Center of Development Excellence September 2024 Newsletter

Following feedback from our members, the Center of Development Excellence and its corresponding projects are being integrated into the work of the Regional Integration of Sustainability Efforts (RISE) Coalition in Fiscal Year 2025. As part of this work, NCTCOG will be sending quarterly Center of Development Excellence newsletters again. These newsletters contain news, events, and funding opportunities related to sustainability and development excellence. We hope this newsletter is informative and provides valuable insight that can further support your sustainability and development work.

Did we miss an important resource or opportunity that you are aware of? Share your feedback with our team!

Upcoming Events:

2024 National Drive Electric Week Event - October 6, 2024
Reconnecting Communities Across America Informational Webinar - October 8, 2024
Lights Out, Texas! Film Screening - October 9, 2024
2024 Texas State Planning Conference - October 16-18, 2024
Conserving Rural Landscapes: Green Infrastructure, Climate Resilience and Indigenous Knowledge Webinar - October 17, 2024
Environmental Education Measuring Impacts Workshop - October 22, 2024
North Texas Facilities Expo - October 29-30, 2024
Regional Integration of Sustainability Efforts (RISE) Coalition Quarterly Meeting - October 30, 2024
Coordinated Land Use and Transportation Planning Task Force Meeting - November 7, 2024
Texas Energy Summit - November 19-21, 2024

In September of 2023, City of Dallas workers spread a solar-reflective overlay across approximately 6 miles of pavement in a northwest Dallas neighborhood. Now, during the hottest months of the year, the city’s Public Works Department has begun collecting data to see how this $2 million “cool pavements” pilot program has impacted temperatures in the area.

First pioneered in Texas by the City of San Antonio, the new “cool pavements” are more reflective than traditional concrete pavements, allowing them to stay cooler in direct sunlight. The “cool pavement” is a polymeric micro-composite overlay that bonds to the concrete or asphalt, containing titanium which reflects the heat back. Furthermore, the overlay is designed to last 20 years, extending the life of the concrete.

Initial data collection measured neighboring concrete at 113 degrees and treated concrete at 103 degrees – a ten-degree difference. Final results will be presented to the City Council in the fall, who will determine whether the project should be expanded into other areas of Dallas.

This year, the Texas Trees Foundation launched their Green Jobs Workforce Program for disadvantaged adults, ages 18-24. The 20-week paid work program connects young adults with hands-on work experience and introduces them to urban forestry and arboriculture career paths, while also supporting the community and promoting a more sustainable city. The program’s primary goal is to train and create a pipeline of young adults in environmental disciplines, with the goal of finding permanent employment in the green jobs sector. Partnered with Workforce Solutions of Greater Dallas, the program is able to offer $15 per hour wages through a Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act grant.

The Green Jobs Workforce Program is just one of the many efforts the Texas Trees Foundation is involved with. Founded in 1982 as the Dallas Parks Foundation, the organization was renamed in 2003 to better reflect their mission of preserving, beautifying, and expanding public natural green spaces; beautifying public rights of way through tree planting; and encouraging others through educational programs. The Foundation recently concluded their second cohort of the Green Jobs Workforce Program, with two more cohorts planned for 2024.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $10 million in funding for ten university-based climate resilience centers (CRCs) as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative. With access to regionally customized DOE laboratories, university-led research teams will have the opportunity to utilize world class modeling, data, and research capabilities to research climate prediction of weather hazard risks and better prepare their communities.

Over the past year, the White House has announced multiple projects focused on improving climate resiliency. In September of 2023, the DOE announced $5 million in funding for six CRCs with a focus on vulnerable communities. In May of this year, $4.55 million in funding for two heat monitoring and resilience focused research centers was announced as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.

The University of Texas-Arlington and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi have been selected as one of the ten CRCs to work on the Coastal Bend Climate Resilience Project. Together, these universities will be focusing on improving the prediction of water-related threats that impact communities in the Texas Coastal Bend along the Gulf of Mexico. Through the program, the CRC will build short- and long-term capacity in communities so that local leaders can utilize climate science to make informed decisions about resilience-building efforts.

