News Release from EPA Region 3

EPA Announces $4 Million in New Funding to Assist

Local Governments with Bay Cleanup

(PHILADELPHIA – March13, 2012)The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) today announced a new $4 million EPA-funded initiative providing financial and technical assistance to local governments needing to reduce water pollution to help restore the Chesapeake Bay.

“Now more than ever, the Chesapeake Bay needs the creativity, innovation and ingenuity of local governments,” said EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin.  “This new EPA funding will enable local governments to implement the best solutions to on-the-ground challenges they face in helping to restore the Bay, and share those approaches with other towns throughout the entire watershed.”

As local governments work to implement the Chesapeake Bay TMDL or ‘pollution diet,’ the Local Government Green Infrastructure Initiative will support them by making grants of up to $750,000 available.   The grants will be administered by NFWF through the Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund, and competitively awarded to local governments to design and implement projects demonstrating the integration of green infrastructure into existing programs to meet community needs and improve local waterways and the Bay.

“A growing number of local governments are viewing community improvement projects—from street and park enhancements to public facility renovations—as an opportunity to green their community and help the Bay,” said David J. O’Neill, Director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Eastern Partnership Office. “This initiative will help more local governments meet their jobs, mobility, and recreation needs, while simultaneously helping them restore local creeks and streams and the Chesapeake Bay.”

With a combination of grants and technical assistance, the initiative aims to help local governments overcome obstacles to meeting pollution reduction goals for local waters and the Bay. The Bay TMDL provides states and local governments with considerable flexibility in how they achieve these objectives.

“Local government is an important driver; able to quickly turn policy into practice,” said Harford County Councilwoman Mary Ann Lisanti, chair of the Chesapeake Bay Partnership’s Local Government Advisory Committee. “We are confident that by showcasing the good things that are happening in communities and neighborhoods that more people will be motivated to do their part”

Grants will be awarded for green infrastructure initiatives such as capital improvements, road maintenance programs, flood plain management, and other projects that produce measurable water quality improvements in local rivers and streams, and ultimately the Bay. The Bay TMDL requires approximately 25 percent reductions in nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution, with all of the of the pollution reduction measures needed for restoring the Bay in place by 2025.

“This critical program will enable local governments to design and implement projects that will achieve measurable goals in restoring the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed,” said U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee.  “It offers localities an opportunity to integrate innovative practices into already existing programs to improve efforts to clean up the Bay.”

“Protecting the Chesapeake Bay means protecting jobs,” said Congressman Ruppersberger. “The Bay generates $1 trillion for its watershed each year through fishing, tourism, higher property values and shipping. This new grant program will help local governments clean up local rivers and streams that feed into the Bay, helping to preserve this environmental and economical treasure for generations to come.”

In addition to grant awards, local governments are eligible to receive technical assistance for specific challenges they identify as barriers to improving water quality, including financing assistance, project design and implementation, and stormwater and land use management. Selected localities will represent the diverse characteristics of local governments throughout the 64,000 square-mile watershed – including rural counties, predominantly agricultural communities, rapidly growing suburban localities, smaller cities, and urban municipalities.

In partnership with the Local Government Advisory Committee, resources will also be made available for local governments to share information and experiences. Through forums and workshops, local governments will gain access to information about best practices and evolving strategies for achieving water quality goals for local waters and the Bay.

Since 2000, the Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund has offered $68.9 million in grants for over 700 projects across the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The goal of the fund is to accelerate local implementation of the most innovative, sustainable and cost-effective strategies for restoring and protecting water quality and vital habitats within the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

For more information about the Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund programs and grant opportunities, visit www.nfwf.org/chesapeake. 

Anacostia River Revitalization Fund

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 9, 2012

EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson Announces Creation of Anacostia River Revitalization Fund
 

EPA Administrator was joined by National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Mayor Vincent C. Gray and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton to announce $1 million fund

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson and David O’Neill of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) joined Mayor Vincent C. Gray and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes-Norton of the District of Columbia this morning at Marvin Gaye Park to announce the creation of The Anacostia River Revitalization Fund.  The fund, which will invest $1 million in restoration activities this year, with a total goal of investing  $5 million over the next three years, will be used protect and restore the Anacostia River and to create a national model for watershed conservation. NFWF, in partnership with EPA and the DC Department of the Environment and with funding from corporate sponsors, created the fund, which will award grants to local partnering organizations.

"Clean waters and outdoor recreation can boost urban communities' human, environmental and economic health," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "Through the Anacostia River Revitalization Fund, we're able to partner with state and local government agencies, private foundations and corporate sponsors to make the most of our resources and ensure our restoration efforts are as effective as possible."

“We are proud to be a partnering with EPA, the DC government, and our corporate sponsors to help restore this important river – for fish and wildlife, for clean water, for the residents of DC and for its neighborhoods where people live, work and play,” said David O’Neill of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. “It is our goal to build this Fund so that it attracts new investments that will accelerate the restoration of the Anacostia and result in meaningful and measurable improvements to the river and to the communities that rest along its banks.”

"I'm excited and pleased that the Environmental Protection Agency is joining the District of Columbia and regional partners in our ongoing efforts to revitalize the Anacostia River," D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray said. "This important natural resource was neglected for too many years -- but it is central to our city's geography and increasingly to its identity as a beautiful, sustainable, livable city with miles of waterfront ripe for public use and private development."

“This important funding comes at a critical time, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the District and Maryland in the early stages of implementation of the 10-year Anacostia River cleanup plan mandated by my bill, the Anacostia Watershed Initiative Act”, said Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton. These funds will move the District forward with the message that the city is serious about cleaning up the Anacostia River.”  
Specific grant selection criteria will be mutually agreed upon by NFWF, EPA, DDOE and other funding partners.  Priority will be given to projects focused on key tenants of the fund – improving water quality in the Anacostia River and its tributaries; achieving habitat restoration priorities for the Anacostia; engaging, employing and educating local residents and businesses; connecting the public to the Anacostia and its tributaries through enhanced outdoor recreation and volunteer opportunities; leveraging public and private funding to make the greatest conservation impact; and emphasizing the neighborhood benefits of watershed restoration to local economic development, public health, livability and as a neighborhood asset.

The establishment of the Anacostia River Restoration Fund is another step in advancing President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors (AGO) Initiative. Through AGO, the administration is opening up access to millions of acres for recreation, designating thousands of miles of new land and water trails, increasing youth employment in conservation jobs, helping parks and green space become more accessible and clean in urban areas, and making historic investments in large landscapes such as the Everglades.

The Anacostia River is one of seven pilot locations as part of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership, an innovative union of 11 federal agencies, led by EPA, that focus on both natural resources and economic development and aims to use environmental restoration to protect people’s health and maximize economic growth.

Today’s announcement in Anacostia is one of several conservation announcements made nationwide over the past two weeks as part of the White House Conference on Conservation—Growing America’s Outdoor Heritage and Economy.  Last Friday’s conference convened hundreds of boaters, hunters, anglers, farmers, ranchers, land conservationists, historic preservationists, outdoor recreationists, small business owners, local governments, tribal leaders and other key stakeholders, strengthening partnerships and identifying next steps in tackling issues surrounding conservation and the great outdoors in urban cities and rural communities. During the conference, Washington, DC Mayor Vincent Gray participated in a panel discussion led by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley, highlighting the importance of rivers and clean water to our cities.