2024-053-E-AMS-Urban Sustainability Solutions-Green Infrastructure and Workforce Development Project

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2236 1) The students (at least 5/teacher/year) who are paid to be trained and to *implement* sustainable stormwater best management practices in Orange County, bringing often much-needed income to their families while bringing themselves pride and practical participation in their own communities. We target non-academic/core teachers and students (those who do not plan to continue their academic educations after high school). At least 60% of non-academic students across the country are Black or Hispanic (https://hechingerreport.org/how-career-and-technical-education- shuts-out-black-and-latino-students-from-high-paying-professions/ ; see also https://www.apmreports.org/episode/2014/09/09/the- troubled-history-of-vocational-education). So we anticipate that at least 60% of the 50 Orange-County students (or 30 students) will be Black or Hispanic. As the vast majority of students enrolled in non- college-prep courses across the country are also low-income (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1085026), we anticipate that most if not all of the 50 students benefiting from the program outlined herein will be from low-income families. All participating students range in age from 15 to 19. 2) All low-income property owners who receive much-needed sustainable stormwater bmp installations will be direct beneificiaries of the program, thereby reducing flooding/erosion, increasing useable outdoor space on their properties, and reducing moisture and mold and improving air quality. All of the bmp installations supported by our program outlined herein will be on low- income/underserved properties in Orange County; thus, the percentage of low-income residents who benefit from this part of the project is 100%. Given that 23.8% of the poverty population in the United States is black, 28% is Hispanic, and 4.3% is Asian ( https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/09/poverty-rates-for- blacks-and-hispanics-reached-historic-lows-in-2019.html), we anticipate that at least 56%, or more than half, of the bmp’s installed and maintained by this program will be on properties owned by these nonwhite minorities. The majority of low-income homeowners in Orange County are also elderly (65+ years), and we anticipate 50% or more of the properties we serve in Tom's Creek to be owned by people over 65 years old: https://partnershipsinaging.unc.edu/wp- content/uploads/sites/11698/2018/12/2018-Orange-County-Senior- Housing-Report_FINAL-2.pdf. 3) In the long term, all those who live within the waterway into which flows the stormwater from the properties where bmp’s are installed by USS teachers and students This is because the stormwater runoff where USS bmp’s are installed will be naturally filtered by plants rather than directed (as currently) across polluted roofs and roads straight into the nearest stream or creek. The resulting reduction in E.coli, nitrogen and phosphorous pollutants will, in combination, render these impaired Orange County waterways safe for wildlife, swimming and eating fish from. In addition, this reduction in pollution stands to save Orange County taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in required federal cleanup fees. Based on the United States Census Bureau’s data for Orange County (https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/orangecountynorthcaro lina/PST045222) and a population of ~150,000, this amounts to 18,000 black people (12%); 12,000 Hispanic people (8%); 13,500 Asian people (9%); 103.500 White people (69%); 78,000 females (52%); 72,000 males (48%), 18,000 persons in poverty (12%); and a median age of 35.1 years. DocuSign Envelope ID: 2C2F66C4-424F-4660-AF8A-A623B6D7194E