Environmental Finance Center Network

What Is the Environmental Finance Center Network?

Environmental goals cannot be met without financing, which is essential to implementing state and local programs. Knowledge about how to fund these programs is often limited, especially at the local level. As a result, there is an unprecedented demand on the expertise of public officials currently on the front lines of financing environmental facilities and services.

The EFCs provide state and local officials and small businesses with advisory services; education, publications, and training; technical assistance; and analyses on financing alternatives. The EFC network currently includes centers in at Universities all over the US. These centers have proven effective vehicles for promoting innovative environmental financing techniques. While EPA provides seed funding for EFC start-up operations, financial independence of the centers is a major objective.

Services and Capabilities

EFCs pursue various avenues of education and training such as offering short courses on environmental finance for state and local officials, as well as graduate-level educational courses through regular university curriculum. The EFCs at both the New Mexico Tech and the University of Maryland have developed environmental finance courses for state and local officials and graduate students. Similarly, the University of North Carolina EFC is developing a modular environmental finance training course for use by the Network. The New Mexico Tech EFC provides U.S./Mexican Border Area environmental infrastructure assistance and assessment, and the Boise State University EFC is providing training throughout the national EFC Network on utility rate setting. In addition, EFCs develop and publish case studies about innovative financing techniques, as well as serve as clearinghouses for Regional and state information on environmental financing and program management.

EFCs provide technical assistance and analyses to state and local governments and the private sector on managing and financing environmental infrastructure. For example, the Syracuse University EFC is developing case studies on how New York communities prioritize environmental activities using risk and finance considerations. Another important service the Syracuse EFC provides is assisting state and local officials in collaborative planning processes. The New Mexico Tech EFC continues to develop financing strategies for the long-term viability of environmental infrastructure on the U.S.-Mexico border. The California State University at Hayward EFC is dedicated to helping small business by advancing the Environmental goods and services industry and promoting polluting prevention. Among its primary products are the development of public-private partnership models for financing environmental services, emphasizing the participation of small and medium sized businesses. The Great Lakes EFC is focusing on brownfield redevelopment, especially the availability of financing and tools/incentives to spur investment in abandoned industrial and commercial sites. In addition, the Great Lakes EFC is helping Native American communities in Great Lakes states restore ecological balance through the appropriate use of comprehensive community planning, sustainable development, and ecological design techniques. The University of Maryland EFC conducts problem-solving roundtables known as "charrettes" with community representatives to discuss how to pay for environmental services, mandates and projects. The EFC at Boise State University is analyzing drinking water and wastewater systems viability and paying for environmental mandates.

Finally among our newer EFCs, the EFC at the University of North Carolina is designing a finance training course for Network use and is completing a report on wastewater and growth issues in the southeast coastal region of the country. The other Region 4 EFC, located at the University of Louisville, is providing support services to many small and medium-sized water and wastewater facility operators throughout Kentucky. The most recent addition to the Network is the EFC at the University of Southern Maine, which is currently focusing on wastewater treatment challenges in coastal areas of Massachusetts.

EFCN Publications

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2007-2008 Environmental Finance Program Annual report
2005-2006 Environmental Finance Program Annual Report

The Environmental Finance Center Network 2005 Overview
The Environmental Finance Center Network's 2004 Annual Report
Exactly how does the Environmental Finance Center Network help to answer the "How to Pay" question?
These documents can help answer your questions:

Environmental Finance Center Network Brochure (PDF)
The Environmental Finance Center Network was the subject of an article on the National Drinking Water Clearinghouse's Website entitled "Show Me the Money (And How to Manage It): Environmental Finance Centers Explain Fiscal Management." The article describes the EFC's efforts in the field of environmental finance and provides examples.

The Environmental Finance Center at Boise State was mentioned on page 21 of the Fall 2003 issue of Boise State University's Focus magazine in the article "Environmental technology helps assure pure water." The article describes the EFC's research and subsequent national product roll out.