The National Rural Water Association, headquartered in Duncan, Oklahoma, has been selected through a competitive grants process to establish a regional Environmental Finance Center (EFC) to serve the USEPA Region 8 states, which include Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. USEPA says the EFC will provide multi-media environmental finance expertise and outreach to regulated communities such as States, Tribes, local governments, and private sector entities to help them meet environmental requirements.
USEPA says the objective of establishing an EFC is to help the regulated parties in these communities find effective and innovative ways to address the growing costs of protecting public health and the environment in a sustainable and equitable manner.
Under this program, the EFC will provide finance-related training, technical assistance, finance studies, and other eligible services to develop sustainable solutions to the critical “how-to-pay” issues associated with meeting environmental standards and goals. The EFC will also provide education on lowering costs, increasing investments, improving financial capacity, encouraging full cost pricing, and identifying and evaluating financing options.
To access additional information from USEPA about the EFC, click here.