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Welcome to the latest edition of the EFC eNews! Inside, you'll find recent news from EPA and other partners and organizations on environmental policy and issues, new publications, funding opportunities, and events.
News

Date: March 27, 2014 | 10:00am-2:30pm  

Location: Onondaga Lake Visitors Center

Cost: $30.00 

 

This EFC Technical Assistance Partnership Forum (TAPF) will feature panel discussions and presentations on Onondaga Lake water quality habitat improvements, state and federal funding updates, as well as financing. Participants include community representatives and technical assistance providers.

 

Learn More & Register 
2013 Community Summit on Green Infrastructure featured in blog by EPA leadership
 
A December entry in "EPA Connect" highlights Acting Assistant Administrator Nancy Stoner's experiences at the 2013 Community Summit on Green Infrastructure held in Syracuse in October. The summit was hosted by Onondaga County in partnership with the EPA, and facilitated by EFC.  

 

She emphasized that the GI summit provided an opportunity for communities across the country to share GI experiences and innovations while
reinforcing Infrastructure Community Partnerships.
 
The EPA Connect blog features regular posts from EPA's leadership across the country and spanning all program areas on a range of topics of importance to the agency. 
 
 
PARCC Associate Mark Lichtenstein has been accepted to the National Roster of Environmental Conflict Resolution Professionals. As Executive Director of the SyracuseCoE Center for Sustainable Community Solutions, Mark is the only Syracuse-based professional on this select list of experts who resolve environmental disputes and support collaborative solutions to complex public issues.

  

The National Roster of Dispute Resolution and Consensus Building Professionals provides ready access to information on experienced environmental conflict resolution and consensus building professionals around the country.  

  

Learn More 

Your response helps us help New York State local governments.

 

Complete the ONLINE SURVEY and be entered into a raffle to win free registration for two community representatives to EFC's Local Leadership Conference in Blue Mountain Lake, NY on April 22-24, 2014!    

 

Learn More   
State and six capital region communities adopt plan to improve Hudson River water quality 
 
The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation recently announced that it will be working with six Capital Region communities to reduce the amount of combined sewer overflows (CSOs) discharged into the Hudson River. This $136 million Long-Term Control Plan will improve Hudson River water quality through completion of green infrastructure projects and upgraded sewer systems. 
 
These projects will bring Albany Pool and Rensselaer and Albany County Sewer Districts into compliance with New York State water quality standards and federal Clean Water Act requirements.
 
Workshops, Trainings & Webinars
Registration for Smart Management for Small Communities is filling up! Register now to reserve your place.

Date: April 22-24, 2014
Location: Minnowbrook Conference Center
Blue Mountain Lake, NY 

Training Topics Include: 

- Funding Projects: Finance tools and grant writing, the REDC's and you, state and federal funding roundtable

- Process Facilitation: Leadership training; community engagement; rural, character-based zoning and planning

- Environmental Projects: Agriculture and water resources, disaster mitigation

  

Please contact Brad DeFrees at  bdefrees@syracusecoe.org for more information.

Learn More
Register Now  
Construction Materials Management Center offers free construction materials management training  

Date: February 19, 8:00am-noon Register
Location: Syracuse Builders Exchange, Syracuse  
 
The NYS Construction Materials Management Center at SyracuseCoE is offering its introductory course, "Introduction to Construction Materials Management: LEAN Strategies for Safe Profitable Job Sites" free of charge at the Syracuse Builders Exchange.

Designed for the building industry, this course teaches LEAN principles to reduce waste in all forms, with emphasis on construction materials management--a comprehensive approach to reduce and eliminate physical waste from construction and demolition activities from landfill or incineration by waste reduction, reuse, recycling and conversion technologies. 
  
CEU's available 3.5 AIA LU | 3.5 GBCI CE | 1.5 PIE PDH 
 
GreeningUSA Green Bag Lunch series presents Public Health Sustainability Forum  

 

Date: February 14 | 12:00pm - 1:30pm
Location: Syracuse Center of Excellence
727 East Washington Street, Room 203
Cost: Free  

 

GreeningUSA and the SyracuseCoE Center for Sustainable Community Solutions invite community members and experts to a "green bag lunch" forum on sustainable public health, including accessible health care, preventive care, healthy outdoor activities and more. Please bring your lunch, and coffee and water will be available.       

