The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected the University of Maryland as the recipient of a six-year award to expand the work of the university’s Environmental Finance Center (EFC). The grant, one of only nine awarded nation-wide, will allow the center to develop new financing initiatives that span a wide environmental spectrum, from sustainability and green infrastructure to climate and energy issues.
The network of regional EFCs provides local communities with technical expertise to identify financing solutions for environmental activities. The EFC at the University of Maryland was first established in 1992 and has grown to be become one of the MidAtlantic region’s most important community-based technical assistance organizations. It supports communities that include Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. The center’s innovative approach to local capacity building and financing technical assistance has resulted in the development of projects and programs that inform local decision-making across the region and the country. For example, EFC is about to launch the first Municipal Online Stormwater Training (MOST) Center, which will offer innovative web-based resources on stormwater management techniques to improve the quality of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
“This new award from EPA will enable our center to continue its mission of improving the capacity of local communities to effectively protect and restore the natural resources and environmental assets that are essential for improving and maintaining quality of life,” said director Joanne Throwe. “We will use this opportunity to build on our more than 20 years of experience in developing and accelerating efficient and effective environmental financing systems and programs.”
“EPA is committed to working closely with communities to meet environmental goals that benefit public health and support local economies,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin. “The Environmental Finance Center at the University of Maryland serves as an important regional hub to support states and tribes in finding creative solutions for financing environmental activities, such as upgrading water infrastructure, establishing public-private partnerships and increasing energy efficiency and sustainability.”
With this award, the University of Maryland’s Environmental Finance Center will work directly with state and local governments to offer a variety of technical assistance resources to address multiple environmental and natural resource issues including the following:
• Establishing local and regional green infrastructure financing plans;
• Building capacity for stormwater and other environmental infrastructure systems;
• Incentivizing the creation of green jobs and green business products and services;
• Ensuring the development of resilient, secure and sustainable environmental infrastructure;
• Developing innovative public-private partnership models for environmental services, infrastructure and projects;
• Training on environmental equity and justice;
The full list of award recipients can be found here. While the exact amount of the awards depends on final congressional budget action, the President’s budget for FY 2016 requests a total of two million dollars.
For more information about the Environmental Finance Center at the University of Maryland, please visit www.efc.umd.edu.