Wisconsin Launches First PFAS Drinking Water Grant Programs for Community Sampling and Private Well Testing
Governor Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced in Madison on October 20 the launch of the state's first two PFAS grant programs aimed at safe drinking water: the PFAS Community Grants Sampling Program and the Wisconsin PFAS Private Well Testing Program (WisPPWT). According to the governor's office, applications for the two programs are opening now.
The money comes from the state's $125 million PFAS Trust Fund. Approved in the 2023-25 biennial budget, the fund sat unspent for more than two years until the governor signed 2025 Wisconsin Acts 200 and 201 in April; with accrued interest it has grown to about $133.5 million. The governor's office said this is the first time the trust fund is reaching communities across the state in the form of grants.
The community sampling program draws on roughly $79 million in community project investment under the two acts. Its first cycle (Cycle A) runs from October 2026 through April 2027, about six months. Counties, cities, villages, towns, tribal governing bodies and utility districts may apply to develop sampling plans and test private wells, wells at schools and childcare facilities, and biosolids for PFAS. Under DNR guidance, applicants must provide a cost match of at least 20 percent.
The private well testing program is funded with $10 million under Acts 200 and 201. Private well owners can receive a sampling kit mailed by the State Laboratory of Hygiene, collect a sample and return it with prepaid postage. The two acts also add $35 million to the existing Well Compensation Grant Program and expand its eligibility, so that more households, businesses, schools and childcare facilities with contaminated wells can get help replacing a well or adding a treatment system.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are known as "forever chemicals" because they break down very slowly in the environment. Wisconsin this year tightened its drinking water limits for PFOA and PFOS from 70 parts per trillion to 4.0 ppt, in line with the federal standard. The DNR's Natural Resources Board is scheduled to meet in Madison on October 28 to vote on rule package DG-02-25, which would set numeric groundwater standards for six PFAS compounds.
In the statement, Gov. Evers said he was "jazzed to join the DNR in launching the first grant programs" to ensure safe, clean drinking water for residents statewide.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 位于 Madison 的威斯康星州议会大厦，两个拨款项目由州长与州自然资源部在此宣布。照片：Wikideas1 摄，CC0，经维基共享资源／The Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, where the governor and the DNR announced the two grant programs. Photo: Wikideas1, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
