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Top Stories
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and Related Websites
On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). The Recovery Act seeks in part to spur technological advances in science and health and to invest in environmental protection and other infrastructure that will provide long-term economic benefits. EPA manages over $7 billion in projects and programs that will help achieve these goals, offers resources to help other agencies "green" a much larger set of Recovery investments, and administers environmental laws that will govern Recovery activities.
- Recovery.GOV - The site will include information about Federal grant awards and contracts as well as formula grant allocations.
- EPA Recovery Act - EPA Information Related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act)
American Indian Environmental Office, Director, Hosts Conference Call with Tribal Leaders on American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
On March 11, 2009, Carol Jorgensen, Director, American Indian Environmental Office, hosted a conference call with Tribal Leaders to discuss the ARRA. The discussion centered around EPA's greatly increased funding available to federally recognized Indian tribes under a variety of EPA programs.
- Text transcript of the Conference Call (PDF) (62pp, 209K, About PDF Files)
- Audio Recording of the Conference Call (MP3, 25MB)
To request a copy of the Conference Call Audio on CD, please email a request to Edna Silver or Janice DiPietro at EPA, or call 202-564-0303, leave your name and phone number, we’ll contact you shortly about the request.
Student Summer Employment Program
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is looking for energetic and highly motivated students for summer employment. Numerous opportunities are available within EPA for students to gain valuable work experience while contributing to the mission of protecting human health and safeguarding the environment. Student summer employment opportunities are available at EPA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., and at regional office and laboratory locations nationwide.
National Water Quality Conference 2009
The Northwest Environmental Training Center is presenting the National Water Quality Conference 2009 
to be held on May 20 - 22, 2009 in San Antonio, Texas. This exciting and informative meeting will address the issues and discuss the technology of the quality and supply of the world's most valuable resource - water. This conference will intertwine four tracks through many workshop sessions in this three-day conference.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: A Guide to Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Opportunities for Local and Tribal Governments
This section provides information on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), as well as links to EPA resources and other organizations. The following section focuses on key funding opportunities for local and tribal government efforts in clean energy. The final section of this paper describes tax incentives and bond programs relevant to clean energy efforts. The paper highlights potential opportunities to maximize clean energy investments; but local and tribal governments should refer to guidelines published by the federal agency administering each funding stream for more detail about allowable activities.
Access to Artistic Excellence Funding from the National Endowment of the Arts
This grant opportunity from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) has $5,000,000 in funding available with 1500 anticipated awards. Anticipated award amounts will vary from $5,000 to $150,000 for one year. While there is no match requirement, applicants should be aware that NEA typically provides funding for no more than 50-60% of a project. This competition is open to 501C3 nonprofits, state governments, county governments, city or township governments, special district governments, independent school districts, public and state controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education and Native American tribal governments. The focus of this program is to provide funding to encourage and support artistic creativity, preserve diverse cultural heritage, and make the arts more widely available in communities throughout the country. Applicants must choose the artistic discipline or field that is the most relevant to their project. For more information go to the following Web site: http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/landmarks.html.
The full application is due March 12, 2009.
Request for 2009 Applications: Smart Growth Implementation Assistance
The Development, Community, and Environment Division in EPA’s Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation is seeking applications for technical assistance from communities that want to incorporate smart growth in their future development to meet environmental and other community goals. Eligible entities are tribal, local, regional, and state governments, and nonprofit organizations that have a demonstrated partnership with a governmental entity. Applications are due at 5:00 pm EST, April 23, 2009.
EPA has identified some key areas in which communities are likely to benefit from technical assistance (free technical assistance available):
- Climate change (both mitigation of and adaptation to)
- Green job development
- Corridor redevelopment
- Green building development
- Suburban retrofitting
- Disaster resiliency
Proposals are not limited to requests for technical assistance in only these thematic areas; other topics for assistance are welcome and encouraged, provided they demonstrate cutting-edge challenges and the possibility of replicable solutions.
EPA is soliciting applications for assistance with either policy analysis or public participatory processes. The type of work may incorporate policy analysis and review, planning and visioning processes, scorecard/ranking criteria development and assessment, and/or other elements pertinent to the role of the applicant.
Selected communities or states will receive assistance in the form of a multi-day visit from a team of experts organized by EPA and other national partners to work with local leaders. EPA plans to assist three to five communities over a period of twelve months. The Agency anticipates announcing the selected communities in fall of 2009. For more information and application materials, visit http://epa.gov/smartgrowth/2009_sgia_rfa.htm.
New Guide Available: Synthesis of Adaptation Options for Coastal Areas
The Climate Ready Estuaries program has finalized a technical report entitled Synthesis of Adaptation Options for Coastal Areas. This guide provides an overview of adaptation options available to coastal managers to reduce their system's vulnerability to climate change impacts. To access the report, please visit the Climate Ready Estuaries Web site .
Also, EPA, USGS, and NOAA recently released a report, Coastal Sensitivity to Sea Level Rise: A Focus on the Mid-Atlantic Region. The study is one of 21 climate change studies commissioned being conducted by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), and it discusses the possible impacts of sea-level rise and how governments and communities can respond to rising waters. The report can be found at http://epa.gov/climatechange/effects/coastal/sap4-1.html.