What are EPA's Partners Doing to Support Green Infrastructure

Water: Green Infrastructure

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Green Infrastructure

Partner Organizations
Partner Communities
Signatories

EPA has three tiers of public and private partners committed to expanding the implementation of green infrastructure. While our partner organizations support EPA in identifying and removing the barriers to green infrastructure, our partner communities lead by example, and the signatories of our Statement of Support endorse and promote green infrastructure.

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Partner Organizations

On April 19, 2007, EPA and four national groups signed a Statement of Intent (PDF) (4 pp, 37K, About PDF) to promote green infrastructure as an environmentally preferable approach to stormwater management. The statement formalized a collaborative effort among EPA, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), the Association of States and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators (now the Association of Clean Water Administrators), the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and the Low Impact Development (LID) Center to assist state, city, and local governments in implementing and evaluating innovative and effective green infrastructure approaches. Since 2007, American Rivers and the Water Environment Federation (WEF) have also joined our coalition. Below we provide a description of each organization and links to some of their recent work on green infrastructure.

Founded in 1973, American Rivers is a conservation organization centered on the protection and restoration of America's rivers and streams. American Rivers is a strong supporter of moving from a gray to green infrastructure focus.

The Value of Green Infrastructure - American Rivers, in conjunction with the Center for Neighborhood Technology, released a publication titled "The Values of Green Infrastructure: A Guide to Recognizing its Economic, Environmental, and Social Benefits." The guide outlines the benefits of green infrastructure for communities to consider as they look to update aging gray infrastructure.
Local Stormwater Codes and Ordinances - American Rivers is working at the local level to review current codes and ordinances and provide sound recommendations to planning commissions and legislative bodies to reduce hard surfaces; create incentives to implement low impact development techniques such as rain gardens, bioretention, and green roofs; and protect buffers.
Economic Benefits of Green Infrastructure Practices - These dual reports highlight the economic benefits of using green infrastructure to manage wet weather in the Chesapeake Bay and Great Lake Regions.
Financing Sustainable Water Infrastructure (PDF) (44 pp, 4.5MB, About PDF) - This report looks at critical water infrastructure needs and comprehensive approaches for addressing and financing them.
Stormwater Communications Research and Tutorial - After conducting a series of workshops, American Rivers developed this tutorial on how to develop a message about stormwater that will prompt local leaders to take action.

The Association of Clean Water Administrators has been working since 1961 to protect the nation's waters. It brings together state, interstate, and territorial clean water professionals to foster the exchange of ideas and strategies to advance national water protection. ACWA recognizes green infrastructure in its Call for Change as a program that requires more support and attention as the United States moves into the 21st century.

Siting Green Infrastructure: Legal and Policy Solutions To Alleviate Urban Poverty and Promote Healthy Communities – This Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review article penned by ACWA's Executive Director discusses green infrastructure's role in alleviating urban poverty.

The Low Impact Development Center (LID Center) is a non-profit organization that combines land use planning and engineering principles to promote development that recreates pre-existing hydrologic site conditions. The LID Center has worked extensively with the EPA and stakeholders to develop green infrastructure initiatives. Their website includes a variety of resources for citizens, developers, business owners, and town and city planners, some of which are listed below.

Urban Design Tools - This site provides watershed managers with a new set of tools and techniques that can be used to meet regulatory and receiving water protection program goals for urban retrofits, re-development projects, and new development sites.
Rain Garden Design Templates – This site displays a series of rain garden, or bioretention, design templates that can be used by landscape architects, landscape contractors, and garden clubs.

The National Association of Clean Water Agencies has been at the forefront of efforts to advocate the use of green infrastructure as one way to address the nation's clean water challenges resulting from wet weather. NACWA regularly engages with Congress to promote green infrastructure applications for wet weather management and secure greater investment in water infrastructure.

The Natural Resources Defense Council in one of the nation's largest environmental stakeholder groups and is a staunch supporter of green infrastructure. Their website includes a variety of reports, fact sheets, and case studies on the use of green infrastructure to protect and restore our nation's waters.

