News

DATE: 1/6/05	CONTACT: Lisa Schell, 919/716-0057
RELEASE: Immediate	DISTRIBUTION: Targeted

CLEAN WATER MANAGEMENT TRUST FUND BOARD MEETS IN RALEIGH

RALEIGH - The board of trustees of the North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund (CWMTF) holds its regularly scheduled meeting Monday, January 10, 2005.

Monday's meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. and will be held at the Clarion Hotel State Capital, 320 Hillsborough Street in Raleigh.

The board's personnel, long range planning, restoration and legislative committees will meet on Sunday, January 9 starting at 1:00. Complete agendas for both the committee and full board meetings can be found on the CWMTF web site at http://www.cwmtf.net/jan05agenda.htm.

During the board's Monday meeting, trustees will hear a presentation from Cleve Simpson, Assistant Secretary for Community Development, NC Department of Commerce on “Twenty-First Century Communities and the Clean Water Management Trust Fund.” Gerry Cohen, Southeast Director of the American Farmland Trust will also make a presentation to trustees on "Farmland Preservation and Clean Water."

CWMTF Trustees will begin reviewing current grant applications totaling $172 million at its meeting in Randolph County February 13-14. CWMTF received 59 new grant proposals requesting $80 million on December 1, 2004. The board also will consider 43 previously submitted but deferred grants in its review this grant cycle.

The CWMTF was established 1996 to help finance projects that enhance or restore degraded waters, protect unpolluted waters, and/or contribute toward a network of riparian buffers and greenways for environmental, educational, and recreational benefits. CWMTF estimates that over $10.5 billion is needed to protect and restore water quality in North Carolina.

The 21-member, independent, CWMTF Board of Trustees has full responsibility over the allocation of moneys from the Fund.
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For more information, contact Lisa Schell at 919/716-0057 or 919/280-3292 (mobile). The meeting agenda is available on-line here.