Brownfields Quarterly Community Report

VOLUME 1 NUMBER 2      SUMMER 1997

• Brownfields National Partnership Action Agenda
• Brownfields in Puerto Rico
• Congress Ponders Brownfields Proposals
• Showcase Comunities
• Newark's Pilot Project: Looking for Trouble and Ways Around It
• New York Bond Act: Brownfields Update
• The Rochester Pilot: Identifying Funding, Cleaning Up
• The Constraints of Conventional Real Estate Financing for Brownfields
• Funding for Brownfields Projects in New Jersey
• Region 2 New Pilot Project Summaries
• Need General Information on Brownfields?
• West Harlem Envi. Action, and Natural Resources Defense Council
• Frequently Asked Questions from the EPA Home Page
  

Brownfields National Partnership Action Agenda

The Interagency Working Group on Brownfields was established in Ju 1996 as a forum for federal agencies to exchange information on brownfieldsrelated activities and to develop a coordinated national agenda for addressing brownfields. This Working Group has developed the Brownfields National Partnership Action Agenda, which effectively links federal programs in environmental protection, economic development, and community revitalization to carry the Brownfields Initiative into the future.

The Brownfields National Partnership Action Agenda includes more than 100 commitments from more than 25 organizations, including more than 15 federal agencies. These commitments represent a $300 million investment in brownfields communities by the federal government and an additional $165 million in loan guarantees. The resulting action will help cleanup and redevelopment at up to 5,000 properties, leveraging from $5 billion to $28 billion in private investment, supporting 196,000 jobs, protecting up to 34,000 acres of "greenfields," and improving the quality of life for as many as 18 million Americans living near brownfields.

Action Agenda highlights include:

- The Administration choosing 10 Brownfields Showcase Communities, each with a federal coordinator to coordinate 5 or more federal agencies, to serve as models demonstrating successful collaboration on brownfieldsrelated activities;

- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funding $125 million for assessment, state cleanup programs and job training;

- The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) providing $155 million in community development and housing support and an additional $165 million in loan guarantees;

- The Economic Development Administration (EDA) granting $17 million for brownfields redevelopment in distressed areas;

- The Department of Transportation (DOT) funding $4.2 million for sustainable transportation addressing brownfields issues;

- The General Services Administration (GSA) conducting $1 million of environmental surveys on federal properties to expedite brownfields development;

- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) providing $900,000 forwaterfront and coastal revitalization;

- The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) committing $500,000 to support brownfields economic development and job creation and working with the Departments of Labor (DOL) and Education to link job training initiatives;

- The Department of Energy (DOE) providing $315,000 to link DOE cleanups with brownfields communities;

- HHS leading an Administrationwide effort to develop a public health policy to protect community residents near brownfields;

- The Department of the Treasury working with Congress to enact a $2 billion tax incentive; and

- EPA, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the States collaborating to establish national guidelines for State Voluntary Cleanup Programs.

The Brownfields National Partnership is a comprehensive, communitybased approach to the cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated property. Brownfields provide a focal point for integrating key aspects of modern life to achieve sustainable development: jobs, economic devel

opment, health, environmental protection, transportation, finance, training and education. The Brownfields National Partnership was designed around the principles of protecting health and the environment, enhancing public participation in local decisionmaking, building safe and sustainable communities through publicprivate partnerships, and recognizing that environmental protection can be an engine powering sustainable economic development. The Brownfields National Partnership will strengthen communities, bringing all levels of government together with business, nongovernmental organizations, and local communities to develop local solutions to local problems.

Brownfields in Puerto Rico

Interest in brownfields development is high in Puerto Rico. The New Jersey Institute of Technology Center for Environmental Engineering and Science recently held a workshop in San Juan to identify barriers to remediation and redevelopment of contaminated properties in Puerto Rico. The workshop was done under the U.S. EPA funded Technical Outreach Services for Communities grant program. Stakeholders invited to the workshop included representatives from government, planners, environmental consultants, lawyers, developers, and members from the communities. Representatives from EPA, the University, and the Northeast Midwest Institute as well as several local experts from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico made informative presentations. Participants voiced concerns about availability and sources of funding, liability problems for buyers and owners of sites, interaction with government agencies, and community participation in the process of redevelopment. The participants discussed the need for formingpartnerships between government, industry, and communities for successful development projects on the island. A number of participants expressed interest in EPA's Brownfields Pilot Program and suggested possibilities for development of pilot applications. In May, Puerto Rico received one of the 34 new Brownfields Demonstration Pilot Grants awarded by EPA.

