Brownfields Quarterly Community Report

VOLUME 1 NUMBER 1      SPRING 1997

New York Bond Act Funds Municipal Brownfields

Following the passage of the 1996 Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act last Novem-ber, municipalities in New York can now vie for state funds to investigate and clean up their local brownfields sites. The Bond Act included $200 million for Environmental Restoration (or Brownfields) Projects. The money will be awarded to municipalities to pay for up to 75 percent of the costs of investigating and remediating municipally-owned brownfields.

In February, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) issued draft guidance for implementing the Environmental Restoration Program and began accepting applications for funding. On March 11, Governor George Pataki announced nine proposed brownfields projects to be funded with an appropriation from fiscal 1996-1997. The nine projects are all proposed site investigations. The DEC expects to finalize the program guidance later this spring and promulgate formal regulations thereafter. It will approve only investigation proposals under the guidance. Proposals for remediation may be submitted but will have to await formal rules and regulations for approval.

The DEC already administers a voluntary cleanup program to promote brownfield restoration. That program, begun in 1994, has allowed developers to clean up a site to standards appropriate to its intended use in return for a carefully qualified limitation on future liability. The money contained in the Bond Act's Municipal Restoration Program, however, is available only to municipalities for investigating and remediating their own properties of contamination they did not cause. Municipalities may be reimbursed for up to 75 percent of their cleanup expenses and will enjoy a broad release from future liability for themselves and all future owners.

Environmental groups successfully lobbied to have Bond Act funded environmental restoration projects comply with state Superfund standards. If those standards should change, or if new information reveals the need for additional remediation at the site, the DEC bears the responsibility for funding and contracting the needed work. Key amendments made at the end of the legislative session also strengthened provisions for public participation in cleanup decisions and legal access for injured victims.

The DEC will be selecting sites for funding according to four criteria outlined in the Bond Act legislation: a project's environmental benefit to the state, its economic benefit to the state, the likelihood of the restored land being used for public recreation, and whether or not other funding sources exist for restoring the site. Having competitively selected a consultant, municipalities applying for grants must submit detailed plans for investigation and/or remediation, including a description of site history, cost estimates and final planned uses of the site. For remediation projects, municipalities must also include a Negative Declaration or Findings Statement in accordance with the State Environmental Quality Review Act.

To date, there is no existing inventory of brownfield sites in New York State. With most of the sites which are now slated for clean up through the State's Inactive Hazardous Waste Site Remediation Program specifically precluded from using Bond Act money, the bulk of the municipal restoration funding is likely to go toward newly reported sites. Where these sites are and how many of them will be restored to productive use is still unknown.

The DEC has been conducting a series of municipal meetings around the state to outline procedures and policies pertaining to all of the environmental programs contained within the Bond Act legislation. The Department has already participated in numerous municipal association-sponsored conferences in an effort to educate municipalities about the programs. To obtain a copy of the Environmental Restoration Project guidance contact Dean Dupuree, Environmental Program Specialist with DEC's Division of Environmental Remediation at (518) 457-5861. p

Community Support for Region 2

When EPA Administrator Carol Browner unveiled the Brownfields Action Agenda in January 1995, the Agency set out to find ways to work together with communities to reclaim their abandoned or underutilized "brownfields" sites for new and productive uses. EPA has since embarked on a number of efforts toward that end, providing new guidance which clarifies liability issues surrounding brownfield sites (see list of Brownfields Guidance on this page) and funding 113 brownfields pilot projects across the nation. Each EPA regional office, however, is focusing its own Brownfields Initiative efforts on community-level stakeholders and their needs.

In Region 2, EPA has established a Brownfields Hotline to provide answers to questions related to the agency's Brownfields Initiative throughout New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Through the hotline, the public can access information regarding pilot projects, application guidelines for pilot project grants, EPA guidance documents, and have general questions answered.

