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EPA to Provide Smart Growth Technical Assistance to Dubuque, Iowa

Release Date: 02/07/2013
Contact Information: Kris Lancaster, 913-551-7557, [email protected]

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Lenexa, Kan., Feb. 7, 2013) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that the City of Dubuque, Iowa, will receive technical assistance through the Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program. The announcement was made at the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference in Kansas City, Mo.

EPA awarded Dubuque a Land Use and Water Quality Workshop. The workshop will provide Dubuque technical assistance to identify green infrastructure measures to better manage stormwater runoff and land use.

“The Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program coordinates federal investments in infrastructure and helps communities make smart planning choices,” said Karl Brooks, EPA Region 7 Administrator. “This project will help to reduce stormwater runoff and incorporate green elements in the Bee Branch Creek area.”

Across the nation, EPA awarded 43 communities with technical assistance through the Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program. EPA selected this year’s recipients from 121 applicants through a competitive process in consultation with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Transportation. The partnership is helping communities across the country create more housing choices, make transportation more efficient and reliable, reinforce existing investments, and support vibrant and healthy neighborhoods that attract businesses.

With assistance from EPA-funded private sector experts, the communities will focus on a specific development tool, such as green building, land use strategies to protect water quality and using smart growth to produce economic and fiscal health. Communities will also learn about other strategies for development that can improve the environment and the economy.