Congress Ponders Brownfields Proposals

Since the Brownfields Initiative was announced in 1995, Congress and state legislatures have considered a range of legislative approaches, some of which have already been implemented on the state level, and others which are now in the federal legislative process. Nationally, the specific brownfields proposals which President Clinton included in his FY1998 budget request are reflected in two bills introduced early in 1997: S. 235 in the Senate and H.R. 505 in the House of Representatives.

These companion bills are virtually identical to bills introduced in the 104th Congress, and were developed in conjunction with the White House and the Treasury Department. They seek to encourage economic development through the creation of additional empowerment zones and enterprise communities and to encourage the cleanup of contaminated brownfield sites.

The major elements of the proposed legislation are targeted tax incentives which would encourage site reuse by permitting nonresponsible parties, such as innocent owners and prospective purchasers, to fully expense their cleanup costs- that is, to make cleanup costs fully deductible in the year the costs are incurred. The original proposal called for $2 billion in such incentives over the next seven years. The tax incentives could be applied to sites in one of four categories: those in existing empowerment zones and enterprise communities, those sites within the first 40 EPA brownfield pilot projects, sites in census tracts with poverty rates of 20% or more, or sites in industrially zoned census tracts which adjoin qualifying poverty areas.

S. 235 and H.R. 505 include provision to allow for the creation of 20 new empowerment zones and 80 enterprise communities by the end of 1998. They would allow two more empowerment zones to be named under the 1994 authority, and authorize a new category of tax exempt financing for businesses in the new zones.

Alternative strategies to address brownfields have been outlined in a number of other bills that have also been introduced in the 105th Congress. Among the proposed strategies are capital attraction incentives, such as grants for site assessments and/or actual cleanups or the creation of revolving loan funds for site cleanups. These bills include varying procedures to address the interface between state and federal programs, and the issue of longterm liability.

In total, four Senate bills and nine House bills dealing with brownfields have been introduced in the 105th Congress. In the Senate, S. 8 and S. 18 will be considered in the Environment and Public Works Committee, while S. 23 and S. 235 have been referred to the Finance Committee. In the House of Representatives, in addition to H.R. 505, the Ways and Means Committee will also consider H.R. 523, H.R. 990, H.R. 996, H.R. 997 and H.R. 1049 (which will also beconsidered by the Committee on Commerce, Banking and Financial Services). The Committee on Commerce, Transportation and Infrastructure will take up H.R. 873, H.R. 990, H.R. 1120 and H.R. 1206.

Showcase Communities

The Brownfields National Action Agenda calls for the selection of 10 Showcase Communities across the country to demonstrate that through cooperation, federal, state, local, and private efforts can be concentrated around brownfields to produce environmental cleanup, stimulate economic development, and revitalize communities. This effort will result in cleaning up contaminated properties, creating jobs, expanding local economies, and improving communities' quality of life. The Brownfields Showcase Communities approach provides sustainable local solutions to local problems, solutions that can be replicated through the nation.

Communities involved in the Brownfields Pilot Initiative have asked for more interaction among all levels of government, the private sector and nongovernmental organizations. To that end, EPA and other federal agencies have joined together to strengthen and improve their collaborative efforts to clean up and reuse contaminated property. The Brownfields Showcase Communities proposal is the centerpiece of that plan and a pattern for future efforts. The communities selected will serve as models for broadbased cooperative efforts to support locallybased initiatives.

Newark's Pilot Project: Looking for Trouble and Ways Around It

One of the major elements of the City of Newark, New Jersey's EPA Brownfields Redevelopment Pilot Project is a concerted effort to identify specific sites that represent the full range of obstacles to redeveloping a brownfields site and determine and document ways to overcome those obstacles.

The Newark Brownfields Initiative (NBI) identified six diverse sites as representing a cross section of size, ownership, enduse potential, and degree of contamination, and is proceeding to negotiate those sites through a redevelopment process. The NBI will attempt to expedite the process, making use, wherever possible, of new techniques for site assessment, planning, and decisionmaking under development by the New Jersey Institute of Technology and other partners.

Site assessment work is moving ahead on two of the six sites with funding from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. But, as expected, obstacles such as uncooperative site owners and litigation already stand in the way on others.

