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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2022 - 2025Mid-Atlantic Climate Action Hub
The Mid-Atlantic Climate Action Hub (MATCH) was established to build connections across Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania, targeting communities disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change due to historic disenfranchisement, coupled with proximity to environmental hazards and underlying social, economic and geographic vulnerabilities. Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, MATCH was led by the Center for Community Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health (CEEJH).View Project Details for Mid-Atlantic Climate Action Hub -
2022 - 2024Addressing Stormwater and Pollinators in the Route One Corridor
EFC’s Sustainable Maryland (SM) program recently convened staff, elected officials and Green Team members from 14 municipalities along the Route One Corridor in Prince George's County, Maryland, to discuss how they could advance projects and collaborate on a regional basis to address stormwater and flooding issues and the creation of a pollinator corridor.View Project Details for Addressing Stormwater and Pollinators in the Route One Corridor -
2022 - 2024Chesapeake Bay Watershed Tree Canopy Funding and Policy Roundtable
In March 2023, 125 local and state leaders from across the Chesapeake Bay Watershed gathered at the two-day, virtual Chesapeake Bay Watershed Tree Canopy Funding and Policy Roundtable to discuss challenges and opportunities in advancing tree canopy goals. Centered around the themes of equity, climate resilience, and tree loss, this event featured expert presentations as well as facilitated discussions with the aim of helping local and state leaders identify funding, policy, and programmatic solutions to achieve state and regional tree goals.View Project Details for Chesapeake Bay Watershed Tree Canopy Funding and Policy Roundtable -
2022 - 2023Affordability of Water Systems
The University of Maryland EFC and the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina partnered to evaluate household and community affordability metrics for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) memos “Financial Capability Assessment Framework for Municipal Clean Water Act Requirements” and “Developing a New Framework for Household Affordability and Financial Capability Assessment in the Water Sector.” The team used a variety of metrics to assess appropriate measurements for affordability determinations for water services.View Project Details for Affordability of Water Systems -
2022 (March)The Economic Benefits of Parks in New York City
Parks are vital infrastructure for healthy, flourishing communities, and are essential to improving the quality of life for city residents. In this report, Trust for Public Land (TPL) quantified the benefits of the network of city, state, and federal parks in New York City (NYC). NYC has an extensive park system that residents visit 527 million times per year, with 99 percent of residents living within a 10-minute walk to a park. Parks in NYC create billions of dollars of benefits and savings every year to residents, businesses, and visitors in all five boroughs.View Project Details for The Economic Benefits of Parks in New York City -
2022 (July)Economic Impact: Turkey Hill Clean Water Partnership
Since 2018, the Turkey Hill Clean Water Partnership has made waves in the agricultural industry; incentivizing farmers to get involved in conservation and elevating Turkey Hill’s supply chain. This groundbreaking partnership has a monumental impact on the Lancaster community, the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and beyond.View Project Details for Economic Impact: Turkey Hill Clean Water Partnership