News from the
Center for Environmental Finance
Advancing sustainable finance and technology solutions
svEPA
Office of the Chief
Financial Officer
January 2012
Volume 3, Issue 1
The Environmental Financial Advisory Board Holds Webcast
Meeting in October 2011
The Environmental Financial Advisory Board (EFAB), an
EPA advisory committee, convened its first ever Webcast
meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to hear from in-
formed speakers on environmental finance issues and EPA
priorities and to discuss progress on work projects under
EFAB's Strategic Action Agenda.
EPA Deputy Administrator, Bob Perciasepe opened the
meeting with a hearty welcome and emphasized to the
members the Agency's appreciation for the Board's advice
and recommendations over the years on a variety of pri-
orities. He commented on the importance of the Board's
current projects and its focus on financing Tribal environ-
mental programs, clean air technology, and environmental
technology and sustainable communities. He also noted
the financial and economic challenges that lie ahead for
the Agency and that he is looking forward to the Board's
forthcoming findings and recommendations. The Board
also heard from Chief Financial Officer Barbara Bennett,
who addressed the membership on funding EPA's priori-
ties in fiscal years 2012 and 2013.
The Board discussed major policy issues and requests for
Board input from EPA headquarters and regional program
offices. A total of nine requests for assistance were re-
ceived that reflected a variety of programs and areas of
interest across the Agency. With three ongoing projects
already underway, the Board chose to add four new proj-
ects to its agenda that were most urgent Agency priorities
and within the scope of its charter. The four projects are:
Drinking Water Pricing and Infrastructure Investment; Fi-
nancing Green Infrastructure (water); Energy Efficiency/
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions; and Sustainabil-
ity of Tribal Environmental Infrastructure. The Board will
convene working groups to address the Agency's charges
and develop recommendations for consideration and im-
plementation.
pcoming Events
February 22: Webinar: EPA Region 8 Energy
servation and Water Conservation
http://www.epa.gov/region8/tribalschools/
March 20-21: Environmental Financial Advisory
Board Meeting, Washington, DC
http://www.epa.gov/envirofinance/efab.html
March 22: Environmental Financial Advisory Board
Transit-Oriented Development Workshop, Washing-
ton, DC
http://www.epa.gov/envirofinance/efab.html
April 13: Maryland Department of the Environment
Clean Car Clinic, Emmitsburg, MD
http://www.efc.umd.edu/CleanCarClinic.html
•
A complete summary of the meeting can be read at http://www.epa.gov/envirofinance/publications.htmffimeetings. EFAB's next
meeting is scheduled for March 20-22, 2012 in Washington, DC.
-------
Financial Tool Spotlight: World Green Building Council
The World Green Building Council
(World GBC) is a coalition of national
Green Building Councils that provides
leadership and a global forum to in-
crease the pace of market transforma-
tion from traditional, inefficient build-
ing practices to high-performance,
energy efficient buildings. The World
GBC works to accelerate development
of green building rating systems and
provides organizational tools such as
advocacy, facilitation, information with
a non-partisan approach, helping trans-
form the building industry in the direc-
tion of sustainability through market
driven mechanisms.
Recognition of successful national
Green Building Councils and the gov-
ernments that partner with them is a
high priority for the World GBC. Na-
tional Green Building Councils are
member-based organizations that
partner with industry and govern-
ment to create change in their local
markets as a way to globalize envi-
ronmentally and socially responsible
building practices. National Coun-
cils train local and set standards
for green buildings nationally. The
World GBC encourages National
Green Building Councils to submit
photos and descriptions of their best
local projects for recognition in the
library of case studies on the World
GBC's Website.
To acknowledge the successes of
governments partnering with Na-
tional Green Building Councils, the
World GBC presented the first World
GBC Government Leadership Award
at this year's
United Na-
tions Climate
Change Con-
ference in
November,
2011. This
award rec-
ognizes poli-
cies called "best practice initiatives"
implemented by city and regional
governments that improve building
practices in a way that mitigates car-
bon emissions.
For additional information on the
World Green Building Council, please
visit http.V/www.worldgbc. org/site2/.
For information on the United Nations
Climate Change Conference, please
visit http://unfccc.int/meetings/cop_17/
items/60 70.php.
New Mexico Environmental Finance Center Releases Interactive
Asset Management Guide
The New Mexico Environmental Fi-
nance Center (EFC) recently announced
the release of AM. Kan Work!, an in-
teractive guide to Asset Management
and Energy Efficiency. This manual, de-
signed to guide small to medium sized
water and wastewater systems through
the process of asset management, was
sponsored by the Kansas Department
of Environmental Health and pre-
pared by the New Mexico EFC. As-
set management allows utilities to
provide a sustained level of service
at the lowest and most appropriate
life cycle cost for water and waste-
water treatment equipment. It helps
utilities make sound decisions by an-
swering questions about investments
and costs. The five core components
of asset management are asset inven-
tory, level of service, critical asset
assessment, life cycle costing, and
long-term funding strategy.
The A.M. Kan Work! guide is a valu-
able tool designed for use by waste-
water and wastewater utility owners,
operators, managers and board mem-
bers for assessing the current status
of their operations and for develop-
ing strategic plans for sustainable
water and wastewater service. The
asset management processes pro-
moted in this manual help utilities to
work toward EPA's goal of protect-
ing America's waters in a cost effec-
tive way.
The manual is available in print form
with interactive DVDs or DVDs
only.
For more information on the manual and to order a copy visit, please visit http://
nmefc. nmt. edu/AssetManagement.php.
Center for Environmental Finance Newsletter • January 2012 • EPA-190-N-12-001
Page 2
------- |