"We can't ignore obstacles," said NBI Coordinator Alex Cohen, "But we won't drop them from the project because the project is about identifying obstacles and overcoming them." A Site Technology Committee made up of local technical, policy, and planning experts will strategize ways to address each obstacle, said Cohen.

In addition to launching these six sites into redevelopment, the NBI has also nearly completed acomprehensive inventory of brownfields sites in the City of Newark. Using the City's Geographic Information System, the inventory will make available to the public and all interested stakeholders a listing of all the brownfields sites in Newark recognized by either federal or state waste site remediation programs. The inventory will provide information concerning such things as site ownership, adjacent parcels, and the potential for combining properties. The NBI will also use the inventory to confirm the final selection of sites for the redevelopment effort described above.

As part of its larger effort to identify incentives for remediation and redevelopment, the NBI has also drafted an Environmental Opportunity Zone (EOZ) Ordinance for review by the City of Newark and consideration by the Newark City Council. Under the ordinance, owners of brownfields properties within the City may prepare a remedial plan for their property and have that plan approved by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. They could then apply to the City for a phasedout property tax exemption which would decrease gradually over ten years or until the money saved from the exemption equals the cost of remediation. The ordinance would also protect owners who remediate a qualified property from liability related to contamination caused by previous owners or operators.

With so many of Newark's brownfields properties currently off the tax rolls because of inrem foreclosure by the City, the NBI believes the EOZ incentive will actually increase Newark's commercial and industrial tax base receipts by stimulating the return of these properties to private ownership and tax ratable status.

The NBI is hoping that together these efforts will encourage private investment in brownfields while finding ways to circumvent the barriers that have historically kept investors away. Ultimately, the NBI will document its progress and the lessons learned in a Brownfields Redevelopment Plan and Program for the City, including recommendations for legislative, regulatory, governmental and management actions and improvements.

For more information on the Newark Brownfields Initiative contact NBI Project Coordinator Alex Cohen at (201) 6432790.

New York Bond Act: Brownfields Update

New York State is moving ahead on its Brownfields Program under the 1996 Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act. Eight proposed investigation projects for municipally owned brownfields have been approved and will be awarded grants for up to 75 percent of the project cost. Governor George Pataki announced these projects in March.

According to Robert Cozzy, Environmental Engineer with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), guidance for the Brownfields (or Environmental Restoration) Program within the Bond Act is expected to be finalized late summer. At that time, DEC can begin reviewing and approving additional grant applications for investigation projects. In the meantime, the agency will help municipalities determine the eligibility of their sites. The DEC will issue formal regulations for the program by early 1998, and thereafter, begin reviewingand ranking applications for remediation projects on a quarterly basis.

Under the Brownfields Program, municipalities can apply for funding to cover up to 75 percent of the costs of investigating or remediating their municipally owned brownfields sites, provided they did not cause the contamination and the sites are not listed as Class 1 or 2 in the state Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Sites. Once projects are completed to the state's satisfaction, the state will release the municipal owner, as well as any future owner, lessees, and lenders from any remedial liability related to contamination at the site and indemnify these parties against all common law causes of action related to contamination at the site prior to the project.

The eight investigation projects now moving forward range from small sites to larger industrial locations in the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and in Westchester and Albany Counties. DEC has approved a ninth investigation project in Chatauqua County and is awaiting the municipality's decision to proceed.

For more information on the Brownfields Program within the New York Clean Air/ Clean Water Bond Act, contact Jack McKeon, Director of the Bureau of Program Management at New York State DEC at (518) 4572582.

The Rochester Pilot: Identifying, Funding, Cleaning Up

Through its EPA pilot project grant, the City of Rochester, New York has identified priority brownfields with redevelopment potential, designed a revolving loan fund program for investigation projects, and launched the private redevelopment of a 15.5 acre Cityowned site. According to Rochester Brownfields Project Manager Mark Gregor, the project to date, despite glitches and delays, has made significant progress.

Advised by the 15member Rochester Brownfield Working Group, the City last year identified 15 large, industrial brownfield sites to target with funding support. The Working Group established criteria and procedures for the $125,000 revolving loan fund which would enable businesses and developers to receive up to $50,000 for investigating brownfield sites, provided they match the amount with a 50 percent private contribution. If the borrower decides to forego cleanup, the money would become an outright grant requiring no repayment. If the project moves to a cleanup, the borrower then would be required to pay back the money at a low interest rate. The site information gained through the investigation would become the City's for future use. All projects funded through the loan program are subject to voluntary cleanup agreements with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

Through this revolving loan program, the City hopes to spur private interest in local brownfields. Though the City has received hundreds of inquiries, initial response to the funding opportunity by the identified brownfields owners was low.

