In a big step forward for Smart Growth in New York State, two major state agencies say they will direct more aid to cash-strapped cities with aging infrastructure rather than supporting suburban expansion into undeveloped areas.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation and the Environmental Facilities Corporation plan to re-write rules governing use of the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund, which makes low-interest loans and grants of about a half billion dollars a year to localities, according to the Albany Times Union.
Aging sewer systems are a looming financial threat to the state, according to the article, as nearly two-thirds of 600 municipal treatment plants lack budgets for long-term repairs and upgrades, and about a quarter of them are 30 years old, which is considered their useful life.
Read the full Times-Union story at:
http://archives.timesunion.com/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=8950246
