Clean Water Infrastructure

Request for Proposals for Green Banks to Finance Equitable Water Infrastructure

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investment Supports Strategic Partnership Between Coalition for Green Capital and Quantified Ventures to Design, Capitalize, and Scale Equitable Water Infrastructure

Quantified Ventures and Coalition for Green Capital will select six (6) existing green banks to receive grant funding (~$50,000/grantee) and technical assistance to build a pipeline of clean and equitable water infrastructure projects that will directly benefit disadvantaged communities.

There are two key outcomes associated with this effort:

1. Build a pipeline of financeable water projects for each cohort green bank.
2. Design the structure of the financing programs that the green banks can use to finance clean water projects in the future.

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Why Clean water infrastructure and how can Green Banks help?

Clean water infrastructure is imperative for good health and a critical solution for environmental justice because of its ability to rapidly deliver benefits to communities most impacted by a changing climate. By using green banks to fill a financing gap in the market and encourage investments toward water infrastructure projects, economically disadvantaged communities will have the opportunity to modernize their water infrastructure for improved health outcomes and economic prosperity.

The creation of a national green bank also represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shift financing interest toward climate mitigation efforts, such as investments in clean water infrastructure. This is because the EPA’s $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) includes Clean Water Infrastructure as an eligible investment project.

The CGC and QV partnership will utilize their expertise to leverage the initial RWJF investment to support project development, provide technical assistance for implementation, and fund local staff capacity for the inaugural cohort. CGC and QV will issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) to select a cohort of six established green bank grantees, each receiving $50,000-$60,000 to develop robust pipelines of investable water infrastructure projects.

Funding Opportunity

Selected green banks may use grant funding for staff and consultant costs necessary to perform due diligence; partner with community organizations; build community engagement and support; and integrate goals and commitments related to clean water, public health, and racial and social equity through the following activities:

• Establish an initial phase of community engagement to identify shared priorities around financing clean water infrastructure in disadvantaged communities.
• Develop, with technical support from CGC and QV, a project pipeline and suite of financing programs that green banks can deploy once they receive RWJF or future GGRF capitalization funding.
• Contribute to the development and socialization of a best practices guide to further enhance nationwide expansion of “resilience financing” amongst the national green bank community.
• Support green bank cohort participation in quarterly peer-to-peer learning sessions to share best practices, technical assistance, and guidance from the project team.

Key Dates

• February 15: Info Session [Passcode: +LZ3@9k8]
• March 18: Responses to RFP due to CGC by 11:59pm PT
• Late March / Early April: Anticipated selection and announcement of grant recipients
• Early / Mid April: Kickoff meeting

Potential project areas could include:

• Green stormwater infrastructure (e.g., rain gardens, bioswales, urban tree canopy)
• Energy conservation (e.g., on-site renewable energy or methane capture associated with water utilities)
• Surface water protection (e.g., purchase of land or water rights to reduce runoff from residential & commercial development)
• Water conservation (e.g., water-efficient appliances, safe drinking water, water meters)

Please note: this list is not exhaustive and will be scoped out in partnership with cohort green banks.

For more information or if you have questions please contact:

• Nenha Young (nenha@coalitionforgreencapital.com)
• William Barber III (william@coalitionforgreencapital.com)
• Matthew Carney (carney@quantifiedventures.com)

To learn more about Quantify Ventures click here.