecombe Community College as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s fourth Investing in America tour. Many of the projects announced today were made possible through historic investments from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.
“President Biden's Investing in America agenda is transforming our country for the better – reaching communities in every corner of the United States, including those that have too often been left behind,” Secretary Vilsack said. “The investments I'm announcing today will help us build our economy from the middle out and bottom up by bringing high-speed internet, modern infrastructure and good-paying jobs to communities in rural areas, in turn making it more possible for young people to build a good life in the communities they love, and for more Americans to find new opportunity in rural communities.”
The new projects, totaling $772.6 million in investments, will benefit more than 1 million people living in remote areas of the country by providing reliable high-speed internet access, clean, safe water, and a range of support for rural families, agricultural producers, and small businesses.
“We understand that economically and environmentally sound wastewater and waste management is critical to the prosperity of rural communities,” said Scott J. Soares, State Director USDA RD Southern New England. “Thanks to the creativity of our communities and the efforts of the Biden-Harris administration, this investment of over $22 Million will help our communities meet the challenges of the day while preparing for a more resilient future.”
Rural Water and Wastewater Infrastructure assistance in Massachusetts
USDA RD Southern New England is financing projects through the Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program by providing $3,399,000 in grants and $18,443,000 in low interest loans to help state and local governments, private nonprofits and federally recognized Tribes build and improve rural wastewater systems. The funding enables rural communities to expand access to clean and reliable drinking water, sanitary waste disposal and stormwater drainage.
• The Town of North Brookfield, MA will use a $993,000 grant and $8,952,000 in loans to provide additional funding to a wastewater treatment facility project. The project is designed to resolve health and sanitary issues and bring the town’s wastewater treatment facility into compliance with new permit requirements The existing plant does not meet treatment capacity leading to pumping and hauling of wastewater and consistently does not meet the Nitrogen limits set in the Groundwater Discharge Permit. This project will include upgrades to various facility components as well as reconfiguration of the existing facility components.
• The Town of Hatfield, MA will utilize a grant for $2,406,000 and a loan for $9,491,000 to maintain and upgrade the wastewater condition at the Hatfield treatment facility. The proposed upgrade includes a new headworks building with fine screening and grit removal, replacement of secondary clarifier mechanisms, conversion of the chlorine gas disinfection system to a hypo system, upgrades to solids handling, plant water system modifications, electrical improvements, extension of a water main to the facility, and operations building improvements. This alternative also includes emergency generators, automatic transfer switches, propane storage tanks, and fencing at nine remote pump stations.
USDA RD Southern New England is also making investments totaling $332,000 in grants through the Solid Waste Management Grants Program to help organizations provide technical assistance and training for rural communities and utilities to improve solid waste facilities. The assistance helps communities throughout Southern New England to protect their local watersheds and the health of people living in rural areas.
• The Center for EcoTechnology Inc., Pittsfield, MA will use a $239,000 grant to annually exclude 500 tons of food and building materials from entering the solid-waste management streams of rural communities. The project will support these communities by introducing resilient, restorative, and regenerative systems that focus on reduction of wasted food and construction or demolition materials. It will allow the Center for EcoTechnology Inc. (CET) to deploy this comprehensive service package to rural marketplace managers, operators, and generators.
• A Rural Development investment grant for $93,000 to Northeast Waste Management Officials Assn, Boston, MA will be used to educate and train local officials, residents, institutions, and businesses in small, rural, low-income communities how to reduce the amount of plastic products and packaging entering solid-waste management systems. The project will help reduce the purchase, use, and disposal of plastic products and packaging, and the contamination of recyclables and food waste collected for composting. It also will promote the increased amount of purchased plastics that can be reused and recycled.
USDA’s most recent Rural America at a Glance report, published in November 2023, signals that the Biden-Harris Administration’s investments in rural American infrastructure, jobs and overall recovery are working. Specifically, the report found that the rural population is growing after a decade of overall population loss, with growth of approximately a quarter percent from 2020 to 2022. It also showed that rural employment levels and annual growth rates have nearly returned to those seen in the years prior to the pandemic. In particular, the emergence of the clean energy economy is a growing employment sector, with clean energy jobs employing more than 243,000 workers in nonmetropolitan counties in 2021, and those jobs have continued to grow through the Biden-Harris Administration’s investments since. The rural population is also experiencing a decline in poverty. In 2021, 9.7 percent fewer nonmetropolitan counties experienced persistent poverty (county-level poverty rates of 20 percent or higher over the last 30 years) compared with a decade earlier.
USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs, and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety, and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, tribal, and high-poverty areas. Visit the Rural Data Gateway to learn how and where these investments are impacting rural America.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America.
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