The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) adopted Texas’ first State Flood Plan on August 15th, 2024. The plan is the state’s first attempt at performing comprehensive planning to reduce flood risk, taking a broader look at flood hazard. It is the result of Senate Bill 8, passed by the Texas Legislature in 2019, which established the first regional flood planning cycle following the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. TWDB identified 15 flood planning regions, each of which developed and submitted a flood plan to be incorporated into the State Flood Plan.

The plan identifies who and what might be exposed to flooding, major flood risk reduction infrastructure, existing floodplain management methods, and flood risk reduction strategies. Actionable steps, projects, and evaluations are laid out in the plan, setting a clear path forward for reducing current flood risks and their impacts, as well as to avoid future risks. The plan has been submitted to the Texas Legislature for approval.

As the number of automobiles on the road continues to increase, so does the need for parking. While asphalt expanses and dour gray monoliths may be the traditional method for housing the thousands of cars that drive on our roads daily, there are cities across the globe that are investing in alternative, inventive urban parking. Added benefits of implementing innovative parking solutions may include harmonizing with their surroundings, deploying sustainable elements, incorporating artwork or complementary uses, and adding vibrancy to the street.

Examples of innovative approaches to parking include repurposing an underground cafeteria into parking for residents, converting a surface parking lot into a mixed-use multimodal hub, and covering a parking garage with colorful metal tags that are both visually appealing and energy efficient. You can explore these and seven other innovative parking solutions on the Urban Land website.

The annual Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) National Drive Electric Week (NDEW) is returning to Tanger Outlets, Fort Worth on October 6, 2024, from 10 AM – 2 PM! The NDEW event will showcase various makes and models of electric vehicles (EV), with the goal of educating the public on the benefits of owning and operating EVs. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to enjoy EV displays, food, games, prizes, EV ride-and-drives, and engage with community members and industry professionals involved with sustainability. To attend the event or participate as an exhibitor or sponsor please visit www.driveelectricdfw.org.

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently established the Reconnecting Communities Institute (RCI), a center dedicated to learning how to help reconnect communities that have been harmed, isolated, or cut off from opportunity by transportation infrastructure. RCI is now accepting expressions of interest from organizations seeking support with their community reconnection project. An informational webinar is being held on October 8, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. CT to provide an overview of the program, explain the types of RCI support, and discuss how your organization can participate. There will also be time for questions. Registration for the webinar is available here.

Since 2020, the Lights Out, Texas! campaign has brought education, awareness, and action on nocturnal bird migration to Texans across the state. The Perot Museum of Nature & Science will be hosting a public screening of the documentary Lights Out, Texas! on October 9 at 6:30 p.m. Produced by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Center for Conservation Media, the documentary follows the campaign’s effort to reduce avian mortality caused by light pollution and glass in our built environment. Those interested in attending the public screening should RSVP here.

Registration is open for this year’s Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association’s (APATX) State Planning Conference. Planners and participants from a wide range of disciplines and professions are invited to connect with and learn from like-minded professionals. The theme of this year’s conference is Power and features keynote speaker Theresa O’Donnell, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. The conference is being held at the Watters Creek Convention Center in Allen on October 16-18, 2024. Registration is available on the APATX*24 website.

Climate change is threatening rural landscapes with extreme weather patterns, leading to drought, soil erosion, and flooding. To help address these challenges, many are turning to green infrastructure practices like land conservation, infiltration, and water harvesting. Although sometimes referred to as “innovative”, these practices are rooted in ancient knowledge and have been used by native peoples for centuries. The next EPA Soak Up the Rain Fall Webinar will be exploring these green infrastructure practices in more detail and connecting them to Indigenous knowledge. Speakers will cover the topics of reframing how landscapes are viewed, valued, and managed using Indigenous knowledge and storytelling; how to adapt to drought conditions using soil and water conservation techniques; and how to improve resiliency and create a unique sense-of-place in rural places using green infrastructure. The webinar will be held on October 17 at 1:00 p.m. CT. Those interested in attending can register for the webinar here.

Maps are a great tool to help you tell your story, and can be utilized with grant writing, planning, community engagement, and more. Join Texas Children in Nature Network, the Texas Water Resources Institute, Texas A&M AgriLife, and the Tarrant Regional Water District for their Environmental Education Measuring Impacts Workshop, highlighting three mapping projects and how they can help you tell your story.

Come learn how to leverage GSI, NBS, and BI survey metrics to evaluate the impacts on communities. You’ll get to explore how to collect program data and gather community input towards new projects using Survey 123 software, as well as learn about the importance of community greenspaces using the Healthy Parks Map and the Gen:Thrive map. The workshop is being held at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center on October 22 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Registration is required.

The North Texas Facilities Expo has returned to Dallas-Fort Worth! The Facilities Expo is a FREE event that will allow facilities managers, maintenance managers, and energy managers to learn about facilities engineering and green building communities. It will take place at 500 West Las Colinas Blvd., Irving, TX, 75039 on October 29-30 from 8:40 AM – 3:00 PM. The Facilities Expo will have many educational sessions and product demonstrations which can help improve energy efficiency. For more information visit North Texas Facilities Expo 2023

The North Texas Regional Integration of Sustainability Efforts (RISE) Coalition works to engage interested local governments in peer-exchange opportunities to support sustainability and environmental initiatives. Coalition meetings are open to the public; local government staff working on sustainability, environmental, and climate initiatives are encouraged to attend.

The next RISE Coalition meeting is scheduled for October 30 at 9:30 a.m. The meeting will be in-person at the NCTCOG Offices in the Regional Forum Room. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP here.

For more information about the RISE Coalition, visit the RISE Coalition website. The RISE Coalition website provides information about past and upcoming meetings.

The Coordinated Land Use and Transportation Planning Task Force is a forum for North Texas local governments to discuss best practices around coordinating land use and transportation plans, policies, and projects. These discussions focus on the influence land use has on transportation system performance and how transportation practices shape the development and design of land uses. The goal of the task force is to provide information sharing and best practices from across the Dallas-Fort Worth region.

The next Coordinated Land Use and Transportation Planning Task Force meeting is scheduled to meet virtually on November 7 at 2:00 p.m. Additional information about the task force can be found on their website.

Mark your calendar for the 21st Texas Energy Summit! This year’s summit is being held at the Texas State Capitol in Austin on November 19-21, 2024. Organized by Energy Systems Laboratory, the Texas State Energy Summit focuses on the intersection of air quality and energy systems, with sessions designed to lead to actionable next steps to improve air quality. Participants will have the opportunity to hear from emissions reductions experts and to accelerate necessary changes to clean the air through collaboration.

Government, industry, academia, and non-profit organizations make up the diverse group of conference attendees. Session topics include zero emissions fleets, energy management, storage, renewable energy, sustainability, and resiliency. This is a great opportunity to explore policies and programs that not only improve air quality, but also foster economic development, advance new technologies, and reduce waste and costs. Registration is now available on the Summit website.

The EPA is currently accepting applications for the Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants program. Funding will go towards environmental and climate justice activities that benefit disadvantaged communities. There are two tracks that applicants can submit under depending on the scope and funding requested. Track I, Community-Driven Investments for Change, is expected to award approximately $1.96 billion across 150 projects. Goals under Track I include increasing community climate resilience, centering meaningful community engagement, and maximizing integration across projects. Track II, Meaningful Engagement for Equitable Governance, is expected to award approximately $40 million across 20 projects that build community capacity to evaluate environmental and climate injustices and give disadvantaged communities a voice in the decision-making process.

Applications are open on a rolling basis and are due by November 21, 2024. To be eligible to apply, entities must either be:

A partnership between two community-based non-profit organizations (CBOs); or
A partnership between a CBO and one of the following:

a. a Federally-Recognized Tribe

b. a local government

c. an institution of higher education.

Additional information about the Community Change Grants program can be found on the EPA’s website.

Applications for Community-wide Assessment Grants funding is now open for FY 2025. These grants are for communities that are looking to begin addressing their brownfield challenges, as well as communities with ongoing efforts to bring brownfield sites into productive reuse. Funding can be used to develop brownfields site inventories, prioritize sites, conduct community involvement activities, conduct planning, organize site assessments, develop clean-up plans for specific sites, and develop reuse plans. Applicants can request up to $500,000 with a performance period of up to 4 years. Local governments, land clearance authorities, and government entities created by the state are some of the many applicants eligible to apply. Applications must be submitted by November 14, 2024, to be considered.

The Small Surface and Groundwater Storage Program (Small Storage Program), administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior through the Bureau of Reclamation, is an effort to enhance water storage opportunities for future generations. Title IX-Western Water Infrastructure was included under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to address water storage infrastructure critical to the Nation’s economic growth, health, and competitiveness, with Section 40903 authorizing funding for small surface storage and groundwater storage projects.

A third funding opportunity under the Small Storage Program opened on September 4th, 2024. Through this funding, the Bureau of Reclamation will continue to provide funding for projects that increase water supply reliability, improve operational flexibility, and enhance climate resiliency of water and related infrastructure throughout the 17 western states under which Texas is included. State, county, local, and tribal governments seeking cost-shared funding for the planning, design, and construction of small surface water and groundwater storage projects that meet the CMP TRMR-127 requirements are invited to apply. The first application period will end on December 12, 2024, and the second on July 15, 2025.

After the success of Rounds 1 and 2, the U.S Department of Energy Solar Technologies Office has opened Round 3 of the Community Power Accelerator. Round 3 is seeking organizations interested in developing and financing a portfolio with two or more projects totaling at least 1 MW AC of distributed solar generation, which may include but are not limited to community solar, microgrids, and commercial and industrial solar. Each portfolio must include the benefits of Equitable Access and Consumer Protections and Meaningful Engagement, as well as one of the following:

Resilience, Storage, and Grid Benefits
Community-Led Economic Development
Solar Workforce Development

In addition to U.S. solar developers, Round 3 also welcomes solar co-developers, organizations that are partnering with a project developer, and other non-developer organizations to apply. These may include community-based organizations; state, local, and tribal governments and their agencies; and more. Informational webinars covering the details of the Community Power Accelerator Round 3 are being held on October 1 at 1:00 p.m. CT and November 13 at 12:00 p.m. CT. Submissions are due December 17, 2024, at 4:00 p.m. CT.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is still accepting grant applications under a new, all-electric Texas Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Program (TxVEMP) grant round. There is an estimated $87 million in funding available to upgrade or replace vehicles and equipment operating in eligible areas with new, all-electric models. Applicants purchasing eligible vehicles and equipment may request additional funding for refueling infrastructure. $64M has been requested, but the program is still accepting applications so submit your application soon.

Eligible vehicles and equipment include:

Class 8 Local Freight and Port Drayage Trucks
Class 4-8 School Buses, Shuttle Buses, and Transit Buses
Class 4-7 Local Freight Trucks
Airport Ground Support Equipment
Forklifts and Port Cargo Handling Equipment

The program reimburses up to 75% of the incremental cost for non-governmental entities or 100% for governmental entities. TxVEMP grant documents, including the Request for Grant Applications and Project Applications, may be found on the TxVEMP webpage. Applications will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis until Saturday, August 31, 2025.

Administered by the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT), the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity program provides discretionary funding to states, local governments, and public agencies through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for surface transportation infrastructure projects. Projects should be consistent with the USDOT’s strategic goals of improving safety, economic strength and global competitiveness, equity, and climate and sustainability. Although the application for FY 2025 is not yet open, the deadline for FY 2025 is currently set for January 13, 2025. Those interested in learning more about the RAISE program are encouraged to visit the USDOT’s RAISE website, as well as review the FY2024 NOFO and awards.