EPA Region 2 is preparing a Brownfields Guidance Manual to assist communities and others in assessing, planning, and implementing brownfields programs. This document is to serve as a resource for municipalities as they seek to identify brownfields and motivate the relevant stakeholders to initiate brownfields redevelopment. The Region 2 office is also now completing a Brownfields White Paper which will examine issues such as capital availability, community participation, and brownfields reuse. Both documents will be available this summer and can be obtained through the hotline.

The Region 2 Brownfields Quarterly Community Report, of which this is the inaugural issue, will regularly inform the interested public on brownfields activities within the region and developments on the national level. Region 2 is now establishing a mailing list for this report and its other brownfields outreach efforts. Those wishing to be on the list should call the hotline.

Finally, a Brownfields Website will soon be on-line, accessible through either the Region 2 Web site: http://www.epa.gov/region02 or EPA's national Webvsite: http://www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf. The Region 2 Brownfields Quarterly Community Report will be available through this Web site.

Each of these outreach efforts is designed to inform those at the community level so they may work to merge local forces for economic redevelopment with those for environmental cleanup, with the goal of putting brownfields back into safe and productive use. EPA wants to get the right information to the right parties. Your ideas and comments on how to improve the agency's brownfields outreach to this end are welcome. Please contact the Region 2 Brownfields Hotline with your suggestions. p

EPA Brownfields Guidance Documents

In an attempt to clarify issues surrounding brownfields redevelopment and thereby expedite the turnaround of these types of cleanups, EPA has made the following guidance materials available through the Region 2 Brownfields Hotline and the EPA national website:

& Land Use in the CERCLA Remedy
Selection Process Directive

& Policy Toward Owners of Property
Containing Contaminated Aquifers

& Guidance on Agreements with
Prospective Purchasers of
Contaminated Property

& Model Comfort Letter Clarifying
NPL Listing, Uncontaminated Parcel
Identifications, and CERCLA
Liability Involving Transfers of
Federally Owned Property

& Policy on CERCLA Enforcement
Against Lenders and Government
Entities that Acquire Property
Involuntarily

& Underground Storage Tank (UST)
Lender Liability Rule

& Community Reinvestment Act
(CRA) Credits Information

& Brownfields Information Packet p

EPA National Website

Environmental Protection Agency National Website

Other Websites of Interest

National Environmental Justice
Advisory Council
Dr. Charles Lee, Chairperson
1-800-962-6215

NEJAC is the formal advisory committee convened by the EPA to provide advice on issues of environmental justice. It consists of grassroots leaders from impacted communities, environmental justice scholars and advocates, and representatives from a broad range of stakeholder groups including industry, state and local government, community groups, tribal organizations, and environmental organizations. Available on their web page is the full text of NEJAC's recently released report, "Environmental Justice, Urban Revitalization, and Brownfields: The Search for Authentic Signs of Hope."

The Northeast Hazardous Substance Research Center is an EPA research center for Regions 1 and 2. The Center has been working with Region 2 and several municipalities to develop the Region 2 Brownfields Guidance Manual and an expert system decision-making model. Both documents, which are currently under development, are designed to help municipal managers undertake brownfields redevelopment projects. In addition, the Center, through EPA's Technical Outreach Services for Communities (TOSC) Program, has been working to provide area communities in need of urban redevelopment and environmental justice with technical assistance, education and assistance in workforce development. Information regarding these efforts can be accessed through the research center page.

The Institute for Responsible Management is a private, nonprofit organization which, through a cooperative agreement with EPA, is dedicated to providing technical and other assistance to EPA Pilot Projects and the states in which the pilots are located. Its website currently includes a "Pilots' Own Database" which provides information regarding each of the pilot projects, their progress and resulting products. Within that database, users can also find a growing listing of individual pilot project homepage addresses. IRM's website also contains information related to its topical expert dialog sessions. These telephone conference sessions address specific issues related to brownfields redevelopment. IRM's quarterly newsletter, Brownfields: EPA Pilots News will be on-line this spring. p

EPA Offers Brownfields Listserver

The Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response has established a Brownfields Listserver to supplement EPA's internet presence. Like a sophisticated mailing list service, the listserver will provide subscribers, via e-mail, with direct information about Brownfields Initiative events and activities. The listserver will provide announcements, press releases, and newsletters, as well as notices of when significant new materials become available on the Brownfields Homepage.

