Governor Brian Kemp (R-GA) recently announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded the State of Georgia $499,385,000 in infrastructure grants to help communities impacted by Hurricane Helene.
How will these infrastructure grants be used? This funding comes in the form of grants to strengthen the resilience of drinking water and wastewater infrastructure and respond to water-related emergencies.
This funding comes by way of the 2025 American Relief Act and will be administered by the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA).
How will communities receive these infrastructure grants? To be eligible for Helene Resilience Funding (HRF), communities must demonstrate impacts from Hurricane Helene and propose an eligible project.
These projects must be designed to reduce the risk and vulnerability of flood damage or enhance the resilience of drinking water and wastewater systems to rapid hydrologic changes or natural disasters.
What Gov. Brian Kemp had to say:
- Via Press Release: “As communities across Georgia continue to recover from the most destructive storm in state history, these funds will help accelerate that ongoing work. Georgia will be better able to weather future storms and ensure the well-being of its residents, and I want to thank EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, the Trump administration, and all those who supported the Helene Resilience Funding package.”
- Via his Official X Account: “Proud to announce the [EPA] is awarding an additional $500 million to help Georgia communities still recovering from Hurricane Helene, specifically to help restore critical water infrastructure in the hardest-hit areas.”
Further Context: When preparing to allocate this funding, GEFA issued a call for projects in the fall of 2025. A list of submitted and fundable projects is available on GEFA’s website.
GEFA also received funding under the American Relief Act to assist communities in responding to drinking water and wastewater emergencies.
The total Helene-related funding awarded to GEFA will be distributed across five categories:
- HRF wastewater: $124.9 million
- HRF decentralized wastewater: $8.96 million
- HRF drinking water: $359.5 million
- Emergency wastewater: $3.3 million
- Emergency drinking water: $2.75 million
