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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2007 (December 1)Establishment of a Chesapeake Finance Commission
In 2004, the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Blue Ribbon Finance Panel issued a comprehensive analysis of the sources of impairments to the Bay's water quality and living resources, the costs to remove those impairments, and a series of recommendations to finance those costs. This report proposes institutional changes for the regional Bay Program to help all participating states with ongoing information about funding needs and opportunities.AttachmentsView Project Details for Establishment of a Chesapeake Finance Commission -
2006 (April)Financing Land Preservation in West Virginia's Cacapon and Lost River Watershed
The University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center, on behalf of the Cacapon and Lost Rivers Land Trust (the Trust), convened a financing charrette to assist the Trust in their efforts to develop a long-range financial strategy for protecting a particularly critical section of land in the watershed. The goal of the event was to develop the framework for a financing and implementation plan for preserving more than 14,000 acres linking an existing conservation hub to a national forest and a wildlife management area.View Project Details for Financing Land Preservation in West Virginia's Cacapon and Lost River Watershed -
2006Delaware River Watershed Innovative Financing Strategy
The Environmental Finance Center, through the support of the William Penn Foundation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, launched the Delaware River Watershed Innovative Financing Strategy Project. The EFC and its project partners convened an expert environmental financing panel and identified innovative and scalable options for financing Delaware River watershed restoration and protection efforts. The panel’s work resulted in a financing strategy that enabled the William Penn Foundation and its funding partners to allocate capital and funding in a way that is catalytic and ultimately successfView Project Details for Delaware River Watershed Innovative Financing Strategy -
2005 (November)Financing Land Preservation in Talbot County, Maryland
In June 2005, the Environmental Finance Center, on behalf of Talbot County, Maryland, convened a financing workshop to assist County officials in their efforts to finance and implement a new Countryside Preservation Area program. The goal of the event was to develop the framework for financing and implementing a plan for protecting more than 11,000 acres around each of the four incorporated municipalities within the County.View Project Details for Financing Land Preservation in Talbot County, Maryland -
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