The Brownfields listserver is available to anyone with an e-mail address. To subscribe, address an internet e-mail message to: Listserver@unixmail.rtpnc.epa.gov.

Leave the subject line of the e-mail message blank, and in the body of the message, type the line: subscribe Brownfields FIRSTNAME LASTNAME, inserting the first and last name of the person wishing to subscribe. Send the message.

For assistance with this process, contact: Jim Maas at e-mail address: Maas.James@epamail.epa.gov. p

34 New Brownfields Pilot Projects Announced

On May 13, Vice President Al Gore announced the award of 34 new brownfields redevelopment pilot projects. In Region 2, grants were awarded to the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company, Jersey City and Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and Niagara Falls and Elmira, New York. Each pilot project will receive up to $200,000 for restoring abandoned industrial sites to new uses. To date, EPA has awarded 113 pilot projects totaling nearly $20 million. p

Region 2 Pilot Project Summaries

Camden, NJ

Camden is the fifth largest and the most economically distressed city in New Jersey, with a predominantly minority population, a high unemployment rate, and a one in three poverty rate. Manufacturing and related land use account for a third of Camden's nine square miles, and brownfields constitute more than half of all industrial sites in the city. The goal of this pilot project is to develop an effective strategy for assessment, cleanup, and reuse of Camden's brownfields. The city proposes a comprehensive approach that will integrate technical, community, government, and financial resources.

Contacts:

Newark, NJ

The goal of this pilot project is to coordinate and employ New Jersey's innovative legislative and regulatory tools to produce a pipeline of clean, redeveloped sites while inventing a model process replicable in other cities. Newark has been designated a federal Enterprise Community and an Urban Enterprise Zone. Activities planned as part of the pilot include completing a comprehensive GIS-based brownfields inventory; assessing four diverse sites; continuing outreach to the community through the Newark Brownfields Working Group; applying innovative site assessment technologies in cooperation with the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University; encouraging private investment; linking redevelopment to revitalization; and producing a brownfields redevelopment plan.

Contacts:

Trenton, NJ

Activities planned as part of this pilot project include establishing the Brownfields Environmental Solutions for Trenton (BEST) Advisory Council to advise the city on redevelopment issues; identifying and performing site investigations at key commercial/industrial brownfields sites; raising public awareness of possible issues of concern at sites in residential areas; and evaluating methods and options for encouraging financial institutions to invest in key brownfields sites and neighborhoods to prevent "brownlining."

Contacts:

Buffalo, NY

This pilot project grant is funding the Buffalo Brownfields Project which includes inventorying and characterizing the city's brownfields, and finalizing development strategies for two to five brownfields redevelopment projects based on community vision, economic development potential, and health and environmental concerns. This project grant also funds a Brownfields Community Coordinator to conduct environmental justice and community outreach activities targeted to specific brownfields sites; and is supporting a Brownfields Planner to oversee overall program integrity, work with the Buffalo Brownfields Task Force, develop techniques for brownfields development, and encourage developers interested in brownfields to assess sites.

Contacts:

Rochester, NY

Activities planned as part of this pilot project include selecting four or five priority sites that are eligible for a revolving loan/grant program and two publicly-owned sites for additional environmental characterization and redevelopment; preparing marketability criteria for brownfields site selection; and bringing host residential communities into the reuse decision-making process to develop site-specific property recycling strategies. Creation of these strategies will rely on partnerships with current and future site owners and users, government regulatory agencies, and development staff.

Contacts:

Rome, NY

The goal of this pilot project is to redevelop a 200-acre industrial area adjacent to the central business district and in a state Economic Development Zone. Innovative site characterization technologies developed at the U.S. Department of Defense's Rome Laboratories will be used in assessments of a 17-acre demonstration site. Activities planned as part of the pilot include conducting environmental site assessments and updating a redevelopment plan for the 17-acre parcel of the industrial park, establishing letters of intent with property owners and regulators, using a Brownfields Task Force to involve the adjacent neighborhoods, and documenting the process for replication at other brownfields.