One loan application to investigate a 1.8 acre downtown riverfront site has been received and approved. The City is now working with EPA to finalize specifics for the loan agreements. Afterthat, it will advertise a request for proposals for the funds, targeting commercial and industrial real estate brokers, local developers, businesses, lenders and law firms active in environmental law and real estate.

The City also entered into a voluntary cleanup agreement with the DEC under which it would investigate and remediate a portion of Rochester's Erie Canal Industrial Park. With the investigation phase complete, the cleanup engineering report awaiting DEC review, and an arsenal of development incentives, the City has been able to attract redevelopment interest for most of the 15.5 acre site. The City has also successfully engaged neighborhood residents in cleanup and redevelopment planning.

"We've learned from the developers that we have to help address the environmental concerns at these sites before they will step in," said Gregor. And that's what the City is doing with the Erie Canal Industrial Park. "Maybe we need to do the entire cleanup, but I don't think so," said Gregor, "With a good location, I don't think we need to be that far along." Within a year, Gregor said he expects the parcel will be completely filled with redevelopment plans and possibly some construction underway.

In addition to these efforts, the Working Group has helped the City develop new approaches to address delinquent taxpayers and to evaluate and promote proposals for a state voluntary cleanup law. The City is preparing to submit applications to the DEC for funding to investigate two brownfields sites under the New York State Clean Water/Clean Air Act. There are also plans to expand the local inventory of sites with redevelopment potential into a userfriendly database for local developers and to pursue further EPA funding in order to establish a revolving loan fund for cleanup projects as well.

For more information on the City of Rochester's EPA Pilot Project or other brownfields initiatives, contact Mark Gregor, Brownfields Program Manager, City of Rochester at (716) 428-5978.

Region 2 EPA has establised a Brownfields Hotline to provide information on EPA' Brownfields Initiative throughout New Yor, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands. The hotline Number is staffed by TRC Environmental Corporation, operates Monday through Friday from 9.a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Within the Region 2, dial:
1-800-225-7044
Outside Region 2, dial:
1-212-619-7703

The Constraints of Conventional Real Estate Financing for Brownfields

by Evan C. Henry, Vice President and Manager, Environmental Services, Bank of America and Randy A. Muller, Vice President, Environmental Services, Bank of America

Brownfields are one of the hottest topics in government and environmental circles. The legal and financial industries have also entered the dialogue, but their conversations often reflect a narrower understanding. The public sector speaks to issues of general concern to the population, including health risk, natural resource impacts, restored tax revenues, creation of social programs (i.e., job training) and environmental justice. The environmental industry talks of riskbased corrective action (RBCA) methodologies, pathways, and hazardous constituents. The legal community seeks to define the brownfields issue in terms of legal precedents and legislative liability relief. The financial community's focus has remained on the profitability of the transaction. Lendersrequire the ability to quantify any and all risk in terms of dollars and cents.

Brownfields redevelopment is a complex process. Building a viable, profitable deal is not unlike solving a Rubik's Cube. It takes hard work and patience, but when the pieces are finally lined up correctly, the solution will hopefully be able to be replicated with ease. The good news is that all of the players necessary for successful brownfields redevelopment are working creatively and collaboratively to move the process forward. There has been significant and increasing interaction among the various groups, often facilitated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), various states, and local municipalities. However, a long road lies ahead. If brownfields efforts are to achieve measurable success, redevelopment projects must be able to withstand the challenge of the competitive nature of "greenfield" transactions.

Successful resolution of the problems associated with brownfields must recognize both the real and perceived disadvantages of brownfields redevelopment, including the size of available properties and their relative location to suppliers, distributors and competition, available labor, the educational level of available labor, and perceptions of crime or decay. All of these C and other issues C influence the single most significant aspect of brownfields redevelopment: demand.

The U.S. EPA definition seeks to define the word "brownfield" primarily in terms of the real or perceived environmental issues. Defining brownfields in a way which encompasses complex social issues may provide the first step toward recognizing brownfields in the broader context necessary to resolve the issue. A more thorough definition is also required to understand the motivation of each vested interest at the discussion table, even though a more expedient solution may sometimes be obtained by specifically not addressing many of the ancillary issues.