 

Confirmed Speakers:   

Cheryl Pusztai, Executive Director of the Downtown YMCA and leader of Healthy Syracuse   

 

2014 Green Infrastructure Free Webcast Series | Case Studies: Implementing Green Infrastructure under Enforcement Orders

March 4, 2014 
 

The US EPA will continue its free broadcast of the 2014 Green Infrastructure Webcast Series on March 4th with a review of several case studies on the implementation of Green Infrastructure under Enforcement Orders.

 

Presenting will be Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells, Manager of Watershed Programs, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District and Andy Shively, Engineering Officer, Kansas City, MO, Water Services Department. 

 

This series is generally intended for public officials and practitioners just beginning to implement green infrastructure and enhance established programs. 

 
Funding Opportunities

Approximately $20.4 million in New York State Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) funding is available through 2015 to support the installation and operation of Anaerobic Digester Gas (ADG)- to-Electricity Systems in New York State.  

 

Funding is available on a first-come, first-served basis; up to $2 million is available per project, depending on the project specifications. Application Packages must be received by NYSERDA on or before 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time on December 31, 2015 or prior to the exhaustion of the available funding, whichever comes first.

 

Tools & Publications
Archived Asset Management For Small Water Systems Webinar Series available online 

 

Shared in collaboration with the Environmental Finance Center National Network (EFCN), this webinar series is now available on the EFC website. The series will help small water systems utilities answer the question, "How can we spend our limited dollars to have the greatest impact?" The EFC has made available on its website a number of recordings and presenations from past webinars. 

 

In This Issue 

Save the Date: Technical Assistance Partnership Forum (TAPF) on Onondaga Lake Improvements
2013 Community Summit on Green Infrastructure Featured in EPA Connect: The Official Blog of EPA's Leadership
PARCC Associate Mark Lichtenstein accepted to the National Roster of Environmental Conflict Resolution Professionals
Community Needs Survey Reminder: Input still needed from local governments
State and six capital region communities adopt plan to improve Hudson River water quality
Register Now for EFC's Local Leadership Conference at Minnowbrook
CMMC Offers Free Construction Materials Management Training Across NYS
Climate Change Conference: Adaptation & Building Resiliency in our Communities
Climate Change Conference: Adaptation & Building Resiliency in our Communities
Renewable Portfolio Standard funding available for Anaerobic Digester Gas-to-Electricity Systems
Archived Asset Management For Small Water Systems Webinar Series available online

Calendar

GreeningUSA and SyracuseCoE CSCS
Green Bag Lunch on Public Health
February 14, 2014
Syracuse, NY

Construction Materials Management Center
 
US Environmental Protection Agency
March 4, 2014
 

Onondaga County Planning Federation

26th Annual Planning Symposium 

March 14, 2014 

  

The Craftsmanship Center Essential Grant Skills Training
March 18 & 19, 2014
Salamanca, NY 
April 22-24, 2014 
Blue Mountain Lake, NY 

Funding 

Best Urban BMP in the Bay Award
Chesapeake Stormwater Network
Deadline: February 28, 2014

PON 2828 Renewable Portfolio Standard Customer-Sited Tier Anaerobic Digester Gas-to-Electricity
NYSERDA | Deadline: December 31, 2015 

About EFC 

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.


EFC Staff

Ana V. Arache
Program Coordinator

Tara Baron  
Project Assistant

Laura Cardoso  
Program Coordinator

Aimee Clinkhammer
Project Specialist 

Brad DeFrees

Program Coordinator

Khristopher Dodson
Associate Director

Caitlin Eger 
Project Assistant 

Kathy Forrest
Budget Administrator

Gabi Levinson   
Project Assistant

Mark Lichtenstein
Executive Director and
Principal Investigator
 
Kate Palermo
Communications Assistant

Lisa Ruggero 
Project Assistant
 
Mandy Westerdahl
Communications Manager

Melissa Young
Assistant Director

Please visit our website,  efc.syracusecoe.org, or
contact us at
Environmental Finance Center programs and projects are supported in part by funding from USDA-RD and EPA.

In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, religion, sex, and familial status.  

 

To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence avenue, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6582 (TDD).  

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To reach us via the NYS Relay Service, please dial 7-1-1. If you are calling from within Syracuse University, please dial 800-662-1220. Click here to download instructions on how to use this service.

You may also contact us via e-mail at efc@syracusecoe.org.