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EPA Awards $200K In Grants To Bay Area Companies Developing Green Tech

(CBS SF) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that two Bay Area companies have each been awarded $100,000 contracts for the development of innovative green technologies as part of the agency's Small Business Innovative Research program.

SimpleWater LLC in Berkeley and Lucid Design Group Inc. in Oakland were two of the 21 small businesses selected by the EPA to receive funding for the development of sustainable and innovative products and processes, EPA officials said in a statement Tuesday.

The $100,000 contracts are awarded to the winners of Phase I in the SBIR program's competitive two-phase process. Successful Phase I companies can apply to further develop their products with Phase II funding of up to $300,000, according to the EPA.

The SBIR program grants funding opportunities nationwide every year to encourage small businesses to develop and commercialize green technologies in order to address environmental issues, according to the EPA.

"EPA's small business innovation contracts are growing California's economy and green technology industry, helping companies like these develop new solutions to some of our biggest environmental challenges," EPA regional administrator Jared Blumenfeld said in a statement.

SimpleWater LLC of Berkeley is collaborating with University of California at Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to create water treatment methods using electrochemical arsenic removal technology, allowing for more affordable removal of water contaminants.

Lucid Design Group Inc. of Oakland is developing a software system that encourages behavior-based energy conservation in commercial buildings.

The software will help people easily see and reduce their personal energy usage through immediate feedback using remote sensors.

More information on the EPA's SBIR Program is available at www.epa.gov/ncer/sbir.

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