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EPA Grant to University of Maryland Will Help Communities Tackle Stormwater, Reduce Pollution to the Chesapeake Bay

Release Date: 09/24/2012
Contact Information: Donna Heron 215-814-5113 / heron.donna@epa.gov

BLADENSBURG, Md. (Sept. 24, 2012) – Federal, state and local officials gathered at Bladensburg Waterfront Park today in announcing a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant for $691,674 to the University of Maryland. EPA’s Sustainable Chesapeake Grant will allow the University to help two local communities improve how they manage stormwater runoff, the fastest growing source of pollution to the Chesapeake Bay.

“Today, the University of Maryland is helping us forge the powers of science and community action to develop new grassroots tools, find sustainable solutions that meet the needs of two communities, which ultimately benefit the health of the Bay,” said EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin. "Restoring urban waters and the Chesapeake Bay is essential to revitalizing the health and economic future of the communities around them.”

“One of my top priorities has been to better manage stormwater runoff so we significantly reduce its impact on the local rivers and streams that make up the Chesapeake Bay Watershed,” said Senator Cardin, chairman of the Water and Wildlife Subcommittee of the Environment and Public Works Committee. “EPA’s grant of $700,000 to the University of Maryland will enable the university and local communities to form a collaborative partnership that will help develop ways to better identify runoff hotspots and improve overall stormwater management.”

EPA funded the grant under the agency’s Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program. University of Maryland’s STAR research project will focus on improving the management of stormwater in Howard County Maryland’s Wilde Lake watershed and the District of Columbia’s Watts Branch watershed. The project will provide funding, technical assistance and scientific knowledge to help community members identify stormwater problem areas and obstacles they face, increase the use of best management practices, and design more locally-driven solutions.

EPA’s STAR program funds research grants in numerous environmental science and engineering disciplines through a competitive solicitation process and independent peer review. The STAR program engages the nation’s best scientists and engineers in targeted research that complements EPA’s own outstanding research program.