00A00839

Description:
This agreement provides funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to support the Environmental Finance Center (EFC) at the University of Southern Maine (USM). The EFCs provide finance-related training, education, and analytical studies to help regulated parties develop solutions to the difficult 'how-to-pay' issues associated with meeting environmental standards. The EFCs educate state, tribal, and local governments and businesses on lowering environmental costs, increasing environmental investments, improving financial capacity, identifying appropriate revenue-generating mechanisms, and evaluating environmental financing options.

Activities:
The activities include:

Technical assistance support to states and local communities
Provide boots-on-the-ground technical assistance and develop local capacity to move water infrastructure needs forward to financing and implementation
Identification of disadvantaged and underserved communities to assist, and what their needs are
Transfer and replication of successful assistance approaches developed by our other Environmental Finance Centers (EFCs) in order to amplify best practices and ensure the best possible outcomes for communities nationwide.

Subrecipient:
Subawards will be used to fund multiple subawardees to carry out key portions of the work, which is described further below.

Moonshot Missions Inc. (Moonshot) shall:
Serve as in-house engineering advisor and project manager to communities receiving direct technical assistance (TA)
Provide technical oversight and value engineering support for multiple phases of projects including needs assessment, solutions identification, planning, and design.

Quantified Ventures (QV) shall:
Provide broad and direct technical assistance to communities to build capacity to identify funding and financing options (Clean Water State Revolving Fund, Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, and other bipartisan infrastructure law funding)
Support systems considering water system partnerships and consolidations and/or shared purchasing mechanisms, including related to rural water operators
Outreach and engagement, education to boards on intergenerational equity
Feedback to State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs

RCAP Solutions Northeast (RSOL) shall:
Assist in identifying small (<10K), rural underserved and disadvantaged communities that lack capacity for water infrastructure needs.
Help identify shovel-ready projects in communities and roadblocks to SRF program opportunities.
Provide outreach and coordination with Newin Partners.
Provide technical assistance and training for community members.

University of Massachusetts Boston Sustainable Solutions Lab (UMB SSL) shall:
Inform the approach for identifying and engaging underserved and disadvantaged communities.
Collaborate with TA delivery partners to ensure project designs are equitable and bring reasonable shares of benefits to disadvantaged groups.
Conduct analyses of the likely impact of projects on disadvantaged communities, including the financial impacts of projects and funding mechanisms.

University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center (UNH SC) shall:
Provide communities with stormwater retrofit design assistance

Outcomes:
The anticipated deliverables include:

Project development/stormwater designs
Specialized studies/services underway (lead lines, equity)
Preliminary engineering reports
State Revolving Fund (SRF) collaboration/coordination (identifying environmental justice (EJ) communities, Intended Use Plan (IUP) list)
Conduct analyses of the likely impact of projects on disadvantaged and underserved communities
Develop and deliver broad-reaching capacity development, training, tools, and resources to help EPA Region 1 communities access funding to implement water infrastructure improvements

Share strategic feedback with state SRF program managers to improve program implementation and outcomes.

University Of Maine System

66.203 - Environmental Finance Center Grants

EPA Region 1: Boston [EPA - RO]

Portland, Maine 04104-4864 United States

Single Zip Code

None

Infrastructure $4,317,520 (100%) percent this Cooperative Agreement was funded by the 2021 Infrastructure Act.