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Announcements and Press Releases
EPA Awards Community Grants Across CountryThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that around $3 million will be available in 2008 to support community-based partnerships to reduce pollution at the local level through the Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) program. EPA anticipates awarding CARE cooperative agreements in two levels. Level I cooperative agreements range from $75,000 to $100,000 and will help establish community-based partnerships to develop local environmental priorities. Level II awards, ranging from $150,000 to $300,000 each, will support communities which have established broad-based partnerships, have identified the priority toxic risks in the community, and are prepared to measure results, implement risk reduction activities, and become self-sustaining. In 2007, $3.4 million in cooperative agreements were made available to more than 20 communities through the CARE program, a community-based, community-driven program that builds partnerships to help the public understand and reduce toxic risks from numerous sources. Examples of projects include addressing abandoned, contaminated industrial and residential properties in Gary, Ind., dealing with agriculture-related toxics in Yakima County, Wash., and reducing air emissions from diesel trucks and buses in Woonsocket, R.I. Since 2005, the grants to reduce toxics in the environment have reached almost 50 communities in over 20 states.
Applications for the CARE grants are due March 17, 2008. Eligible applicants include county and local governments, tribes, non-profit organizations and universities. EPA will conduct three conference calls, Jan. 18, Feb. 11 and 27, for prospective applicants to ask questions about the application process. Additional information about the CARE program, previous cooperative agreement recipients, and applying for the 2008 grants is available at: http://www.epa.gov/care.New Website for Brownfield Insurance Programs
A new website is available for those needing information about and assistance with insurance for brownfield projects.
The site provides access to insurers, brokers, and attorneys with specialized capacities to address brownfield insurance matters. Additional brokers and attorneys are invited to add their qualifications and share documents they have written. Listing is free and easy to do.
The site also offer a library that includes funded reports, journal articles, and case studies of insurance usage, as well as a glossary of terms. Reports currently on the site include "State Brownfield Insurance Programs - 2006" and "Environmental Insurance Products Available for Brownfield Redevelopment- 2005."
BrownfieldsInsurance.org was developed by Kristen Yount and Peter Meyer of Northern Kentucky University under a cooperative agreement with EPA. For more information, go to www.BrownfieldsInsurance.org.
Report: State Brownfield Insurance Programs, 2006
Researchers from Northern Kentucky University issued a report on State-level
Brownfields Insurance Programs. The report provides information that will
help state officials and other brownfields stakeholders to assess the value
of state-assisted brownfields insurance.
The report is available on the EPA Brownfields Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/pubs/state_report_2006.pdf.
Information on US EPA's Brownfields Program is available at: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/.
President Bush Extends the Brownfields Tax Incentive as Part of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act
On December 20, 2006, President Bush signed the Tax Relief and Health Care
Act of 2006. The new legislation includes an extension and expansion of the
Brownfields Tax Incentive. Under the new law, the incentive was renewed,
effective after December 31, 2005, and extended until December 31, 2007.
The Brownfields Tax Incentive allows environmental cleanup costs to be deducted
in the year incurred, rather than capitalized over time. The legislation
expanded the Brownfields Incentive's scope, allowing the deduction of expenses
for the cleanup of petroleum products (crude oil, crude oil condensates,
and natural gasoline), which had previously been ineligible.
The Brownfields Tax Incentive, intended to spur the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields in distressed urban and rural areas, was originally signed into law in August 1997 as part of the Taxpayer Relief Act (Public Law 105-34). As before, entities interested in the tax incentive must receive a certification of eligibility from their appropriate state cleanup program contact.
EPA is currently in the process of updating its guidelines and other Brownfields Tax Incentive information resources to reflect the extension and expansion of the incentive signed into law by the President. Information on the Brownfields Tax Incentive, including state cleanup program contacts, is available at http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/bftaxinc.htm. For more information, contact Sven-Erik Kaiser at 202-566-2753 or kaiser.sven-erik@epa.gov.
New Brownfields Tool Kit Available
EPA Region 4 Administrator Jimmy Palmer recently released the publication
of an interactive CD entitled "Revitalizing Southeastern Communities: A
Brownfields Toolkit" to provide information on regional and national revitalization
efforts and on federal and State brownfields program requirements.
“I am pleased,” said Mr. Palmer, “to offer local officials...this Brownfields environmental information system for their use. The Brownfields Program promotes environmental protection and economic growth, bringing new life to abandoned sites, improving the environment and public health, creating jobs, and revitalizing our communities.” The CD was developed by the National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals (NALGEP) through an EPA Cooperative Agreement.
