Brownfields Cleanup Revolving
Loan Fund Pilot Fact Sheet

Long Beach, CA

EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.

PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Announcement: May 25, 1999 Amount: $500,000
BCRLF Target Area: North, central, and southwest portions of Long Beach

BACKGROUND

The City of Long Beach , in recent years, has experienced three military base closures, massive aerospace downsizing, and rioting. These factors, combined with one of the worst recessions in California history, have caused extended periods of physical, social, and economic deterioration. A combination of these factors lead to the abandonment of business operations and vacant lots. As part of the City's efforts to redevelop brownfields, Long Beach has created a state enterprise zone, a recycling zone, several business improvement districts, and seven redevelopment project areas.

BCRLF OBJECTIVES

The Long Beach BCRLF pilot will provide seed money to clean up contaminated sites. It anticipates that these funds will help expedite redevelopment. Potential target sites include:

A 56.5 acre site with contaminants that include volatile and semivolatile organic compounds and heavy metals
The Third Street Corridor — vacant parcels and dilapidated buildings that may be redeveloped as new housing, retail, and commercial development
Memorial Heights — located in the Central Long Beach Redevelopment Project Area, where abandoned industrial properties are intermixed with residential areas
The Willmore-Drake Historic Neighborhood _ a historically significant area within the Central Long Beach Redevelopment Area

FUND STRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS

The Redevelopment Agency of the City of Long Beach will serve as the lead agency. The site manager will be determined based on the type of cleanup required. The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board will serve as site manager for projects involving soil and groundwater cleanup. The County's Fire Department, the Department of Public Works, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the State's Department of Toxic Substance Control may also act as site manager. The City's Economic Development Bureau (known as the Business Development Center), which has been managing loan funds for the City since 1988, will serve as fund manager. The pilot anticipates making as many as four loans during the initial round of lending.

LEVERAGING

The BCRLF will be used in conjunction with other sources. Currently, cleanup is financed with general funds, redevelopment tax increments, Community Development Block Grant funds, and contributions from property owners. Existing programs such as the City Neighborhood Development RLF Program, the Long Beach Capital Availability Loan Program, the City's Economic Development RLF Program, the Micro-Enterprise Loan Program, and the Grow Long Beach Fund may also be included in the mix of cleanup financing options. The City will provide in-kind assistance in the form of staff resources.

Use of BCRLF Pilot funds must be in accordance with CERCLA, and all CERCLA restrictions on use of funding also apply to BCRLF funds.

CONTACTS

Redevelopment Agency of the City of Long Beach
(562) 570-6570

Region 9 Brownfields Coordinator
(415) 744-2237

Visit the EPA Region 9 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region09/waste/brown/index.html

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

United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460

Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)

EPA 500-F-99-080
May 1999

Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)

Quick Reference Fact Sheet

Using This Site | About PDF | Site Archive
Please email comments on this website to:Brownfields-Web-Comments@epamail.epa.gov

Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Pilot Fact Sheet