Contacts:

New York, NY

The goal of the New York City pilot project is to develop new approaches and performance measures that will accelerate redevelopment of brownfields through a public/private task force. Activities planned as part of the pilot include working with communities to quantify the adverse impacts of brownfields, establishing a community outreach and education program, conducting assessments of five priority brownfields, and developing technical guidances for testing, sampling, and remediating hazardous wastes on brownfields properties.

Contacts:

Brownfields '96: A New Environmental Frontier

Over 1,000 stakeholders attended the first national brownfields conference, Brownfields '96: A New Environmental Frontier, held on September 19-21, l996. Co-sponsored by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the American Bar Association, the International City/County Management, the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, and the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, and hosted by the City of Pittsburgh, the conference provided a forum for interested parties from all areas of the public and private sectors to share ideas and learn more about brownfields issues.

Topics covered in seminars and special sessions included site assessment, marketing, legal liability, financing, risk assessment, community involvement, cleanup technologies, case studies and public/private partnerships. Attendees also had the opportunity to view a wide array of brownfields related exhibits.

Elliot Laws, then Assistant Administrator for the EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, was Master of Ceremonies. Tom Murphy, Mayor of Pittsburgh, welcomed conference participants and spoke about Pittsburgh's rebirth. He described an economic strategy for the city's revitalization that included public and private partnerships.

Partnerships was a common theme expressed by several key speakers. Paul Gorman, Executive Director of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, talked about building trust and relationships across sectors. Commenting that "It is important to win trust and to offer trust," he also stressed community involvement, saying "people have the right to know and the right to be heard." Emmanuel Cleaver, Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri and President of the National Conference of Black Mayors, said cities should view brownfields as a collection of assets rather than problems. The Mayor added that governments must take the initiative in forming private and community partnerships if we are to revitalize our urban core communities. James Price, Chair of the Brownfields Task Force for the American Bar Association, expressed the need for a common vision, and the importance of cooperation, not confrontation, among stakeholders.

A highlight of the conference was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by Elliot Laws and then Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Henry Cisneros. The MOU between EPA and HUD is intended to remove barriers and combine resources for brownfields redevelopment. Thomas Voltaggio, Director of Hazardous Waste Management Division, EPA Region 3, noted that the MOU recognizes the fact that sustainable development combines economic and environmental issues, requires both political and financial support, and must be a national priority.

William H. Hansell, Executive Director of the International City/County Management Association, stressed the role of local government in building coalitions among stakeholders, so that citizens are empowered to make effective decisions about brownfields.

In a January 30, l997 letter to brownfields stakeholders, then Assistant Administrator Laws stated "We received very positive feedback on the conference -- the diversity of participants emphasized the importance of the many issues that are part of brownfields cleanup and redevelopment. Now our challenge is to continue to strengthen and improve upon past commitments by moving forward with an aggressive agenda for progress and leadership in environmental protection and sustainable reuse."

Brownfields '97 will be held September 3-5, 1997 in Kansas City, Missouri. For more information about Brownfields '97, please call Linda Garczynski, EPA, Director of Outreach and Special Projects staff at (202) 260-4039 or Katherine Dawes of the EPA Brownfields Team at (202) 260-8394. p

Trenton Communities Study Brownfields

Founded in 1981 by a group of Princeton University students and professors, Isles, Inc. has been creating innovative and effective community development programs in the Trenton, New Jersey area for the past 16 years. Isles seeks sustainable solutions to urban problems involving food, housing, environmental improvement and job-training by promoting self-reliance and community empowerment. Isles provides a framework for citizens to become involved and promote change in their communities through five programs -- Affordable Housing, YouthBuild Job Training, Community Gardening, Environmental Education, and Community and Brownfields Outreach.

