Charleston Leader

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a leader on the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced grants from various federal agencies and organizations to fund projects she championed in West Virginia. These projects encompass healthcare, education, research, environmental cleanup, infrastructure, economic development, and drug use prevention.

Senator Capito, Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS), highlighted several grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). These include $7.1 million for maternal and early childhood home visiting programs to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (WV DHHR) in Charleston; $2.5 million to First Choice Services Inc., also in Charleston; and $2.4 million for surveillance and laboratory science grants to WV DHHR.

Additional HHS funding includes $1.6 million for preventive health services block grants to WV DHHR; $1.6 million for maternal and child health services; $270,458 for rural health care outreach at West Virginia University (WVU) in Morgantown; $228,000 for machine learning frameworks at WVU; $199,122 for substance abuse prevention in Hampshire County; $169,703 for pediatric mental care access at WV DHHR.

Senator Capito also secured funding from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) with grants totaling approximately $310,000 allocated to Marshall University in Huntington and WVU for workplace safety education.

Environmental projects received substantial support through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS). Notable allocations include over $35 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funds to support water infrastructure loans via the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WV DEP); nearly $13 million for clean water state revolving funds; over $7 million for drinking water state revolving funds; among other significant EPA-funded initiatives aimed at addressing emerging contaminants.

Homeland security efforts were bolstered by numerous Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) preparedness grant awards amounting to hundreds of thousands distributed across various institutions including religious organizations like Camp Torah Inc., Emmanuel Baptist Church DBA: Emmanuel Christian School in Clarksburg, Enslow Park Presbyterian Church in Huntington among others.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded several academic research grants totaling over $1.6 million to WVU covering topics such as biometric systems fairness enhancement and astrophysics research pathways.

Energy sector investments included a notable grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), with nearly a million dollars allocated to IN-2-Market Inc., based in Follansbee for hydrogen project development.

Transportation infrastructure improvements were supported by over $22 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), targeting runway extensions at Morgantown Municipal Airport along with extensive road repair efforts following recent storm damage across northern West Virginia.

Economic development was further promoted through substantial contributions from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), including a notable allocation of nearly three million dollars towards constructing new hangars at Greenbrier Airport Authority in Lewisburg.

Victim support programs benefited from significant funding through the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), providing over six million dollars directed towards assisting victims of crime under GO33 Justice and Community Services initiatives based out of Charleston.

Lastly, recreational facilities saw enhancements through Land and Water Conservation Fund projects funded by the National Parks Service(NPS), notably including quarter-million-dollar investments into Morgantown’s Bike Skills Pump Track renovations.