Environmental Finance Center

1. Environmental Finance Center Financing Watershed Strategies with a “Community Quilt”

2. Environmental Finance Center Usually, we think of public funding programs, such as: • State Revolving Loan Fund • Section 319 funds • TEA-21

3. Environmental Finance Center Two “take-home” messages for Today #1. There has never been, and will never be, enough public funding to get the job done. On the other hand, there is plenty of money available overall, accessed primarily through a mix of sources.

4. Environmental Finance Center #2. There is too much financing information available to make sense of it all~you will need a framework within which to work. *A watershed plan*

5. Environmental Finance Center Financing a watershed plan involves: • Visioning • Prioritizing • Planning • Cooperation • Partnering • Leveraging resources • MONEY!

6. Environmental Finance Center What are the two primary funding sources to build a watershed financing plan? 1. Public funding through public programs 2. Private funding through other funding techniques

7. Environmental Finance Center Public Funding through Federal and State programs

8. Environmental Finance Center Programs for: • Capital costs • Planning • Education • Funding for maintenance of a project • Agricultural BMPs • Urban storm water management • Wetlands • Riparian forest buffers

9. Environmental Finance Center Accessing private funding through other financing techniques

10. Environmental Finance Center Other funding strategies • Water and waste water rate structures • Storm water management utilities • Agreements tied to loans • Nutrient trading

11. Environmental Finance Center The Community Quilt Concept of Financing a Watershed Plan

12. Environmental Finance Center “Community quilt” concept of financing Identify land owners, land uses and stakeholders within a watershed to create a patchwork of funding opportunities 1. Federal, State and Local programs plus 2. Financing techniques such as : • Innovative rate structures • Public-private partnerships • Watershed fee districts

13. Environmental Finance Center Who are your stakeholders? • Citizens, community groups • Businesses and industry • Federal, State and Local governments • Nonprofit organizations • Colleges, universities, schools How do these different stakeholders contribute to a watershed financing plan?

14. Wetlands? Forest buffers? Agriculture? Residential, commercial and industrial? Drinking water needs? Brownfields? Environmental justice issues? Economic development needs? Habitat opportunities? Environmental Finance CenterA broader collection of terms can broaden the sources of funding for your watershed planWhat’s going on in your watershed?

15. Environmental Finance CenterOne Community at a TimeEnvironmental Finance Charrettes • The Maryland EFC has held more than two dozen charrettes in the region (Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware). • Have also moderated charrettes in cooperation with other EFCs around the country.

16. Environmental Finance CenterCharrettes Charrettes have focused on a range of issues, including: • Land preservation • Infrastructure financing • Wastewater, drinking water, stormwater • Sustainable urban environments & brownfields

17. Environmental Finance CenterCharrettes • Charrettes bring in a panel of experts in key areas, including: • Banking • Insurance • Planning & Engineering • Public & Private Finance • Environment • Policy

18. Environmental Finance CenterPiecing Together a Community Quilt • Thinking inside, outside & beside the box: • Engage relevant stakeholders • Connect federal, state, local & private resources • Design a portfolio of financing methods and approaches

19. Anne ArundelCounty:A Powerful Case Studyfor the Chesapeake

20. Environmental Finance CenterSmart Growth & Preserving Place • Case Study: Bay Ridge, Maryland • Anne Arundel County, key area • Rapidly developing • Many miles of shoreline • Location of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation • Losing its natural landscapes

21. Environmental Finance CenterGoal:Trying to Save the Big Woods

22. Environmental Finance CenterSolution:A Patchwork Quilt • Original “plan” — find a foundation to buy the land • Problem: no other group had a strong enough vested interest • Solution: community stepped up to preserve the Big Woods through creative financing

23. Environmental Finance CenterPieces of the Quilt • Bay Ridge used a Special Tax District to provide a revenue stream • Secured a low-interest loan from the State’s Water Quality Linked-Deposit Program • Set aside buildable lots as collateral • Secured $500,000 from Program Open Space

24. Environmental Finance CenterGeneral PrinciplesBut Each Quilt is Different • The portfolio approach is appropriate for many different situations. • But each community is also very different — different needs, different chemistry. • The charrette process helps them seek the right path — for funding, for planning, for envisioning.

25. Environmental Finance CenterTake Home Message • By helping communities pay for the infrastructure they need, • And by helping them preserve important natural areas, • We can improve their quality of life while we fulfill the goals of Smart Growth.

26. Environmental Finance Center University System of Maryland (301) 403-4220 x-26 efc@mdsg.umd.edu www.efc.umd.edu