DOE Smart Grid Data Access Funding Opportunity - $8 million

DOE Smart Grid Data Access Funding Opportunity - $8 million
Application Due: March 1, 2012
Eligible Entities: State and local governments, federally recognized tribes.

The U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory is seeking applications aimed at empowering consumers to better manage their electricity use by enabling access to electricity consumption data by customers and their authorized third parties, and providing or supporting the use of third-party tools and software products that use the available data to deliver a value-added service to the customer. Projects under this Funding Opportunity Announcement will be composed of two phases. Under Phase I, applicants will need to demonstrate the capability for electricity customers and or designated third parties to access their usage data and the functionality of their proposed tool or software product to provide this access. Phase II involves adoption of the tools and software products demonstrated in Phase I to an entire service territory, region, or community within the jurisdiction of the applicant or the utility partner of the applicant.

For more information, click here.

WEBINAR: Green and Sustainable Remediation

ITRC Green & Sustainable Remediation - February 14, 2012, 2:00PM-4:15PM EST

Many state and federal agencies are just beginning to assess and apply green and sustainable remediation into their regulatory programs. This training provides background on Green and Sustainable Remediation (GSR) concepts, a scalable and flexible framework and metrics, tools and resources to conduct GSR evaluations on remedial projects. The training is based on the ITRC's Technical & Regulatory Guidance Document: Green and Sustainable Remediation: A Practical Framework (GSR-2, 2011) as well as ITRC's Overview Document, Green and Sustainable Remediation: State of the Science and Practice (GSR-1, 2011). Beyond basic GSR principles and definitions, participants will learn the potential benefits of incorporating GSR into their projects; when and how to incorporate GSR within a project's life cycle; and how to perform a GSR evaluation using appropriate tools. In addition, a variety of case studies will demonstrate the application of GSR and the results. The training course provides an important primer for both organizations initiating GSR programs as well as those organizations seeking to incorporate GSR considerations into existing regulatory guidance. For more information and to register, see http://www.itrcweb.org or http://clu-in.org/live .

WEBINAR - RE-Powering America's Land - 02/07/12 @ 1PM EDT

On February 7 from 1:00 - 2:30 pm EST, EPA's RE-Powering America's Land Initiative will host a webinar: Decision Trees for Screening Potentially Contaminated or Underutilized Site for Solar and Wind Potential

You can register for the webinar at http://www.clu-in.org/conf/tio/renewableenergyland/.

> This webinar will give an overview of two draft decision trees that 
> the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Renewable 
> Energy Laboratory (NREL) created to screen potentially contaminated 
> and underutilized sites for solar and wind potential. These 
> decision trees were created to guide state and local governments 
> and other stakeholders through a process for screening sites for 
> their suitability for solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind energy. 
> Targeted sites include underutilized "greyfields", commercial/
> industrial rooftops, brownfields, Superfund sites, RCRA sites, 
> publicly owned facilities, abandoned parcels, and landfills. EPA 
> encourages the development of these targeted sites, instead of 
> green space.
>
> Through the RE-Powering America's Land Initiative, the EPA 
> encourages renewable energy development on potentially contaminated 
> land. The EPA also promotes redevelopment of urban sites to achieve 
> "Smart Growth" objectives. Community vision for the site, as well 
> as the site's key attributes, should shape the redevelopment plan.
>
> These decision trees can be used to screen individual sites for 
> solar or wind potential or for a community-scale evaluation of 
> candidate sites. They are not intended to replace or substitute the 
> need for a detailed site-specific assessment that would follow an 
> initial screening based on criteria contained in the trees. Tips on 
> how users can obtain information relevant to various parameters in 
> the trees are provided.
>
> These draft tools have been posted on EPA's RE-Powering America's 
> Land website athttp://www.epa.gov/renewableenergyland/
> develop_potential_fs.htm. EPA is seeking your feedback on these 
> draft decision trees. Please send comments by February 16 to Shea 
> Jones at jones.shea@epa.gov
>

DOT TIGER Grant NOFA is out & Link to Brownfields

Today the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) was released for DOT TIGER grants.  The program expects to make up to $500 million in transportation infrastructure awards.  This is a good opportunity to identify where there are transportation needs and linkages  to your Brownfield Area-wide Pilot project areas.  Note the highlighted section below, which calls out HUD-DOT-EPA Partnership efforts and specifically mentions the EPA Brownfield Area-Wide Pilot Program for special consideration (reference pg 34 of NOFA).

Pre-applications are due February 20 and applications are due March 19.

The eligible applicants list is on pg 6.  Nonprofits organizations -- please talk with your local MPO or government entity who will be applying for TIGER funds so your transportation needs can be considered.

Questions related to the application process, technical assistance, or debriefing requests can be sent to: tigergrants@dot.gov and more information is available at: http://www.dot.gov/tiger/