The New York City Dept. of Environmental Protection has issued a request for proposals (RFPs) for an engineering team to help on a $2.4-billion, long-term research and development (R&D) program focused on greening waterways.

The Green Infrastructure and R&D Program will use both public and private funding to increase the city's installation of green infrastructure by 2030, DEP says. This includes bioswales, stormwater green sheets, rain gardens, blue roofs, sub-surface detention systems, green roofs, porous pavement, permeable pavers, and constructed wetlands.

The program aims to “significantly reduce the discharges from the city’s combined sewer system, which can occur during heavy rain storms,” the DEP said in a June 14 statement. The agency says it will also spend an additional $2.9 billion in cost-effective grey infrastructure upgrades.

During the next three years, DEP plans to invest $187 million in the program. The selected engineering team will be responsible for monitoring existing and new installations, assessing their performance over time, performing experiments, analyzing the data, and providing guidance to support the overall program, DEP says.

Since 2002, DEP has invested more than $10 billion in upgrades to wastewater treatment plants and has installed 130 bioswales citywide. Hundreds more are expected to be completed by the end of the year, and thousands will be added during the next five years, DEP says.