EPA looking to help planning-challenged Cities implement smart growth

[Lunican]

The EPA is looking to provide assistance and expertise to several communities regarding smart growth, affordable housing, transit, etc.

Smart Growth Implementation Assistance 2008 Request for Applications

Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: May 8, 2008

Purpose:

The Development, Community and Environment Division (DCED) in U.S. EPA's Office of Policy Economics and Innovation is seeking applications from states, regions, and communities that want to develop in ways that meet environmental and other goals. EPA will provide technical assistance to successful applicants as described below. Eligible entities are tribal, local, regional, and state governments and nonprofit organizations that have a demonstrated partnership with a governmental entity.  Development practices that reflect the principles of smart growth support national environmental and public health goals by protecting sensitive watersheds, minimizing water quality impacts from development, reducing air emissions by increasing transportation choices, lowering greenhouse gas emissions through more compact development patterns, and encouraging clean-up and sustainable redevelopment of brownfields. Smart growth is often characterized by a common set of principles:

- mix land uses;
- take advantage of compact building design;
- create a range of housing opportunities and choices;
- create walkable neighborhoods;
- foster distinctive, attractive communities with a strong sense of place;
- preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty, and critical environmental areas;
- strengthen and direct development towards existing communities;
- provide a variety of transportation choices;
- make development decisions predictable, fair and cost effective; and
- encourage community and stakeholder collaboration in development decisions.

EPA is particularly interested in projects that seek to resolve challenges associated with increasing the supply, quality, or accessibility of affordable (or workforce) housing in a smart growth development context.  While expanding housing choice is a core principle of smart growth, the regulatory framework often inhibits the private market from producing a range of housing types that would satisfy the needs of all income levels.  Some communities have had success addressing affordability challenges using smart growth approaches, thereby better understanding the environmental, transportation, and fiscal impacts â€" at the household and community levels â€" of different housing options.  Projects that can use this assistance to develop innovative, practical, and replicable solutions to these challenges will merit careful consideration under criteria #4 (see below) from reviewers this year.

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 will provide this assistance through an Agency contract vehicle, not a grant. Team members will be nationally known experts in disciplines to be determined by the community's unique needs. Team visits consist of meetings with state or local staff to study the context and specific project and discussions with elected officials, business leaders, citizen organizations, and representatives of many different sectors. On the last day, the team presents preliminary findings to the applicant and its leadership. After the visit, the team works with the applicant to deliver a final report.

EPA plans to assist three to five communities in 2008. EPA anticipates announcing the selected communities in fall of 2008 and working with the communities over a period of twelve months. The lessons learned from these projects will be used to help other communities with similar challenges.

Eligibility:

The applicant must be (1) a tribal, state, local, or regional government; or (2) an incorporated nonprofit organization incorporated or domiciled in the United States or an academic institution that has a demonstrated partnership with a governmental agency. Applicants must be located in, and project activities must be conducted within, the United States, Puerto Rico, or a territory or possession of the U.S.

Web link to access for additional information: http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth and http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/2008_sgia_rfa.htm

Evaluation Criteria:

1. The applicant must be (1) a tribal, state, local, or regional government; or (2) an incorporated nonprofit organization incorporated or domiciled in the United States or an academic institution that has a demonstrated partnership with a governmental agency. Applicants must be located in, and project activities must be conducted within, the United States, Puerto Rico, or a territory or possession of the U.S.

2. Technical assistance will be provided to integrate the principles of smart growth into state or local planning processes to promote infill development. The assistance must relate to policy analysis or public participatory processes that will improve the overall climate for brownfields redevelopment as well as revitalization of other infill sites.

DCED will not consider applications that have a principal purpose of providing training, research, and technical assistance to individuals and organizations to facilitate the inventory of brownfield sites, site assessments, remediation of brownfield sites, site preparation, or community involvement associated with the clean-up, assessment, or inventory of brownfield properties. EPA funds these types of projects only under the Office of Brownfields Cleanup and Redevelopment’s “Brownfields Training, Research, and Technical Assistance Grants and Cooperative Agreement Program.”

We will consider applications for policy analysis or public participatory processes (as illustrated by the bulleted list above) associated with the smart growth redevelopment of infill generally in a city, county, state, or on tribal lands that includes brownfields sites as well as other types of sites. However, community-involvement activities associated with the clean-up, assessment, or inventory of individual brownfield sites are not eligible for funding under this RFA.

3. The community, region, or state must have a demonstrated understanding of and commitment to the principles of smart growth. Applicants should describe actions that the community, region or state has taken to address the location and design of development, regardless of whether they have been successful. EPA is looking for applicants that have already learned about the principles of smart growth and now want implementation assistance.

4. The community, region, or state must clearly be facing a development-related challenge, whether it involves growth pressures, affordable housing needs, attracting more development, or planning for the future, and must have identified opportunities for changing the way it handles growth. The application should include a discussion of growth conditions in the area of interest, as well as assets and challenges to implementing smart growth practices. The application should also specify the type of assistance (policy analysis or public participatory processes) being requested and how it will be applied.

5. The application must have a specific, clearly defined project, and there must be a clear role for a team to assist with policy analysis or public participation. Applicants must describe the project; discuss how it relates to local, regional, or state growth; describe partnerships in place to help make the project succeed; and explain how its success would affect the applicant’s environmental, social, and economic health. EPA will work with each selected applicant to develop a detailed statement of work to ensure that the contract support maximizes the expert assistance available to the community, region, or state.

6. The applicant must be able to demonstrate how it anticipates using the results from the EPA-led team to implement changes at the local, regional, or state level. The applicant should also describe the authority that it has to implement any changes and the steps necessary to implement design or policy options developed through the project.

7. The applicant must form a team to work with the EPA-led expert team and to follow up on the technical assistance. This team should include representatives from relevant sectors, including government, business, public interest groups, civic associations, and individual citizens.  The team will be responsible for working with the EPA-team pre- and post-site visit and working with the applicant to ensure all appropriate stakeholders are represented in the assistance.

As a proponent of collaborative environmental problem solving, EPA supports meaningful public involvement, especially among underserved populations or non-traditional stakeholders.  Applicants are encouraged to reach beyond political and professional stakeholders and target faith-based groups, parents, senior citizens, schools, retirement centers, and community service organizations when forming their team. 

[thelakelander]

Sounds like a good source that could be tapped into in our efforts to bring rail back to the S-Line and to encourage marke rate urban infill in the Northside neighborhoods.

[Lunican]

I was thinking the same thing.



http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/448/

[tufsu1]

I suggest checking out the Reconnecting America website...or Smart Growth America....SGA is staffed by people who worked at EPA and they can probably help you out.