|
|
Happy spring! In this edition of the EFC eNews, you'll find recent news from EPA and other partners and organizations on environmental policy and issues, new publications, funding opportunities, and upcoming events. For more information on how to engage EFC, or to submit news and events, please feel free to contact us or visit our website.
Sincerely, 
Sara Pesek
Director
Environmental Finance Center |
|
|
Workshops, Trainings & Webinars
|
EPA Smart Growth Webinar: Creating a Unique Public Space
Online | April 10
3:00-4:00PM EST
On Tuesday, April 10, please join EPA's Office of Sustainable Communities, Mayor Chris Koos and Town Planner Mercy Davison from Normal, IL to discuss how the city solved a tricky traffic problem by creating a vibrant, environmentally friendly public space. The Uptown Normal Roundabout is the 2011 Civic Places category winner for EPA's National Award for Smart Growth Achievement. This webinar will focus on:
- The design of the roundabout, which manages traffic while creating inviting public space and employing landscape design techniques to capture stormwater runoff.
- Barriers the city faced in implementing the project.
- How the roundabout helped transform a problem traffic area into a popular downtown destination.
No pre-registration required. To join the webinar,
click here. Participants must also phone in. Audio is not available through the webinar. Conference Number: (866) 299-3188, Participant Code: 2025662950.
|
SWPPP Preparation and Review
Syracuse, NY | April 25
The Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) is the cornerstone of any development project's strategy for managing stormwater and demonstrating compliance with GP 0-10-001. The SWPPP document and the related Notice of Intent (NOI) are the essential communication tools between designers and regulators. This course will provide SWPPP developers and reviewers effective techniques for documenting and checking the essential elements of a SWPPP. Focus will be placed on erosion and sediment control, post construction management, runoff reduction, and maintenance requirements. Guidance for the development and review of design alternatives that may deviate from the standards will be provided.
Registration deadline is April 18, 2012. To register, click here.
|
Financing Stormwater Retrofits in Philadelphia and Beyond
A new report, "Financing Stormwater Retrofits in Philadelphia and Beyond," uses Philadelphia as a test case to explore how billions of dollars in private investment can be directed toward stormwater retrofits, saving cities money on stormwater management costs while cleaning waterways and greening communities.The full report is online here. Also, the following two blogs summarize the high points: Larry Levine's blog and Alisa Valderrama's blog. |
| EPA Launches New Green Infrastructure Website
EPA's Office of Water is pleased to announce the release of its new Green Infrastructure website to better communicate the "what, why, and how" of green infrastructure to municipalities, developers, and the general public. The site offers a wealth of publications and tools developed by EPA, state and local governments, the private sector, nonprofit organizations, and academic institutions. The new site also provides access to the latest research developed by EPA's Office of Research and Development. To explore the site, click here.
|
| Adaptation Strategies Guide for Water Utilities
The Adaptation Strategies Guide for Water Utilities is now available on EPA's website. The guide was developed under EPA's Climate Ready Water Utilities initiative to assist drinking water and wastewater utilities in gaining a better understanding of what climate
change-related impacts they may face in their region and what adaptation strategies can be used to prepare their system for those impacts. The guide contains easy-to-understand climate science and information, utility adaptation case studies, as well as an adaptation planning worksheet. To read the guide, please click here.
|
| EPA Unveils New Website on Nutrient Pollution
EPA has unveiled a new website on nutrient pollution policy and data to help individuals access information on EPA actions to reduce nutrient pollution, state efforts to develop numeric nutrient criteria, and EPA tools, data, research, and reports related to nutrient pollution. To visit the website, click here.
|
EPA Releases Document for Identifying and Protecting Healthy Watersheds
EPA recently released a new technical document titled "Identifying and Protecting Healthy Watersheds: Concepts, Assessments, and Management Approaches." This document provides state water quality and aquatic resource scientists and managers with an overview of the key concepts behind the Healthy Watersheds Initiative, which encourages states to take a strategic, systems approach to protecting healthy watersheds and preventing future water quality impairments. This document provides examples of approaches for assessing components of healthy watersheds, integrated assessment options for identifying healthy watersheds, examples of management approaches and assessment tools and sources of data. To download the document, click here.
|
The Product Stewardship Institute Seeks Municipal Officials For E-Waste Survey
The Product Stewardship Institute (PSI), a national organization working to shift the financial burden of recycling from local government to industry, is conducting a study on New York State's new electronic waste producer responsibility law as it reaches its first full year of implementation. PSI's aims are to evaluate whether the law has had its intended effects of reducing costs for government while increasing e-waste recycling rates, to assess the outcomes as they relate to convenience for residents, and to gauge the other impacts the law has had all stakeholders.
For more information, click here. If you have any questions or would like to share additional information, please contact Kate Hagemann at PSI: kate@productstewardship.us or 617-236-4771.
|
Urban Waters Federal Partnership Launches Ambassadors Program to Support Revitalizing Urban Waterways in U.S. Communities
The Urban Waters Federal Partnership, made up of 11 federal agencies, announced a program in seven cities that will accelerate and coordinate on-the-ground projects that are critical to improving water quality and public health, restoring forest resources and fostering community stewardship in urban watersheds. Sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Urban Waters Ambassadors program will work with state and local governments, non-governmental organizations and other local partners. The Urban Waters Federal Partnership is an effort to help urban and metropolitan areas, particularly those that are underserved or economically distressed, connect with their waterways and work to improve them. For the full press release, click here. |
   Looking for news, funding opportunities, and events more than once a month? Follow @EFCSyracuse
on Twitter, "Like" us on Facebook, and join our
group on LinkedIn! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Apr. 10, 2012
EPA Smart Growth Webinar
Online
Details
Apr. 10-12, 2012
Smart Management for Small Communities
Blue Mountain Lake, NY
Details
Apr. 17, 2012
Mattress Recycling Workshop
Northampton, MA
Details
Apr. 19, 2012
2012 New York State Tire Derived Aggregate (TDA) Workshop
Amherst, NY
Details
Apr. 25, 2012
SWPPP Preparation and Review
Syracuse, NY
Details
May 20-23, 2012
Strive for Sustainability Conference
Lake George, NY
Details
|
EPA:
Deadline: Apr. 10 HUD: Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grants Deadline: Apr. 10 EPA: Pollution Prevention Grants Program Deadline: Apr. 24 US Department of Commerce: Deadline: May 9 Department of Interior: FY 2012 Water & Wastewater Deadline: May 31 Helpful links for funding sources, as well as a number of published funding guides, can be found at the EFC website. |
|
Green Project Exchange
is a user-driven database that showcases innovative, environmentally focused projects from across New York State.
This month's featured project is FROM MANDY...
|
|
The Environmental Finance Center at Syracuse University facilitates the development of sustainable and resilient communities across US EPA Region 2 (New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and eight tribal nations).
Located at the SyracuseCoE Center for Sustainable Community Solutions, EFC enhances the administrative and financial capacities of state and local government officials, nonprofit organizations, and private sectors to make change toward improved environmental infrastructure and quality of life.
|
Communications and
Program Manager
Kathy Forrest
Administrative Assistant
Mark Lichtenstein
Principal Investigator
Carissa Matthews
Outreach Program Manager
Sara Pesek
EFC Director
Mandy Westerdahl
Education Program Manager
Melissa Young
Program Manager
Tara Baron
Brad DeFrees
Sam Lauritzen
|
|
|
