Rural Community Assistance Partnership

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EPA report details how development can impact public health, environment

WASHINGTON (EPA) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released on June 17 its most comprehensive review to date on how the built environment – the way we build our cities and towns – directly affects our environment and public health. The report was announced by EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe during a national Twitter Town Hall meeting in Washington, D.C., with Maurice Jones, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing, and Development (HUD), and John Porcari, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

Low-impact development fact sheets available online

EPA has released a fact-sheet series on the benefits of low-impact development (LID) and addressing obstacles to wider adoption of LID. Low-impact development is an approach to land development (or re-development) that works with nature to manage stormwater as close to its source as possible. It employs principles such as preserving and recreating natural landscape features, minimizing effective imperviousness to create functional and appealing site drainage that treat stormwater as a resource rather than a waste product.

EPA offering sustainable growth assistance to communities

WASHINGTON (EPA) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invited communities on Sept. 19 to apply for technical assistance to foster sustainable growth in their area. Communities that adopt sustainable-growth strategies have been shown to expand economic opportunity and protect people’s health and the environment. EPA is offering assistance through the Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program, which offers tools that can be applied in rural, suburban, and urban areas, including: