COVER: Community Based Public-Private Partnerships (CBP3) and Alternative Market-Based Tools for Integrated Green Stormwater InfrastructureOn April 22, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 3 released a guide intended to help Mid-Atlantic communities address water quality challenges through faster, cheaper, and greener methods. The report, “Community Based Public-Private Partnerships (CBP3) and Alternative Market-Based Tools for Integrated Green Stormwater Infrastructure,” is the result of a multi-year effort between EPA Region 3 and its partners. Specifically, the report introduces the CBP3 approach as a flexible, performance-based platform for implementing affordable, integrated green stormwater infrastructure to meet a variety of regulatory and community needs. The guide provides information on traditional U.S. P3s and shows how this paradigm differs from the CBP3 model. Additionally, the guide details financing alternatives and market-based tools.

The topic of innovative financing and green infrastructure funding is not confined to the Mid-Atlantic. EPA Region 3 held a series of webcasts on the topic in recent years, with these webcasts drawing more than 1,000 attendees from across the U.S. and abroad. Professionals from all regions of the country have expressed interest in how to finance, fund, and implement large-scale green infrastructure investments at a reasonable cost and at an accelerated rate.

Input for this guide came from experts across a variety of sectors, including public infrastructure financing, green infrastructure, investment and finance, economic development, renewable energy, military housing, and others. The guide is intended for a variety of audiences, including but not limited to, lawyers, finance specialists, public-private partnership experts, public officials, economic developers, stormwater and green infrastructure practitioners and managers, decision-makers, and regulators.