Through the recently formed Community and Brownfields Outreach program, Isles works with residents and community groups in the neighborhoods that surround four Trenton brownfield sites which are part of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Brownfields Pilot program. Through the EPA Brownfields Pilot Grant awarded to the City of Trenton in 1995, Isles provides the community with current information on the environmental conditions and proposed redevelopment of the target brownfield sites. Isles also facilitates dialogue between community representatives and environmental and other decision makers.

On Saturday, January 4, 1997 Isles began its first Leadership Environmental Training Series (LETS). Funded by the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and EPA, LETS trains community residents in effective leadership techniques and provides basic information on environmental issues. Once residents have completed the series, they can apply this information to issues in their respective communities.

Isles invited neighborhood leaders of existing Isles community outreach and brownfield projects to participate in LETS. The series began with four sessions focusing on community leadership techniques and covered several topics including, but not limited to holding effective meetings, building successful working partnerships, and getting to know stakeholders.

LETS will discuss environmental issues ranging from information on particular contaminants, such as lead and asbestos, to an explanation of the site remediation process. Paul Speer, Ph.D. of the Rutgers University Center for Social Community and Development, John Adgate, Ph.D. of the Environmental and Occupation Health Sciences Institute, and Bill Librizzi, Director of the Technology Application and Community Assistance Program at NJIT are participating as instructors in the LETS program. Participants who successfully complete the series will be awarded three Continuing Unit (CEUs) from Rutgers University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Isles intends to host LETS again in the Fall of 1997. For more information on LETS, please contact Juanita Joyner, Director of Community Outreach at (609) 393-5656 ext. 16.

Residents from throughout Trenton participate in LETS. 

Federal Budget Legislation Amends CERCLA/RCRA

As part of the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 1997 signed by President Clinton on September 30, 1996, Congress enacted the Asset Conservation, Lender Liability, and Deposit Insurance Protection Act of 1996 (the "Act"). The Act includes lender and fiduciary liability amendments to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), amendments to the secured creditor exemption set forth in Subtitle I of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and validation of the portion of the CERCLA Lender Liability Rule that addresses involuntary acquisitions by government entities. The amendments made by the Act apply to all claims not finally adjudicated as of September 30, 1996, which include all cases that are in the process of being settled. For more information contact Larry D'Andrea, U.S. EPA, at (212) 637-4314. 

New York City Organizes Task Force

A $200,000 Brownfields Pilot Demonstration Grant awarded to New York City (NYC) last year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency added momentum to the City's Brownfields Initiative and led to the creation of the City's Brownfields Task Force. Spearheaded by Annette Barbaccia, Director of the Mayor's Office of Environmental Coordination, the Task Force is considered essential to achieve the objective of the City's two-year Brownfields Initiative -- creating a framework to identify short and long-term measures that will accelerate the pace and enlarge the scale of clean up and redevelopment of the City's brownfields sites.

The Task Force consists of over 200 members from the private and public sector and includes representatives from real estate, community development, environmental protection, law, and city, state and federal agencies. Functioning as five working subgroups, the Task Force will identify innovative solutions to overcome barriers that currently impede clean up and redevelopment of brownfields. In addition, the Task Force will help prioritize brownfields issues; develop a computerized geographic database that will help characterize the universe of brownfields sites in the City; assist with baseline research, review and critique work prepared; and contribute creative and constructive ideas and analysis.

Several reports are expected to be generated by the Task Force: 1) A Characterization of the Universe of Brownfields Sites in New York City, Brownfields Inventory and Context, 2) Laws and Regulations, 3) Assessment of Brownfields Programs/Initiatives Nationwide and Relevancy to New York City, 4) Insurance/Investment/Market Constraints and Opportunities, and 5) Examination of Existing Testing, Sampling and Remediation Guidelines/Practices.

Data and documentation, gathered in the baseline research phase for preparing these reports, will be used to develop criteria by which five demonstration sites will be selected. As the data are further analyzed, Task Force discussion and analysis will benefit from the specific activities and information related to the demonstration sites. In the final phase of the Task Force's work, recommendations for dealing with New York City's specific brownfields challenges will be developed and tested at the demonstration sites.

