The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week announced a $1 million grant to the Met Council for creation of a regional plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and partner with local governments to implement prioritized strategies as the region heats up and becomes more prone to both flooding and drought. A top priority for the grant funds is engaging low-income and disadvantaged communities to help develop regional climate-related policies. Learn more about Met Council plans for the funding.

Following the recommendations of a community task force, the Met Council is creating a grant program to help reduce the inflow and infiltration of groundwater and stormwater into private sewer pipes. When too much clear water gets into wastewater pipes, sewage can back up into homes and businesses. Local governments will be able to apply for funding and then grant it to private property owners.

Based on extensive community engagement and preliminary design and engineering, METRO Blue Line Extension staff have recommended a single preferred route option in Minneapolis for continued study. Project staff are also working on a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which will focus on changes to the project based on the new recommended route. The full range of environmental, social, and economic impacts will be evaluated.

• Review and comment on the scope of the EIS
• Route options being studied

As a former pawnshop manager, Senior Customer Relations Specialist Jeremy Hop sees the value in used goods. That's why Metro Transit customers’ unclaimed belongings don’t all go in a landfill. Smartphones, other electronic gear, sporting goods, winter clothing, eyeglasses, and bicycles left on buses and trains and at stations all get new homes if they are unclaimed. Read about some interesting recent finds on Metro Transit buses and trains.

2022 was another year of peak performance for the Met Council’s nine wastewater treatment plants. Two of our plants — Hastings and St. Croix Valley — are among the top five performing wastewater treatment plants in the nation. They have 32 and 31 years, respectively, of permit limit compliance with their clean water discharge permits. Read more about this impressive feat.

With a little help from neighbors, a Saint Paul-based artist recently finished covering large, gray walls at the I-35W & Lake Street Station with a colorful mural the community can be proud of. Community organizations helped select artist Kada Goalen and the mural design for the public arts project. Watch a video interview of the artist as she shares her thoughts about the mural project.

Following two years of planning and public engagement, the Met Council approved the METRO F Line Final Corridor Plan on Aug. 9. The bus rapid transit line will provide faster and more reliable service in the Route 10 corridor between downtown Minneapolis and Northtown Transit Center in Blaine. Station engineering will continue into fall 2024, and construction is slated to begin in 2025. Learn more about the F Line project.