Brownfields Training, Research,
and Technical Assistance Grant
Fact Sheet

Northeast-Midwest Institute

EPA BROWNFIELDS PROGRAM

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, tribes, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. EPA funds eligible applicants through assistance agreements to provide training, research, and technical assistance to facilitate brownfields revitalization.

ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION

NEMW is a Washington-based, private, non-profit, and non-partisan research organization dedicated to economic vitality, environmental quality, and regional equity for Northeast and Midwest states. Formed in the mid-1970's, it fulfills its mission by conducting research and analysis, developing and advancing innovative policy, providing evaluation of key federal programs, disseminating information, and highlighting sound economic and environmental technologies and practices. NEMW is unique among policy centers because of its ties to Congress through the NEMW Congressional and Senate Coalitions. The bipartisan coalitions advance federal policies that enhance the region's economy and environment.

NEMW has been at the forefront of brownfield policy development and information dissemination since the early 1990s, when NEMW organized the first brownfields conference in Chicago in 1991 and published the landmark New Life for Old Buildings. Regional and national interest in the implications of brownfields for urban redevelopment and environmental cleanup led NEMW to launch an ongoing research program to identify the impacts of federal and state policies and programs on community revitalization efforts and suggest opportunities for improvement.

FINANCING BROWNFIELDS CLEANUP AND REDEVELOPMENT

Grantee
Northeast-Midwest Institute

Project Focus:
Training, Research, and Technical Assistance for Brownfields Financing

Project Period:
October 2003 to September 2008

Project Description:
NEMW provides information and analytic services to Congress through Capital Hill briefings, and by providing information to Congressional staff. NEMW plans to complete brownfields policy analysis studies including: Using Tax Increment Financing for Brownfields Redevelopment, An Assessment of the Impacts of the Cooper v. Aviall Decision on Brownfields Redevelopment, Creating a Brownfields War Chest - State Environmental Bond Issues with Brownfields Funding, Addressing Toxic Tort through Liability Reforms and Subsidized Environmental Insurance, and the Environmental and Economic Impacts of Brownfields Redevelopment.

They will continue their stakeholder outreach and education efforts by overseeing conferences and workshops in EPA Regions 5 and 7, which include: Nuts and Bolts of Brownfields Redevelopment, Summit on the Sustainable Redevelopment of Contaminated Properties, Sustainable Engineering, and Market Barriers to Sustainable Redevelopment of Brownfields. In addition, NEMW makes presentations on brownfields related topics, maintains its website, and assists communities with information and expertise in areas of best practices and funding opportunities.

CONTACTS

For further information, including specific grant contacts, additional grant information, brownfields news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields or call 202.566.2777.

For further information about NEMW brownfields research visit their website at: http://www.nemw.org/ and http://www.nemw.org/brownfields.htm.

*The information on this fact sheet is subject to change.