The non-profit New York City Partnership, the City's Cooperative Partner, will assist in coordinating Task Force efforts. For additional information on the NYC Task Force, contact Annette Barbaccia, Director, Office of Environmental Coordination, at (212) 788-2937. 

Coordinating GIS Efforts

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have become an important tool in municipal planning and environmental remediation. Brownfields revitalization efforts are now benefiting from this technology as well. Developing these computerized systems, which link infrastructure, real estate, tax and environmental mapping data in a digital format, is time consuming and costly. Project staff could avoid duplicate efforts and spend more resources on actual redevelopment if GIS knowledge could be shared and integrated.

In Region 2, several Brownfields Pilot Projects are engaged in development of a GIS system. EPA and the states of New York and New Jersey are also working to implement GIS for brownfields and other environmental concerns. EPA and the Northeast Hazardous Substance Research Center decided to bring this growing body of GIS knowledge together in order to enhance brownfields redevelopment efforts throughout Region 2.

On December 4, 1996, the City of Newark and the New Jersey Institute of Technology hosted a GIS/Brownfields Workshop. The goal of the workshop was to encourage collaboration and information exchange between Brownfields Pilot Projects and governmental and academic parties dealing with GIS development and use. Representatives from all seven Region 2 EPA Pilot Projects, EPA headquarters and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection met and shared their experience with GIS.

"The idea was to identify opportunities for better cooperation between all levels of government," said William Librizzi of the Northeast Hazardous Substance Research Center, "to get every-one together, especially the states and EPA, to identify how they could be more proactive in making things happen."

The response of participants was positive, said Librizzi. Those working on GIS are now aware of each others' efforts and will hopefully continue to share their experience. Although the workshop was not envisioned as a continuing effort, participants requested a follow-up meeting, and one is now being planned. 

Frequently Asked Questions from the EPA Home Page

What are "brownfields?"

Brownfields are abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination.

What is EPA's Brownfields Pilot Program?

EPA committed to selecting 50 states, cities, towns, counties, and tribes for brownfields pilots by the end of 1996. The pilots, each funded at up to $200,000 over two years, will test redevelopment models, direct special efforts toward removing regulatory barriers without sacrificing protectiveness, and facilitate coordinated public and private efforts at the federal, state, and local levels. Experience gained from the pilots will provide a growing knowledge base to help EPA direct the Brownfields Initiative.

Brownfields pilots typically address dozens of contaminated sites. Why is EPA granting only $200,000 to each pilot project?

The $200,000 pilot awards are to be used for site assessment and related activities -- not cleanups. The majority of brownfields pose significantly less threat to human health and the environment than most sites being addressed under Superfund. Brownfields pilot recipients are using the pilot funds to create and enhance local capability to assess properties with economic development potential. Once the level of contamination at these properties is determined, cleanup costs become elements of a redevelopment transaction. Pilot recipients are experimenting with a range of processes for encouraging states, local governments, developers, and communities to work together in brownfields cleanup. EPA hopes that environmental cleanup will be viewed as an integral step in the redevelopment process.

Has EPA established criteria for evaluating the success of the brownfields pilot program?

Evaluating the success of the pilot projects was a key topic at the Brownfields Pilots National Workshop in February, 1996. EPA is using this information to determine how to establish a useful pilot evaluation system. Through a cooperative agreement with EPA, the Institute for Responsible Management is working directly with each pilot to implement evaluation criteria. Also, the brownfields application requires applicants to identify measures of success for their proposed pilots. 

 Region 2 invites you to contribute your knowledge and experience to these pages, and welcomes your ideas regarding how this publication can best serve you. Comments and suggestions can be made by calling the Region 2 Brownfields Hotline at 1-800-225-7044.

More Quarterly Reports

Regional Brownfields Hotline (800) 346-5009

Pilots in Region 2 | Pilot Assessments | National Web Site |Grant Application  |Contacts | Resource Directory | Quarterly Reports

For information, contact: brownfields.r2@epa.gov