News from  the
Center for Environmental Finance
                Advancing sustainable finance and technology solutions
                        vxEPA
                             Office of the Chief
                             Financial Officer
                                July 2011
                             Volume 2, Issue 2
 The Environmental Financial Advisory Board Meets in
 Alexandria, VA for Bi-Annual Meeting
 The members of the Environmental Financial Advisory
 Board (EFAB), an independent and federally chartered ad-
 visory committee, gathered in Alexandria, VA March 8-9,
 2011 for their much-anticipated bi-annual meeting. The
 purpose of the meeting was to discuss progress on work
 projects under EFAB's current  Strategic Action Agenda
 and to hear from  informed speakers on environmental
 finance issues, proposed legislation, and  EPA priorities.
 EFAB provides the Agency with advice on topics ranging
 from financing environmental technologies to leveraging
 funds for public environmental programs and services.

 The meeting began with a discussion led by an Environ-
 mental Finance Center Network (EFCN) panel on effective
 public-private partnerships for  financing environmental
 protection. The EFCN is a network often university-based
 organizations providing communities across the  nation
 with innovative technical assistance in the area of envi-
 ronmental finance.  This discussion included updates from
 the EFCN about the network's environmental protection
 and community outreach work, including projects directly
 supporting EPA's priorities of improving air quality, pro-
 tecting America's waters, and cleaning up communities.

 EPA's Chief Financial Officer, Barbara Bennett, presented
 EPA's FY 2011-2012 budget priorities. She articulated the
 Administrator's goal to further her environmental  priori-
 ties while the Agency participates in the budget negotia-
 tions and planning necessary to implement those priorities
with less funding. After fielding questions, Bennett hon-
ored departing members of the Board.

Various workgroup chairpersons reported on their recent
activities around topics of implementation of the Voluntary
Environmental Improvement Bond and Property Assessed
Clean Energy programs, financing clean air technology,
tribal financing, and sustainable communities. Represen-
tatives from EPA's Office of Policy made a presentation to
the Board requesting assistance on financing sustainable
communities, and representatives from the Office of Inter-
national and Tribal Affairs made a presentation on financ-
ing tribal environmental programs.
                 pcoming Events
  August 23: Webinar: Local Government's Role in
  the Product Stewardship Movement
  http://efc.syracusecoe.org/efc/events.html?skuvar=29

  September 7-8:  GSA Federal Advisory Committee
  Act Conference, DC Convention Center, Washington,
  DC
  www.facatrainingconference.com

  October:  Webinar:  Environmental Financial Advi-
  sory Board Meeting
  www.epa.gov/efinpage
 A complete summary of the meeting can be read at www.epa.gov/efinpage. The next EFAB Meeting is scheduled for mid-October
 2011.

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  State Revolving Fund Investment Option can be  Used to
  Leverage Funds
  In support of EPA's priority to protect
  America's waters,  the Environmental
  Financial Advisory Board (EFAB) was
  pleased to submit for Agency consider-
  ation its report "SRF Investment Func-
  tion:  Current Status and  Prospects for
  Enhancing Sustainability." This is the
  latest of 23 reports the Board has sub-
  mitted to EPA in the area of clean water
  financing in the past decade. In this SRF
  report, EFAB  acknowledged that the
  State Revolving Funds (SRFs) for clean
  water and drinking  water are structured
  to allow states substantial flexibility in
  the design of individual state programs
  and highlighted ways that states could
  take advantage of  opportunities made
  possible by that flexibility. The Board
  found that states vary widely in their
 use  of investments to support the
 SRF mission.

 The Board  emphasized  that  EPA
 could add value to the SRFs by pro-
 moting  leveraging models  among
 EPA regions and state administrators
 and looking at the asset side of the
 SRF balance sheet. EFAB recom-
 mended that EPA undertake a review
 of the SRF investment authority and
 support the  broadest governing pa-
 rameters  consistent with federal law
 to encourage and expand the use of
 investment strategies by state admin-
 istrators and EPA regional offices to
maximize both current and future
SRF  funding  capacity.  Enhanced
SRF funding capacity would allow
states and EPA regional offices to
more effectively protect America's
waters.
 To read the full report, please visit http://www.epa.gov/efmpage/efabpub.htm.
  Finance Tool Spotlight:   Solar Home  Electric  Systems Financed
  Through Microcredit
  Grameen Shakti, one of the largest and
  fastest growing rural  based renewable
  energy companies in  the world, has a
  Solar Home  Systems (SHSs) financ-
  ing program  that awards microloans.
  Through the  SHSs program, Grameen
  Shakti works  to connect renewable en-
  ergy  technology and  microcredit for
  individuals and communities in rural
  Bangladesh. Specifically, microcredit is
a financing tool that can be used to
help make income generating proj-
ects  possible  in  developing coun-
tries, including environmentally sus-
tainable ones. Through microcredit,
small loans  called  microloans are
extended to cash poor entrepreneurs,
who lack verifiable  credit history.
This opens up new opportunities for
them to make home improvements
and start businesses.

Grameen Shakti's  SHSs  program
provides  families and  individuals
with the opportunity to improve their
quality of life through participat-
ing in income  generating activities
and taking advantage of economies
of scale.  Through the micro-utility
model, one entrepreneur installs the
system,  financed  by  a microloan
from Grameen Shakti, and  shares
the load with neighbors. The owner
of the system collects rents from the
users of the system. More than 1,000
micro-utility systems are operating in
rural Bangladesh, providing electric-
ity for homes, schools, and business-
es and helping people earn income in
an environmentally sustainable way.
                                     For more information on financing tools, please access our publications, Guidebook
                                     on Financial Tools or International Environmental Finance Tools, available at
                                     http://www. epa.gov/efinpage/guidebook. htm.
Center for Environmental Finance Newsletter •  July 2011 •  EPA-190-N-11-002
                                                             Page 2

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