EPA's new strategic agenda

"On April 29, 2011 Deputy Administrator Perciasepe announced the release of EPA’s new Strategic Agenda to Protect Waters and Build More Livable Communities through Green Infrastructure, which outlines the activities that the Agency will undertake to help communities implement green infrastructure approaches. EPA’s strategy focuses on clarifying how green infrastructure can and should be used within the regulatory and enforcement contexts, outreach and information exchange, financing, and tool development and capacity building. Deputy Administrator Perciasepe also announced EPA’s green infrastructure community partnership effort by introducing the first 10 communities that will work with the Agency on green infrastructure implementation issues. Concurrent with the release of the Strategic Agenda, EPA’s Office of Water and Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance issued a joint memorandum encouraging communities to use green infrastructure to manage wet weather and meet Clean Water Act Requirements."

DEP Awards Grants to Promote Environmental Education, Stewardship, Renewable Energy

HARRISBURG -- The Department of Environmental Protection today announced that it has awarded more than $538,000 in Environmental Education Grants to 102 non-profits, schools, universities and conservation districts across Pennsylvania.

Grant recipients will use the funding to develop projects such as hosting sustainability workshops, holding nature programs for children, and implementing environmental education programs in their communities.

“Knowledge is power and we want to give communities the power to become more active in protecting the environment,” DEP acting Secretary Michael Krancer said. “These programs will help Pennsylvanians of all ages to learn more about what we can do to promote sustainability and to help keep Pennsylvania a beautiful place.”

The grant program was established by the Environmental Education Act of 1993, which mandates setting aside 5 percent of the pollution fines and penalties DEP collects annually for environmental education in Pennsylvania.

For more information on environmental education, visit www.depweb.state.pa.us and click “Environmental Education. “

Alternative Fuel Transportation Projects Grant Opportunity

HARRISBURG -- The Department of Environmental Protection is accepting applications for projects to be funded by the Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant Program (AFIG). The program makes available $4 million in grants to assist in funding eligible projects that use or produce biofuels, alternative fuels and alternative fuel vehicles, or that deploy fuel-saving technology in the transportation sector.

“Pennsylvania has always been a pioneer in energy,” DEP acting Secretary Michael Krancer said. “Providing assistance to the early adopters of cleaner technologies across the state is an advantage for everyone.”

Funding is available for school districts, municipal authorities, political subdivisions of the state, nonprofit entities, corporations, limited liability companies or partnerships incorporated or registered in the state.

Approved projects for these organizations must work to retrofit fleet vehicles to operate on alternative fuels, purchase alternative fuel vehicle for a fleet, install fleet refueling equipment for alternative fuel vehicles, or support next-phase advanced research, development and training related to alternative fuels and alternative fuel vehicles.

Funding is also available for school districts, municipal authorities, political subdivisions and nonprofit entities to subsidize the purchase of biofuel and provide refueling and storage equipment or related tank cleaning.

The AFIG program was established in 1992 under Act 166. By law, the program receives approximately $5 million to $6 million annually from the General Fund. The amount of funding is equal to 0.25 mills of the utilities gross receipts tax collected during each fiscal year.

The application deadline is 4 p.m., Friday, June 17. Only electronic applications will be accepted. Visit the state’s eGrants site at https://www.grants.dcnr.state.pa.us/ to apply. No costs for approved projects may be incurred prior to July 1.

For more information, visit http://www.dep.state.pa.us and click “Grants and Loans,” or contact Carmen LaRosa or Mark Brojakowski at DEP’s Office of Energy and Technology Deployment at 717-783-8411.

Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant Program; Program Opportunity

[41 Pa.B. 1970]
[Saturday, April 9, 2011]

 The Department of Environmental Protection (Department), Bureau of Energy, Innovations and Technology Deployment announces an opportunity to apply for grants under the Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant Program (Program) to improve this Commonwealth's air quality and reduce consumption of imported oil through the use of homegrown alternative fuels that will help this Commonwealth's economy and environment. The Department is seeking applications for innovative, advanced fuel and vehicle technology projects resulting in cleaner advanced alternative transportation within this Commonwealth.

 Funding is available for school districts, municipal authorities, political subdivisions, nonprofit entities, corporations, limited liability companies or partnerships incorporated or registered in this Commonwealth to retrofit fleet vehicles to operate on alternative fuels, subsidize the cost of the purchase of an alternative fuel vehicle for a fleet or subsidize the cost to install fleet refueling equipment for alternative fuel vehicles or support next phase advanced research, development and training related to alternative fuels and alternative fuel vehicles.

 Funding is also available for school districts, municipal authorities, political subdivisions and nonprofit entities to subsidize the incremental cost to purchase biofuel and provide refueling and storage equipment or related tank cleaning.

 Project costs cannot be incurred before July 1, 2011.

 The Program guidelines and application instructions are available on the Department's web site at http://www.depweb.state.pa.us (click on ''DEP Programs'' and then ''Alternative Fuels''). Applications will be accepted online through the eGrants system. Visit https://www.grants.dcnr.state.pa.us/ and click on ''Find a Grant.'' Scroll down to ''AFIG'' and click ''Apply for this grant.''

 The application period will open on April 15, 2011. Applications must be submitted by 4 p.m. on June 17, 2011. Hardcopy applications will not be accepted.

MICHAEL L. KRANCER, 
Acting Secretary

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 11-611. Filed for public inspection April 8, 2011, 9:00 a.m.]

