Sen. Jack Reed announces the grants at yesterday’s news conference.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

PROVIDENCE — Federal stimulus grants announced yesterday should lead to tens of millions of dollars flowing into communities across Rhode Island for water and sewer projects by late summer.

About $150 million in low-interest loans will be available for drinking water and sewer projects because of the federal stimulus legislation, according to Anthony B. Simeone, executive director of the Rhode Island Clean Water Finance Agency.

Rhode Island also is receiving about $44 million for home weatherization and renewable energy projects, but there was no information yesterday on how or when that money will be spent.

The broad outlines of the “green” stimulus money spending plans were offered by U.S. Sen. Jack Reed in a news conference yesterday afternoon at the Save the Bay Center, in Providence. The figure was a bit higher than estimates given by various state officials several weeks ago.

“This money will help clean Narragansett Bay and put people back to work,” Reed said.

He described three pots of money that will be available to Rhode Island in different ways.

From the stimulus bill, he said there is $26.5 million for sewer lines and wastewater treatment plants, $23.96 million for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, $20 million for low-income home weatherization and new heating and air conditioning equipment and $19.5 million for drinking water.

From the fiscal 2009 Consolidated Appropriations Bill that was passed a few weeks ago, Reed said, Rhode Island will get an additional $12.7 million for sewage and drinking water projects; $8.4 million for dredging, wastewater, flood protection and non-point pollution projects; $4.2 million for monitoring and studying Narragansett Bay and supporting an educational program at Save the Bay; and $1 million more for weatherization assistance.

Finally, Reed said, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has $170 million available nationwide for competitive grants for habitat restoration. He said Rhode Island’s many advocacy groups and educational institutions already have strong track records with habitat restoration and they should do well competing for the new grant money.

All of the water and sewer money should go through Simeone’s agency and he is already well along with plans to spend it. The energy money will go to the state’s Office of Energy Resources or its Renewable Energy Fund program. State officials have said recently that they are still awaiting spending directives from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Simeone said the state already has about $149 million in proposed sewer projects and about $20 million more in drinking water projects that are considered “shovel ready.” The state has to spend the stimulus money by next February, so it can only consider projects that are ready to go soon.

The stimulus money will allow his agency to sell about $150 million in bonds and lend the proceeds to Rhode Island communities at reduced interest rates, Simeone said. That means most of the projects ready to go should get funding, he said.

The Narragansett Bay Commission alone could use up all of the available funds, Simeone said, but state officials are more likely to distribute the money to projects in many communities.

Simeone said he didn’t know how many jobs would be created. But he did know what kinds of jobs: excavators, pipe layers, drain layers, suppliers, vehicles, equipment rentals — anything that is labor intensive.

Communities will never actually handle the federal money, Simeone said. Once their projects meet all state requirements and get under way, the communities will submit vouchers to his agency, which will then pay vendors directly.

plord@projo.com