Investigation of the Feasibility and Benefits of Low-Impact Site Design Practices Applied to meet Various Stormwater Runoff Regulatory Standards (PDF) (52 pp, 1.3MB, About PDF) - This report commissioned by NRDC for the EPA examines the feasibility of meeting five different regulatory standards in four different climate regions. For each climate region, 10 scenarios are examined, representing five development types and two soil types.
Financing Stormwater Retrofits in Philadelphia and Beyond - This report from NRDc's Water Program and Center for Market Innovation evaluates how cities can attract private financing for stormwater retrofits to fund more green infrastructure projects and reduce the required amount of public investment.
Capturing Rainwater from Rooftops - This report presents the potential of rainwater harvesting to provide a significant source of non-potable water for urban areas while also reducing polluted stormwater runoff.
Rooftops to Rivers II - NRDC's Rooftops to Rivers II report provides case studies for 14 geographically diverse cities that are all leaders in employing green infrastructure solutions to address stormwater challenges; simultaneously finding beneficial uses for stormwater, reducing pollution, saving money, and beautifying cityscapes.
Rooftops to Rivers: Green Strategies for Controlling Stormwater and Combined Sewer Overflows - This May 2006 report is a policy guide for decision makers looking to implement green strategies in their own area, including nine case studies of cities that have successfully used green techniques to create a healthier urban environment.
A Clear Blue Future: How Greening California Cities Can Address Water Resources and Climate Challenges in the 21st Century – This report prepared by NRDC and University of California-Santa Barbara finds that implementing green infrastructure practices in new and redeveloped residential and commercial properties in parts of California can dramatically increase water supplies, providing an effective way to mitigate the impacts of climate change on California's water resources.

The Water Environment Federation is a not-for-profit association that provides technical education and training for thousands of water quality professionals. WEF offers training on green infrastructure design and implementation through conferences and archived webcasts. WEF is also working with EPA to identify and overcome the barriers to green infrastructure.

Stormwater Symposium 2012 - Learn more about the planning necessary to integrate decentralized stormwater controls for combined sewer overflow management.
Online Education – WEF offers several archived webcasts on green infrastructure
Green Infrastructure Barriers (PDF) (3 pp, 512K, About PDF)– This letter to the Director of EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management describes the most significant barriers to the implementation of green infrastructure and suggests several solutions.

Partner Communities

In April of 2011, EPA announced partnerships with 10 communities that have taken action to address water quality and community livability goals with green infrastructure. These partnerships with "model communities" in 2011 were followed by partnerships with communities selected for technical assistance in 2012. The fact sheets below recognize the achievements of our 2011partner communities. As we complete our work with our 2012 partner communities, we will develop project summaries.

Region 1: Chelsea, MA (PDF) (2 pp, 135K, About PDF)

Region 2: Onondaga County, NY (PDF) (2 pp, 170K, About PDF)

Region 3: Anacostia River Watershed (PDF) (3 pp, 123K, About PDF)

Region 4: Jacksonville, FL (PDF) (2 pp, 113K, About PDF)

Region 5: Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (PDF) (2 pp, 115K, About PDF)

Region 6: Austin, TX (PDF) (2 pp, 153K, About PDF)

Region 7: Kansas City, MO (PDF) (2 pp, 114K, About PDF)

Region 8: Denver, CO (PDF) (2 pp, 113K, About PDF)

Region 9: Los Angeles, CA (PDF) (2 pp, 113K, About PDF)

Region 10: Puyallup, WA (PDF) (2 pp,120K, About PDF)

Signatories

In 2007 EPA developed a Statement of Support for Green Infrastructure (PDF) (3 pp, 120K, About PDF) recognizing the benefits of green infrastructure in mitigating sewer overflows, reducing stormwater pollution, and improving water quality while providing a range of additional benefits. About 100 organizations have signed the Statement of Support, and we continue to accept new endorsements from local and state governments, environmental groups, development groups, and other corporate entities interested in promoting green infrastructure. To view and connect with our current signatories, please see the list below.

To become a signatory, please send an e-mail to mittman.tamara@epa.gov, providing the following information:

Organization name;

Organization URL;

Contact name;

Contact mailing address;

Contact phone number;

Contact fax number;

and Contact e-mail address.

Canada

Ecojustice Canada
Vivo Eco-Ventures, Ltd.

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