Financial institutions, often blamed for the lack of available capital, operate under stringent regulatory constraints. In contrast to many other brownfields "stakeholders", banks must adhere to the dictates of federal and state banking regulators regarding lending and credit risk practices. They must understand and address an ever increasing C and often contradictory C amount of legal precedence on all aspects of their daytoday business, and must react to the potential liabilities established by laws such as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). They must seek to act within the best interests of the communities they serve, and perhaps most importantly, banks must return a profit to their shareholders.

Banks cannot lend on undesirable properties. Banks lend to borrowers, not properties. Unless a "viable" entity wants to borrow money to redevelop a brownfields site, there is little reason for a bank to be involved in the transaction. Viable in banking terms means "credit worthy"-- that there are sufficient financial assurances somewhere in the deal to make a lender comfortable that the loan will be repaid in the event of the borrower's default. Typically, loans may be collateralized or secured by real estate, inventory and equipment, cash flow or the personal guarantees of the borrowing entity.

Loans secured solely by commercial real estate are generally bound by the criteria that the loan cannot exceed seventyfive (75) percent of the value of the real estate. In the case of abrownfields site, the lender may lack the expertise to truly determine the environmental impacts to the value of the real estate. By definition, brownfields offer a limited amount of available information on the nature and extent of the environmental concern. More thorough information is only available after the completion of further due diligence (i.e., Phase II Environmental Site Assessments) which may cost tens of thousands of dollars. Banks are risk averse by nature and by regulatory rule. The absence of thorough information regarding the potential environmental concern or the inability on the part of the lenders to comfortably digest the information typically stalls brownfields redevelopment financing. In response to these issues, sources of public money are being made available to address environmental investigative costs and to help reduce this barrier to redevelopment.

Funding for Brownfields Projects in New Jersey

New Jersey is a leader on the state level in providing targeted financial assistance to brownfield projects. Ongoing support for brownfields projects is available from the state's economic recovery fund and from the hazardous waste bond issue passed several years ago. In 1996, the state pioneered "environment opportunity zones" which offer developers incentives in the form of local property tax relief over a ten year period on contaminated properties within the designated zones.

The funding sources provide loans and grants of up to $2 million dollars to municipalities. The loan program addresses sites where the municipalities are potentially responsible parties, while the grant program aids municipalities holding properties obtained through tax certificate sales and "orphan sites." Loans of up to $1 million are available to private parties unable to obtain private financing for brownfields activities. For information on these programs contact: Michael Sklar, Environmental Claims Administration, DEP, (609) 6332947.

Region 2 New Pilot Project Summaries

Five of the 34 new brownfields pilot projects are located in EPA Region 2. Below is a description of each new project.

Niagara Falls, NY

The City of Niagara Falls has lost twothirds of its manufacturing jobs in the past 35 years and is now home to more than 386 acres of idle property suspected of soil or groundwater contamination. No tracts of undeveloped, uncontaminated land remain for development within the City, and brownfields cleanup is imperative for economic growth. This pilot project seeks to promote the redevelopment of four sites within the statedesignated Economic Development Zone. The City will conduct site assessments and develop cost estimates for rehabilitation, demolition, and remediation, and will identify potential financing sources for each of these sites. There are plans to create a comprehensive education and outreach program that addresses the needs of the Economic Development Zone neighborhoods and establish an Environmental Awareness Center to coordinate this program.

Contacts:

Sherrel Henry Dan Gagliardo

U.S. EPA Region 2 Department of Environ. Services

(212) 6374273 (716) 2864460

Elmira, NY

Elmira has lost more than 10,000 manufacturing jobs as industrial employers have abandoned urban brownfields. Although the City has implemented economic recovery measures, little redevelopment of brownfields has occurred. The City now owns, by virtue of abandonment and foreclosure, 50 acres of industrial property. Through this pilot project, Elmira plans to conduct preliminary site assessments at up to six sites, detailed site assessments at up to four sites, and plan for cleanup at these four sites under the state's Voluntary Cleanup Program.

Contacts:

Dennis Munhall Cheryl Schneider

U.S. EPA Region 2 Dept. of Business & Housing Development

(212) 6374343 (607) 7375691< p>

Perth Amboy, NJ

The goal of the Perth Amboy pilot project is to provide technical expertise, public/private support, and vision to empower the local community and private developers in remediation and revitalization of portions of a 877acre area of heavy industrial properties. The City plans to conduct surveys, inventories, and assessments in the brownfields redevelopment area; compile related information in a database; develop an insurance pool coverage program addressing liability exposure, remediation cost overruns, and third party liability coverage; conduct feasibility studies for innovative cleanup technologies; and develop a public participation and risk communication plan.

