Brownfields Cleanup Revolving
Loan Fund Pilot Fact Sheet

Portland, ME

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: West Bayside, East Bayside, and Parkside areas of the City

BACKGROUND

The Portland, Maine BCRLF pilot will focus on the West Bayside, East Bayside, and Parkside areas of the City. Historically, this inner-city industrial area provided employment for nearby urban residents. With the decline of manufacturing and commercial activity, these previously healthy urban neighborhoods transformed into ones that are marginally surviving. Lack of investment combined with years of environmental degradation precipitated the near abandonment of the area. Thirty-seven percent of the population living within these areas live below the poverty line and 13.5 percent are unemployed . The West Bayside neighborhood, one of Portland's poorest neighborhoods, has a 51 percent poverty rate.

BCRLF OBJECTIVES

Portland's BCRLF pilot anticipates that the program will facilitate the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields. The pilot expects that the economic reuse of brownfields sites will contribute to the commercial tax base and help create jobs. The BCRLF will target 10 parcels in the Brownfields Site Assessment Pilot area and other sites scattered throughout the City. It is expected that the loan fund, combined with the City's existing business loan and assistance programs, will help Portland obtain the best possible re-use of property.

FUND STRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS

The City of Portland will serve as the lead agency, with the City's Department of Planning and Urban Development having lead responsibility. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection will assist the pilot in carrying out its site management responsibilities. The City of Portland's Department of Economic Development and its Downtown Portland Corporation (DPC) will serve as fund manager. The DPC is a not-for-profit development corporation controlled by the City. The City anticipates funding six to eight cleanup projects over a three-year period, with a minimum loan size of $50,000 and a maximum of $250,000.

LEVERAGING

Portland is negotiating with the Oregon Economic Development Department, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, and other federal programs to leverage additional seed money. Portland is exploring partnerships with its Interagency Brownfields Workgroup and small locally-owned banks in Portland's Enterprise Community. PDC will contribute a percentage of time for fund manager, site manager, legal counsel, and environmental assessment assistance, as needed. In addition, in-kind services in the form of computer support, GIS assistance, routine clerical support, marketing expertise/materials, miscellaneous administrative costs, and related community outreach costs will be borne by the City.

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

Portland Development Commission
(503) 823-3200

Region 10 Brownfields Coordinator
(206) 553-6523

Visit the EPA Region 10 Brownfields web site

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-99-087
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