News Releases from Headquarters

EPA Launches New Clearinghouse for Environmental Finance

Includes Funding and Resources for Communities

WASHINGTON (December 10, 2020) — This week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched the Clearinghouse for Environmental Finance (Clearinghouse), an online database of land, air, and water information. This new Clearinghouse catalogues available funding, financing, and instructional resources to aid communities in their efforts to improve environmental conditions. The Office of Policy collaborated with the Office of Water to launch the new Clearinghouse.

“EPA has created a one-stop shop to make it easier for communities to access available funding and other agency resources,” said U.S. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Today’s action builds on my commitment to tear down the silos between programs within the agency so that we can be more effective in addressing the environmental burdens that communities face.”

The Administrator announced his commitment to community-based environmentalism during his speech at the Nixon Library in early September, where he charged the Office of Policy with helping to advance those goals. The Clearinghouse expands on the concept of the original Water Finance Clearinghouse, launched in 2017, that served as the one-stop shop for communities researching ways to fund and finance their water infrastructure needs to assist in local decision-making. The new Clearinghouse includes over 1,800 funding and financing opportunities and information resources from EPA’s air, water and land programs. Communities can use this system to access information on funding and financing opportunities for environmental projects as well as financial research, such as case studies, white papers, and webinars. 

The public can access the Clearinghouse for Environmental Finance here: www.epa.gov/chef

Background:

EPA’s Water Finance Center manages the Clearinghouse for Environmental Finance. The Center provides information on a suite of water sector financial topics, including through the Water Finance Clearinghouse, coordination among EPA and other federal water funding programs, and specialized support for communities requesting technical assistance for how to afford water infrastructure improvements. Additional information about EPA’s Water Finance Center is available at https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/waterfinancecenter.