Contacts:

Betsy Donovan Melvin Ramos

U.S. EPA Region 2 City of Perth Amboy

(212) 6374303 (732) 8260290

Jersey City, NJ

Approximately one fifth of Jersey City's acreage has been identified as potential brownfields sites. The pilot area consists of the former industrialized and rail areas surrounded by the residential communities of Bergen Hill, Greenville, and Lafayette. Jersey City's pilot project will serve as a prototype for development of a standardized redevelopment model, focusing on methods for the completion of brownfields site inventories, site assessments, and remediation planning. Emphasiswill be on funding a comprehensive, communitybased, environmental education and participation program.

Contacts:

Farnaz Saghafi Paul Hamilton

U.S. EPA Region 2 Jersey City Redevelopment Agency

(212) 6374408 (201) 5474799

Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company (PRIDCO) will administer the grant in cooperation with the Puerto Rico Economic Development Administration. PRIDCO's goal is to develop a prototype for redevelopment of brownfields through public/private partnerships. It will investigate and plan for remediation of a former electroplating site located in Hato Rey, an economically depressed community within San Juan, as well as at two additional sites not yet identified. There are also plans to develop a revolving loan fund program to enable prospective developers or tenants to assess properties and a community outreach program including bilingual educational materials for Hato Rey residents.

Contacts:

Carlos O'Neill Jose Perez Hernandez

U.S. EPA Region 2 Puerto Rico Industrial Development Co.

(787) 7296951 (787) 7547546

Glen Cove, NY

The City of Glen Cove will develop a communitybased management plan that promotes reuse of brownfields in the Glen Cove Creek area as part of an overall waterfront revitalization effort. The pilot will also help the City improve community participation in cleanup planning, identify other potential brownfields, and investigate potential health threats from those sites.

Contacts:

Ed Als Robert Benrubi

U.S. EPA Region 2 Glen Cove Community Development Agency

(212) 6374272 (516) 6761625

Elizabeth, NJ

The goals of this pilot project are to identify and assess five marketable brownfields, and develop remediation, financing, and redevelopment strategies. In doing so, the City will engage stakeholders such as the Elizabeth Development Company, Elizabeth General Medical Center, the Regional Plan Association, and selected members affected by brownfields sites.

Contacts:

Nick Magriples Marie Krupinski

U.S. EPA Region 2 City of Elizabeth

(732) 9066930 (908) 8204019

NEED GENERAL INFORMATION ON BROWNFIELDS?

Call the Region 2 Brownfields Hotline (18002257044) and ask for the Brownfields General Information Packet. The Packet provides information that will bring the novice up to speed with the Region's Brownfields Initiative. The packet contains the following items:

A description of the Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative

General Questions and Answers

Contact Information for EPA Headquarters and Regional offices

Directory of Resources describes trade associations, databases, institutions, publications, and other sources of information

Proposed Brownfields Tax Incentive Information

Job Development and Training Information

Resources Overview describes guidance documents available through EPA

Regional Pilots Quick Reference Fact Sheet

National Pilots Quick Reference Fact Sheet

Stakeholders Overview quick introduction to groups most likely to be involved in brownfields redevelopment

Larry D'Andrea with U.S. EPA Region 2 may also be contacted at (212) 6374314 for information on any of the pilot projects.

WE ACT, NRDC Focus
Community on Northern
Manhattan Brownfields

West Harlem Environmental Action (WE ACT) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) have teamed up to advance brownfields redevelopment projects in northern Manhattan communities.

Based on a 12month EPA grant, the two groups convened a Brownfields Redevelopment /Pollution Prevention Initiative Advisory Group last November with the goal of educating the communities within the Northern Manhattan Empowerment Zone to define appropriate brownfields projects and pollution prevention options. This unique effort focuses on pollution prevention objectives to ensure the longterm success of the brownfields projects and advance the overall well being of the impacted communities.

The Advisory Group has already met three times, each time bringing together about 20 diverse stakeholders representing residents, small businesses, local community development corporations, federal and local elected officials, City College and Columbia University faculty, economicdevelopment and environmental agencies, churchbased groups, and financiers. The charge before the group is to hold two oneday "Community Planning Symposia" later this year to educate the local individuals who together can merge the interests of brownfields redevelopment, economic redevelopment and pollution prevention.

