November 26, 2024
The Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) presented DVRPC with the Trailblazer Award for leadership in securing federal funding for critical Circuit Trails projects. The Circuit Trails network is Greater Philadelphia’s multi-use trail system connecting people to jobs, communities, parks, and waterways. Governments, non-profits, and foundations have collaborated to complete over 415 miles of the envisioned 800-mile regional network to date.
At its 54th Environmental Partnership Dinner on November 12, the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) presented DVRPC with the Trailblazer Award for leadership in securing federal funding for critical Circuit Trails projects. This funding includes a recent investment of $120 million from the new federal Carbon Reduction Program into the Circuit Trails, the largest single investment by the Commission in the network to date. The DVRPC board members from the southeastern PA counties were instrumental in making this investment happen, as were the local stakeholders who work hard to ready individual trails projects for investment.
The goal of the federal Carbon Reduction Program is to reduce transportation emissions by funding projects designed to reduce transportation emissions. DVRPC will continue to work with partners to make investments from the Carbon Reduction Program in projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and benefit the region’s disadvantaged communities that bear disproportionate burdens from our existing transportation system, and are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
The Carbon Reduction Program is part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which President Biden signed into law in 2021. The IIJA includes $1.7 trillion for surface transportation, drinking water, and wastewater systems across the country.