Funding Supports Local Green Infrastructure Projects in Bay Watershed

Partnership Grants Nearly $700,000 to Improve Communities and Provide Jobs

Baltimore City was awarded funding for three projects in the 2018 Chesapeake Bay Green Streets-Green Jobs-Green Towns Grant Program.

The Chesapeake Bay Trust, in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and the City of Baltimore Office of Sustainability announce $693,791 in funding for the Chesapeake Bay “Green Streets, Green Jobs, Green Towns” Grant Program. These grants help communities develop and implement plans that reduce stormwater runoff, increase the number and amount of green spaces in urban areas, improve the health of local rivers, streams, and the Chesapeake Bay, create “green jobs,” and enhance livability in cities and communities.

This announcement highlights awards for 21 innovative green infrastructure projects in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

“Municipalities throughout our region are grappling with the cost of the investments needed to make their communities more sustainable,” said EPA Regional Administrator Cosmo Servidio. “This program helps provide the resources to maximize the return on these projects by incorporating green infrastructure practices that improve water quality, drive economic vitality and enhance livability.”

“The health of the Chesapeake Bay begins in our neighborhoods and communities, and our streams and rivers all throughout the watershed,” said Maryland Natural Resources Secretary Mark Belton. “We commend these municipalities and organizations for taking the initiative to address critical environmental needs—removing impervious surfaces, planting native trees and rain gardens—as part of their larger infrastructure projects.”

Recent studies show that greening communities results not just in healthier environments, but improvements in human health, reduction in crime, reduction in energy use, and improvement in economic activity in commercial districts. Baltimore City recently developed a Green Network Plan, a bold vision for reimagining vacant and abandoned properties and transforming them into community assets, creating an interconnected system of flourishing spaces through the city.

“Baltimore is proud to be a leader in combining the goals of community health and environmental responsibility,” said Baltimore Mayor Catherine E. Pugh. “We are thrilled to advance the City’s new Green Network Plan that allows community improvement, promotes community safety, and improves our City’s waterways at the same time.”

“Towns and communities throughout our region are eager to enhance their streetscapes and improve our waterways through green infrastructure projects,” said Dr. Jana Davis, executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Trust. “We are proud to combine forces with our funding partners to ensure that local jurisdictions have the resources they need to take action for our communities and for our rivers and streams.”

Green Streets-Green Jobs-Green Towns Grant Program awardees in Maryland include:

Adkins Arboretum, $75,000
Implementation: Adkins Arboretum Parking Lot Alive!
Ridgely
To install stormwater best management practices in the Adkins Arboretum main parking lot, including replacing 1,790 square feet of impervious surface with bioretention garden and pervious paving.

National Wildlife Federation, $66,451
A Green Street in Druid Heights—McCulloh Street
Baltimore
To restore and green a vacant lot in the Druid Heights neighborhood in Central-West Baltimore.

Hood College: Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies. $65,136
The Frederick Food Security Network Greening Project
Frederick
To support the newly formed Frederick Food Security Network, which addresses the needs of both stormwater management and food insecurity through a collective of urban farming operations, including vegetated rain gardens.

Blue Water Baltimore, $58,830
Supporting Community Development through Green Streets in the Belair-Edison Neighborhood
Baltimore
To increase tree canopy by planting 450 street trees and greening over 2.5 miles of streetscape in Northeast Baltimore.

ShoreRivers, $52,928
Greening Urban Vacant Lots: Cambridge Neighborhood Revitalization
Cambridge
To support a pilot program to green vacant lots in Cambridge, MD, creating multi-use community green spaces that have environmental and human benefits.

Canton Canopy, $19,138
Tree Pit Creation Fall 2018-Spring 2019
Baltimore
To reduce impermeable surface in the Canton neighborhood of Baltimore City by creating and expanding tree pits and maintaining new trees that are planted.

City of Annapolis, $15,000
Conceptual Plan: Green Infrastructure Plan for Historic Downtown Annapolis
Annapolis
To fund a conceptual plan to incorporate next generation, high performing green infrastructure into the historic downtown area of Annapolis.

Pocomoke City, $13,500
Conceptual Plan: Pocomoke City Green Street Plan
Pocomoke City
To develop a conceptual plan for future greening projects in the downtown area.

Town of North East, $13,400
Conceptual Plan: G3/Stormwater Management Plan for Downtown North East, MD
North East
To develop a conceptual plan for stormwater management practices in an Intensely Developed Area within the town’s designated Chesapeake Bay Critical Area.

Town of Easton, $8,058
Town of Easton Street Tree Planting Project
Easton
To increase the number of street trees to be planted in 2018 and 2019 by 54 percent.

In Delaware:

Town of Laurel, $10,000
Conceptual Plan and Native Plantings: Dunbar Building
Laurel, DE
To develop a green streets conceptual plan for the area surrounding the Dunbar Building, which will
soon house the Laurel Police Department.

In the District of Columbia:

Restore Massachusetts Ave, $30,000
Engineered Design: Tree Plaza Stormwater Connections for Dupont Circle in the District of Columbia
Washington, D.C.
To design enhanced tree boxes that will treat stormwater runoff at the iconic Dupont Circle.

Environmental Law Institute, $20,000
White Paper on Strategies for Leveraging Capital Infrastructure Projects to ProgrammaticallyIncorporate Green Streets Elements into the Public Right-of-Way 
Chesapeake Bay Wide
For a white paper determining the best practices for local governments to enhance policies to
incorporate green infrastructure into all public-right-of-way construction projects, when feasible.

In Pennsylvania:

City of Lancaster, $30,000
Engineered Design: Green Infrastructure at Culliton Park
Lancaster, PA
For green infrastructure designs for the renovation of Culliton Park.

Hanover Borough, $15,000
Conceptual Plan: Borough of Hanover Streetscape Design and Beautification Plan
Hanover, PA
To fund green infrastructure and stormwater controls of the planned streetscape redesign of Hanover’s
“Main Street.”

Borough of Marietta, $15,000
Marietta Borough: Green Stormwater Infrastructure Strategies Concept Plan Development
Marietta, PA
To develop a green street concept plan that will serve as a template for the borough and other River
Towns in need of similar stormwater management solutions.

RiverStewards, $9,350
Bringing the Blueprint for One Water to Pennsylvania—A White Paper Case Study of the Spring
Creek Watershed
Lititz, PA
For a white paper to show how a regional governance structure for the water management would work
in the Spring Creek watershed.

In West Virginia:

Town of Bath, $42,000
A Bath for the Bay Part Two: Rinse and Repeat
Bath, WV
To fully implement the green infrastructure components of the Town’s Streetscape Renewal Plan,
building on the success of a 2016 green infrastructure project supported by a Green Streets-Green
Jobs-Green Towns grant.

In Virginia:

Capital Trees, $75,000
Implementation/Construction: Low Line Park Project
Richmond, VA
To rehabilitate and reclaim 5.5 acres of open space in Richmond’s urban core, creating an ecologically
responsible park which incorporates stormwater management best practices

City of Portsmouth, $30,000
Engineered Design: Court Street Green Street
Portsmouth, VA
To advance conceptual designs for a green street in City of Portsmouth’s Historic Olde Town District
to complete design plans that can be implemented.

James River Association, $30,000
4833 Old Main Street
Richmond, VA
To continue green street efforts on Minefee Street in the Bellemeade neighborhood of Richmond.