According to Vernice Miller, Director of Environmental Justice Initiatives at NRDC, the project is off to a good start. "It's better than I had hoped," Miller commented. "Together, they just have extensive intellectual resources, and their commitment to see the project through to a productive and positive end is really high," said Miller of the members of the Advisory Group. The group wants to provide a useful baseline of information to the parties attending the seminars and is presently working to identify and characterize potential brownfields in northern Manhattan that are appropriate for redevelopment.

In addition to the research conducted by the Advisory Group, WE ACT and NRDC will provide the technical expertise for the symposia in areas of industrial pollution prevention, energy conservation, green building design, water conservation, communitybased pollution prevention, alternative fuel transportation systems, solid waste reduction and recycling, lead and asbestos hazard abatement, and minority worker training in related environmental areas.

Each symposia will address a unique group of 50 to 100 invited guests. The events will be videotaped and summarized in a report to include a discussion on the state of northern Manhattan=s environment, a directory of model communitybased brownfields projects, and a listing of technical experts and resource persons.

Recognizing that communities in northern Manhattan are already heavily burdened with polluting facilities and mobile sources of ambient air pollution, this joint project aims to inform brownfields redevelopment efforts so that they may redress past environmental management practices while creating new opportunities for sustainable, environmentally beneficial economic redevelopment. The sponsors hope to spur the community into positive action, having armed them with a vision for sustainable economic redevelopment and a model for communitybased brownfields cleanup and reuse. Specifically, WE ACT and NRDC hope the project can influence the ultimate selection of a pilot site for redevelopment by the New York City Task Force on Brownfields. "We hope to positively inform that overall process," said Miller.

The project itself will serve as a model approach to inviting public participation and incorporating public health concerns in economic redevelopment. It will also demonstrate an effective way to develop communitybased models for pollution prevention, and find appropriate approaches to small site redevelopment. For more information on this project, contact Vernice Miller at NRDC at (212) 7274461 or Cecil CorbinMark at WE ACT at (212) 9611000.

The Brownfields Quarterly Community Report welcomes news about local brownfields efforts by community groups and others. If you have a story about what's happening where you are, please contact TRC Environmental Corporation, 291 Broadway, Suite 1206, New York, NY 10007. Editorial staff retain the right to review and revise all texts as necessary for publication.

Frequently Asked Questions from the EPA Home Page

What types of projects are eligible to receive Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilots?

The Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Application limits pilot activities to environmental activities preliminary to cleanup, such as site identification, site assessment, site characterization, and site remediation planning and design for areas that have an actual or threatened release of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant. Brownfields pilot funds may be used for outreach activities that educate the public about identification, assessment, or remedial planning activities at a site or a set of sites. Brownfields pilot funds also may be used to develop creative financing solutions to brownfields problems (e.g., tax incentives, revolving loan funds) for assessment activities.

How does EPA select pilots from the brownfields applications received?

The competitive process used to evaluate the applications is technical and objective. A panel of personnel from EPA Headquarters, EPA Regional Offices, the Economic Development Administration, and other federal agencies reads each application and compares it against criteria listed in the application booklet. The panel then discusses the merits of each proposal and considers other factors such as a desire for geographic diversity among the pilot projects. Those applications ranked highest by the panel are forwarded to the Assistant Administrator of EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, who makes the final selection.

What criteria were applicants for the FY 1997 National Assessment Pilots required to address?

The Brownfields applicants were required to describe the following:

Problem Statement and Needs Assessment

• Effect of Brownfields on your Community or Communities

• Value Added by Federal Support

Communitybased Planning and Involvement

• Existing Local Commitment

• Community Involvement Plan

• Environmental Justice Plan

Implementation Planning

• Appropriate Authority and Government Support

• Environmental Site Assessment Plan

• Proposed Cleanup Funding Mechanisms

• Flow of Ownership Plan

LongTerm Benefits and Sustainability

• National Replicability

• Measures of Success

 

More Quarterly Reports

• Spring 2001 - Vol. 3 No. 1
• Fall/Winter 1998 -Vol. 1 No. 2
• Summer 1998 - Vol. 2 No. 1
• Spring 1998 - Vol. 1 No. 4
• Winter 1997-98 - Vol. 1 No. 3
• Summer 1997 - Vol. 1 No. 2
• Spring 1997 - Vol. 1 No. 1