New Department of Energy Programs

The four funding opportunities announced build on the Department's strong portfolio of research and development efforts in solar energy. Activities under these funding areas will help improve the performance of current and next generation PV cells, develop advanced power electronics that optimize the performance of PV installations, and reduce the costs of PV balance-of-system hardware. These include:

• Foundational Program to Advance Cell Efficiency (F-PACE): In a collaborative funding effort with the National Science Foundation, $39 million is available for research and development in solar device physics and PV technology to improve PV cell performance and reduce the costs of modules for grid-scale commercial applications.
• PV Balance of Systems: $60 million in funding is available for research, development, and demonstration of balance of system components. Projects may include new building-integrated photovoltaic products, new mounting and wiring technologies, and new building code language that can foster the use of innovative, low-cost hardware designs while maintaining safety and reliability.
• Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems (SEGIS)-Advanced Concepts: $40 million in funding is available to develop technologies that will help increase the integration of solar energy onto the electrical grid and facilitate interactions between solar energy systems and Smart Grid technologies. This could include projects focused on improved energy storage technologies and better system functionality. SEGIS-Advanced Concepts will also support projects like high voltage systems that reduce the overall installed costs associated with balance of systems components costs for installations, and projects focused on technologies like micro-inverters that are capable of harvesting more energy from the sun.
• PV Next Generation: $30 million in funding is available for early-stage applied research to demonstrate and prove new concepts in materials, processes, and device designs for solar PV component development at the laboratory scale.

Read more information and view the application requirements for each Funding Opportunity Announcement.

America's Next Top Energy Innovator Challenge

Boston, MA - As part of the Obama Administration's Startup America Initiative, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the "America's Next Top Energy Innovator" challenge, which will give start-up companies the opportunity to license groundbreaking technologies developed by the National Laboratories for $1,000 and build successful businesses. As part of this effort, the Department is reducing both the cost and paperwork requirements for start-up companies to obtain an option agreement to license some of the 15,000 patents and patent applications held by our 17 National Laboratories.

"America's entrepreneurs and innovators are the best in the world," said Secretary Chu. "Today, we're challenging them to create new businesses based on discoveries made by our world-leading national laboratories. Because we've cut the upfront fees and reduced the paperwork, we'll make it easier for start-up companies to succeed and create the new jobs our economy needs. Our goal is simple: unleash America's innovation machine and win the global race for the clean energy jobs of the future."

Currently, only about 10 percent of federal patents have been licensed to be commercialized. This initiative aims to double the number of startup companies coming out of the National Laboratories.

Specifically, as part of "America's Next Top Energy Innovator:"

1. On Monday, May 2, 2011, the Department will kick off the challenge by posting a streamlined template option agreement online for entrepreneurs to submit to Laboratories. Entrepreneurs must identify the technology of interest and submit a business plan to be considered for the program. Participants will have until December 15 to make their submission to the Laboratory.
2. Any of the 15,000 unlicensed patents and patent applications held by the National Laboratories will be available for licensing by startup companies
3. From May 2 to December 15, the Department will reduce the total upfront cost of licensing DOE patents in a specific technology to a $1,000 upfront fee for portfolios of up to three patents. This represents a savings of $10,000 to $50,000 on average in upfront fees.
4. Other license terms, such as equity and royalties, will be negotiated on a case by case basis and will typically be due once the company grows and achieves widescale commercial success. These fees help support the Department's continuing research activities to develop new technologies.
5. The Department will simplify the licensing process and establish a standard set of terms for start-ups, who generally lack the resources, time or expertise to negotiate individual licensing agreements. This will significantly reduce both the time and cost required to process the license, allowing faster access to the Department's patents and enabling the Department to process more licenses in a shorter amount of time.
6. Entrepreneurs who complete the process and demonstrate progress toward executing their business plan and commercializing the technology will have the opportunity to be showcased at the 3rd Annual ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit in 2012, which brings together leading technology startups and clean energy investors from around the country.

In addition to these steps, the Department is making it easier for companies to use the world-leading facilities at our National Laboratories to conduct collaborative research and development activities. Previously, companies had to make an upfront payment covering the first 90 days of research work - a requirement that was often difficult for start-ups to meet. Today, the Department is lowering the advance payment requirement to 60 days. This change will benefit all companies - not just start-ups - but could be valuable for those participating in the "America's Next Top Energy Innovator" challenge.

Entrepreneurs interested in participating can already view the available technologies on the Department's Energy Innovation Portal.

Great Lakes Restoration

This Request for Applications (RFA) solicits applications from eligible entities for grants and/or cooperative agreements to be awarded pursuant to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan (http://greatlakesrestoration.us/action/wp-content/uploads/glri_actionplan.pdf ). This RFA is EPA’s major competitive grant funding opportunity under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (“GLRI” or “Initiative”) for FY2011 and is one of several funding opportunities available through federal agencies under the GLRI. Applications are requested for projects identified in the RFA within the following four GLRI focus areas:1.Toxic Substances and Areas of Concern, including pollution prevention and cleanup of the most polluted areas in the Great Lakes.2.Invasive Species, including efforts to institute a “zero tolerance policy” toward new invasions.3.Nearshore Health and Nonpoint Source Pollution, including a targeted geographic focus on high priority watersheds and reducing polluted runoff from urban, suburban and, agricultural sources.4.Accountability, Education, Monitoring, Evaluation, Communication and Partnerships, including the implementation of goal- and results-based accountability measures, learning initiatives,outreach, and strategic partnerships.

Link to Full Announcement

U.S. EPA Great Lakes Restoration Initiative 2011 Request For Applications