EPA and HUD Make Big Investments in Sustainable Development

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are making significant progress
on their joint effort, with the U.S. DOT, to connect cleaner transportation options with affordable  housing and denser urban development.

A
future commuter rail station along Boston's Fairmount Line, one of five
areas selected for EPA sustainable development aid. (Photo: Globe)

The latest moves came as Obama administration officials gathered in Seattle for the annual New Partners for Smart Growth conference,
where HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan officially tapped Shelley Poticha and
Ron Sims as leaders of his agency's sustainable communities office.

On the HUD website, Donovan's aides are seeking input
and suggestions from local planners as they prepare to award an initial
$100 million in grants to cities with plans for transportation and land
use reform.

Not to be outdone, EPA took the opportunity
to launch two pilot grant programs aimed at using clean water funds to
boost community development and rebuilding brownfield communities
around transit access.

The water-funding pilot will focus on New York, California, and Maryland, while the brownfields
-- former industrial sites where hazardous materials may impede
environmental cleanup -- selected for transit-oriented development aid
are located in Indianapolis, Iowa City, Denver, Boston, and the San
Diego area.

The three federal agencies involved in green
development work are also beefing up their message, connecting a number
of recent policy shifts on their respective fronts into a larger
narrative of progress towards a more harmonious approach to
transportation and housing. For a recap of the recent steps taken by
the EPA, HUD, and U.S. DOT -- many of which were covered by Streetsblog
Capitol Hill, and syndicated here -- check out the agencies' January bulletin [PDF].