On Thursday, July 15th at 2:00 pm EST the White House will be hosting a live chat to talk about the progress of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities.  You can access the chat here:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/live at 2pm EST tomorrow.

Formed in June 2009, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) joined together in an unprecedented agreement to coordinate federal housing, transportation, and environmental investments; protect public health and the environment; promote equitable development; and help address the challenges of climate change.

After gathering public input and working to break down bureaucratic barriers, the Partnership has made significant progress in three key areas:

·         Providing and coordinating funding to support the creation of more sustainable communities;

·         Removing regulatory barriers at the federal level to facilitate the development of sustainable communities at the local level; and

·         Aligning agency priorities and institutionalizing the principles of the partnership within the agencies.

The chat will include representatives of all three agencies in the partnership:

Shelley Poticha is Director of the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities at HUD
Beth Osborne is Deputy Assistant Secretary of Policy at the Department of Transportation
John W. Frece is the Director of the Office of Sustainable Communities at EPA

And be moderated by Derek Douglas, Special Assistant to the President on Urban Policy at the White House. Participants are invited to ask questions live at WhiteHouse.gov/live, or submit questions in advance through Planetizen.

Katy Schneider

Government Affairs Associate

American Planning Association

1776 Massachusetts Ave NW, Suite 400

Washington, DC 20036

p.  202-349-1024

c.  202-904-0009

kschneider@planning.org