Sustainable Communities November 18, 2015 EPAs Office of - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Overview of EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities

November 18, 2015

EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities

• Brief History

– EPA Smart Growth Program founded in 1996

• Why does EPA work on Smart Growth?

– Because where and how we build affects our land, air, and water. – Billions are invested in building communities and we can help make state and local development decisions better for public health and the environment – Many communities want better development outcomes but need help overcoming barriers

• Education and outreach
• Publications, Webinars, National Smart Growth Conference
• Developing tools and providing technical

assistance

• Modernizing codes, standards and rules
• Green Building Standards, Neighborhood Design, Street

Design Guidelines

• Federal partnerships
• Local Foods Local Places, Partnership for Sustainable

Communities

• Supporting the work of other EPA programs

Videos Showing Examples of Our Work

http://www2.epa.gov/smartgrowth/smart-growth-webinars-videos-and-podcasts#epaTAP

How we do our work

Tools and Technical Assistance

• Technical Assistance to state and local

governments – approximately 60% of

• ur FY15 work plan.
• Multiple approaches:
• Smart Growth Implementation Assistance

Emerging and complex issues

• Governors Institute on Community Design

State policy change

• Greening Americas Capitals

High visibility demonstration projects

• Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities

Tools to address common barriers

• Joint Technical Assistance with other

agencies (FEMA, USDA, ARC, SC2, GSA) Leveraging and changing practices

• Provide access to national experts through cost

effective programs with minimal application barriers

• Use assistance programs to develop tools that can

be used by others

• We only work in places that have asked for help
• Our programs and tools attract significant

investment from other agencies What is unique about our approach?