Gov. Evers, DNR Announce Launch of Two New Grant Programs to Ensure Safe, Clean Drinking Water Statewide

“After years of fighting for these funds, I am jazzed to join the DNR in launching the first grant programs authorized under the two bipartisan laws I was proud to sign earlier this year to release the $125 million PFAS Trust Fund and help remove PFAS from our water once and for all,” said Gov. Evers. “This is an exciting day that has been a long time coming, and these programs will have lasting impact on communities and private well owners across the state. I look forward to continuing this work in the months and years ahead and ensuring all Wisconsinites, regardless of their ZIP code, can trust that the water coming from their taps is safe.”

While developing these new programs, the DNR gathered feedback about potential implementation from a variety of individuals and entities through a series of listening sessions, meetings with partner groups, and an online survey. Staff considered all feedback and strived to incorporate it into the PFAS Community Grants Sampling Program to ensure these grant programs effectively support a wide range of community needs.

“DNR staff considered the requirements of the law and the public input we received while working to develop these programs,” said DNR Secretary Karen Hyun. “We wanted these programs to efficiently support municipalities pursuing funding.”

PFAS Community Grants Sampling Program
The PFAS Community Grants Sampling Program provides eligible municipalities with funding to sample for PFAS in private wells, public water supplies at eligible schools and child care facilities, and wastewater and other eligible materials at treatment plants. Municipalities are broadly defined by these laws and include counties, cities, villages or towns, Tribal governing bodies, utility or sewerage districts, lake protection districts, and technical college districts. The DNR will accept applications for Cycle A of the PFAS Community Grants Sampling Program for approximately six months. Communities that need additional time to develop sampling plans and submit an application for grant funding will be able to apply in additional grant cycles.

Each municipality will design and implement its own sampling program that reflects the needs and priorities of the community. Municipalities that find PFAS contamination in public water systems may be able to apply for funding through existing DNR funding programs to install treatment systems or construct new wells. 

Wisconsin PFAS Private Well Testing Program 
The WisPPWT will allow private well owners and users to sample their private well for PFAS if they do not reside within a municipality that is pursuing a community grant. Once the private well owner or user is confirmed to be eligible for PFAS sampling through WisPPWT, the Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene (WSLH) will ship a home sample kit to their residence. The private well owner or user will collect a water sample and ship it back to the WSLH using a pre-paid shipping label. Many local municipalities are also taking advantage of funding available to expand sampling efforts. Due to limited funding, private well owners and users who are interested in sampling their well for PFAS are encouraged to contact their local officials about community-based plans for PFAS sampling.

The PFAS Community Grants Sampling Program is funded from the governor’s $79 million investment in community-based programs in Acts 200 and 201, and the WisPPWT program is funded from a $10 million allocation in the same bills. In addition to programs being announced today, the DNR is also working to update or launch additional grant programs, which will be announced in the coming months. Grants for sampling irrigation wells, agriculture, and landfill leachate for PFAS, as well as dedicated funding for PFAS-related efforts at public airports, are expected to be available in 2027.

Acts 200 and 201 also added $35 million to the state’s Well Compensation Grant Program and expanded eligibility thresholds so more households and businesses will be eligible for funding. Private well owners or users who find PFAS contamination through either of the two new programs announced today may also be able to apply for funding through the expanded Well Compensation Grant Program to install a new treatment system, construct a new well, or connect to a public water supply.

ADDITIONAL EVERS ADMINISTRATION EFFORTS TO ENSURE WISCONSINITES HAVE ACCESS TO CLEAN, SAFE DRINKING WATER FREE FROM PFAS

Last month, Gov. Evers kicked off the first-ever PFAS Awareness Week, during which the governor and the DNR encouraged Wisconsinites to explore the DNR’s website for resources about PFAS and the PFAS Interactive Data Viewer to learn about how PFAS may impact local communities statewide. Throughout the week, DNR informed Wisconsinites about PFAS, how Wisconsinites are exposed to PFAS through water, fish and wildlife, and consumer products, and specific actions that individuals can take to reduce their exposure and potential risk. 

However, ensuring Wisconsinites have clean, safe drinking water straight from their tap has been a top priority for Gov. Evers since Day One. Gov. Evers declared 2019 the Year of Clean Drinking Water and has spent the entirety of his two terms as governor fighting for efforts to address PFAS contamination, proposing numerous comprehensive plans to protect Wisconsinites from PFAS in drinking, ground, and surface water. The Evers Administration enacted the first statewide standards for PFAS in surface and drinking water and has proposed groundwater standards multiple times despite Republican obstruction. Thanks to the Evers Administration’s continued efforts, the DNR’s Natural Resources Board is slated to vote on a proposed rule to establish groundwater standards for PFAS next week. Gov. Evers also secured a historic $125 million investment of state funding in the 2023-25 Biennial Budget to assist homeowners and communities in addressing PFAS contamination, only for Republicans in the Legislature to block the DNR from accessing this funding for over two years. 

Months later, in his 2025-27 Executive Budget, Gov. Evers once again recommended a comprehensive plan to address PFAS contamination across surface, drinking, and groundwater. Among other provisions, the governor’s proposal recommended allowing the full balance of the PFAS Trust Fund to be utilized by the DNR, with special attention made to protect innocent landowners, as well as the adoption of major policies in the CLEAR Act, including exempting DNR rulemaking relating to setting enforceable PFAS standards from the REINS Act. Unfortunately, Republican lawmakers removed all of the governor’s proposals to address PFAS contamination from the final budget.

Gov. Evers also recently celebrated the state budget committee’s release of $10 million from the state’s PFAS Trust Fund to help provide safe, clean drinking water to families and communities impacted by contamination from Tyco Fire Products LP’s Fire Technology Center. The release of the funds comes as, in August, Gov. Evers and DNR formally requested the Wisconsin State Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance release the approximately $10 million payment that Tyco made as part of the June 2026 settlement agreement that resolved State of Wisconsin v. Tyco Fire Products LP, which marked one of the first efforts to hold polluters accountable for PFAS contamination caused in Marinette. After pressure from Gov. Evers, lawmakers finally acted on the request. Now that the funding has been released to the Evers Administration, it will be used to provide clean, safe drinking water to those who have had their water polluted by PFAS contamination in the area, as well as testing and replacing contaminated wells and installing treatment systems. 

In addition to these efforts, in March, Gov. Evers also approved new changes to bring the state’s current drinking water standards in line with federal limits for PFAS, reducing the state’s threshold for PFOA and PFAS contamination in drinking water from 70 parts per trillion (ppt) to a new enforceable standard of 4.0 ppt—an effort that will significantly improve drinking water quality for Wisconsinites. However, the Trump Administration has recently tried to roll back some of these standards, making statewide action to protect Wisconsinites from PFAS even more significant.  

PFAS are a group of human-made chemicals used for decades in numerous products, including non-stick cookware, fast food wrappers, stain-resistant sprays, and certain types of firefighting foam. During manufacturing, use, and disposal of materials that contain PFAS, these chemicals have reached the environment where they resist degradation. As PFAS cycle through the land, air, and water, they can accumulate in the bodies of humans and wildlife and may cause adverse health impacts.