For more than three decades, the Environmental Finance Center has helped hundreds of local, state, and federal partners throughout the Mid-Atlantic region advance policies, programs, and financing strategies that achieve outcomes for people, places, and the environment. See EFC’s featured work below.
EFC's Featured Work
Region 3 WaterTA Program
The Region 3 WaterTA program offers direct support to municipalities, tribes, and water utilities in US EPA Region 3 to help them access federal and state funding to address water infrastructure needs.
Maryland Local Government Climate Action Support Program
EFC is coordinating with the Maryland Department of Environment to help build the local capacity of Maryland communities to plan, fund, and implement climate projects and community-based climate-related outreach campaigns.
Mid-Atlantic Sustainable Breweries
The Mid-Atlantic Sustainable Breweries Program offers free sustainability consultations to help craft brewers assess operations and implement practices related to energy, water, wastewater, air emissions, and cleaning and sanitizing – all while saving costs and improving brand recognition.
Rainwater Harvesting for Urban Farms
EFC is coordinating with UMD's School of Public Health, Extension, and USDA Agricultural Research Services to help urban farmers harvest and filter rainwater to nourish their crops and create more sustainable farms and resilient communities.
EFC Projects and Publications
See EFC’s work in action by browsing our current and archived (completed) projects below.
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2005A White Paper From The Financing Authority Committee, Chesapeake Bay Program
In January 2005, the Chesapeake Executive Council issued Directive 04-1 in response to the recommendations set forth by the Blue Ribbon Finance Panel. That directive instructed the Principals’ Staff Committee "to convene a Committee of federal, state, and regional finance and legal experts to provide a specific proposal" for a regional financing authority that would help finance and implement programs to restore and protect water quality throughout the Chesapeake watershed.View Project Details for A White Paper From The Financing Authority Committee, Chesapeake Bay Program -
Advancing Local-Level Water Quality and Resiliency Financing in the New York Kettle Lakes
The University of Maryland EFC and the Syracuse EFC partnered to deliver technical assistance in the Kettle Lake region in the New York portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This effort built on the Syracuse EFC’s initial work to develop watershed implementation plans (WIPs) for each of the four lakes and created a financing strategy designed to connect lake stakeholders to resources that will support the implementation of identified water quality improvement projects.PartnersView Project Details for Advancing Local-Level Water Quality and Resiliency Financing in the New York Kettle Lakes -
Delaware River Basin Watershed Needs Assessment
Through the Delaware River Watershed Initiative, the William Penn Foundation has invested millions of dollars to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment in non-point source pollution impacting Delaware River tributaries, focusing on land protection and agricultural restoration activities. View Project Details for Delaware River Basin Watershed Needs Assessment -
Connecting Capital with Pennsylvania Farmers Using Regenerative Farming Practices to Drawdown Carbon
The University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center (EFC) partnered with TeamAg to promote business plans for regenerative farming practices targeting Pennsylvania farms that are interested in expanding soil health practices. These farm business plans combine current U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) protocol with carbon tracking protocols such as COMET-Farm to help document carbon sequestering practices that can be converted to new revenue.View Project Details for Connecting Capital with Pennsylvania Farmers Using Regenerative Farming Practices to Drawdown Carbon -
Funding options for improved water quality in the Delaware River Basin
The Delaware River Basin provides drinking water for more than 13 million people and is home to an abundance of fish and wildlife including some endangered, threatened, and at-risk species. People and wildlife depend upon the water resources of the Basin, and the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), for their water security – for an adequate and sustainable supply of clean and healthy water that can be equitably accessed and is resilient in the face of climate change and extreme conditions.View Project Details for Funding options for improved water quality in the Delaware River Basin -
Green Infrastructure in Warrington Township, PA
In 2012, Warrington Township, Pennsylvania passed a voter-approved referendum committing $3 million to open space protection. The EFC worked with Warrington Township to identify ways in which the community could leverage its open space dollars to serve multiple community priorities and gain additional benefits the community had not identified.View Project Details for Green Infrastructure in Warrington Township, PA