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BOSTON – The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is awarding a grant for $1.75 million to the New England Environmental Finance Center of the University of Southern Maine (USM) to establish and administer a Technical Assistance Network in support of EPA New England's Southeast New England Program for Coastal Watershed Restoration (SNEP).

"This is an important milestone for EPA's Southeast New England Program," said EPA New England Regional Administrator Dennis Deziel. "Establishing this technical network will fill a significant need, helping communities, tribes, and local organizations build and enhance their abilities to manage their programs in ways that produce multiple environmental and fiscal benefits."

Priority goals for the technical assistance network are to help local organizations develop capacity to effectively plan for environmental financing, and to identify and plan for strategic stormwater management activities to improve water quality, alleviate flooding, restore habitat, and enhance resiliency from storms.

The SNEP Technical Assistance Network will bring together a broad range of experts and local organizations as partners to help communities, tribes and environmental organizations determine their best approaches for achieving water resource and habitat restoration goals. In addition to providing one-on-one assistance to municipalities and tribes, the Network will also encourage collaboration, communication and innovation through the creation of peer-to-peer exchanges.

Experts and organizations partnering in the network include: USM's New England Environmental Finance Center, Audubon Society of Rhode Island, Mass Audubon's Shaping the Future of Your Community Program, Brown University, the Cape Cod Commission, the Environmental Finance Center at University of North Carolina, The Nature Conservancy in MA and RI, Rhode Island School of Design, Save the Bay, the University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center, and the University of Rhode Island.

Background

The Southeast New England Program (SNEP) serves as a collaborative framework for advancing ecosystem resiliency, protecting and restoring water quality, habitat, and ecosystem function, and developing and applying innovative policy, science, and technology to environmental management in southeast coastal New England. Objectives under these goals include improving water quality to reduce the impact of nutrients on water quality and aquatic life; restoring physical processes that support critical habitat and ecosystem function; and aligning restoration and management efforts on a regional scale to achieve greater effectiveness and efficiency.

More information:

• About EPA's Southeast New England Program (SNEP): (https://www.epa.govhttps://www.epa.gov/snecwrp)