Brownfields 2013 Registration

Registration Now Open!! Brownfields 2013, Atlanta, GA, May 15-17, 2013. The conference, cosponsored by U.S. EPA, is the largest and most comprehensive event in the nation that focuses on issues important to community revitalization and the assessment, cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated properties. For more information and to register, see http://www.brownfieldsconference.org .

2013 EPA Brownfield Grant Guidelines Released - DEADLINE Nov. 19, 2012

• FY13 Guidelines for Brownfield Assessment Grants
  EPA-OSWER-OBLR-12-07 - Closing Date: November 19, 2012
  The Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act ("Brownfields Law", P.L. 107-118) requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to publish guidance to assist applicants in preparing proposals for grants to assess and clean up brownfield sites. EPA's Brownfield Program provides funds to empower states, communities, tribes, and nonprofits to prevent, inventory, assess, clean up, and reuse brownfield sites. EPA provides brownfield funding for three types of grants: Brownfield Assessment Grants, Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Grants, and Brownfield Cleanup Grants. Under this RFP, EPA is seeking proposals for Assessment Grants, only, to provide funds to inventory, characterize, assess, and conduct planning (including cleanup planning) and community involvement related to brownfield sites.
  • FY13 Guidelines for Brownfield Assessment Grants (PDF) (58 pp, 581K,  About PDF) 
   
• FY13 Guidelines for Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Grants
  EPA-OSWER-OBLR-12-08 - Closing Date: November 19, 2012
  Under this RFP, EPA is seeking proposals for RLF Grants, only, to provide funds to capitalize a revolving fund and to make loans and provide subgrants to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites.
  • FY13 Guidelines for Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Grants (PDF) (52 pp, 490K,  About PDF)
  
  
• FY13 Guidelines for Brownfield Cleanup Grants
  EPA-OSWER-OBLR-12-09 - Closing Date: November 19, 2012
  Under this RFP, EPA is seeking proposals for Cleanup Grants, only, to provide funds to carry out cleanup activities at a specific brownfield site owned by the applicant.
  • FY13 Guidelines for Brownfield Cleanup Grants (PDF) (62 pp, 541K,  About PDF) 
   
• FY2013 Brownfield Area-Wide Planning Grant Guidelines – Request for Proposals
  These grants may be used by communities to facilitate community involvement in developing an area-wide plan for brownfield assessment, cleanup and subsequent reuse on a catalyst site and other high-priority brownfield sites. Each grant is funded up to $200,000 for two years. The proposal submission deadline is November 30, 2012.
  • FY2013 Brownfield Area-Wide Planning Grant Guidelines (PDF) (55 pp, 448K)
  • Frequently Asked Questions (PDF) (24 pp, 255K)

Brownfield Grant Overview

WEBINAR: Brownfields Road Map to Understanding Options for Site Investigation and Cleanup - October 3, 2012, 1:00PM-3:00PM CDT

EPA recently released the new Brownfields Road Map publication and companion website which provide an outline of the general steps involved in the investigation and cleanup of brownfields sites and introduce stakeholders to technology options and available resources. During this Road Map webinar, EPA speakers will review its history, describe how the structure of the Road Map was redesigned to better meet the needs of a diverse audience, and review the online interactive guide to contaminants and technologies. Technical resources and tools available online will also be highlighted. A second segment of the webinar serves to summarize the core chapters focused on assessment, investigation, selection of cleanup options, and design and implementation of cleanup. Participants will also be introduced to technical and management topics covered in Road Map "spotlights." Participants are invited to submit questions during a Question-and-Answer session. For more information and to register, see http://clu-in.org/live .

EPA Region 4 To Host Series of Webinars on Brownfield Grants

EPA’s Region 4 Atlanta, GA Brownfields office will be hosting a series of teleconference sessions for the FY2013 Brownfield Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) application guidelines. These guidelines are expected to be available nationally the week of August 13 (applications due around October 15). 

 

Each year, Region 4 hosts a training session designed to highlight changes to the guidelines and tips and tricks based on weakness noted in applications the prior year. This year, EPA and its State partners will focus on:

• applicant ‘readiness’; 
• providing multiple, shorter training segments; and 
• reminding you that your State Agency Brownfields contact can be a resource to you in preparing your application (certain parts require State involvement). 

The Brownfield grant program has become very competitive with about 1 in 5 applications in Region 4 being successful. EPA Region 4 and our State partners seek to improve those odds.Five (5) teleconference sessions are planned. There will be 125 phone lines available. Please use a conference phone if multiple people in your organization plan to participate. The first teleconference will focus on grant application readiness, and the other four (4) will follow the four sections each of the Assessment, RLF and Cleanup guidelines, with the minor changes for 2013 highlighted. The sessions will be between 30 and 45 minutes. The powerpoint presentations will be available on the Trainex registration site noted below prior to the teleconference, and on the Region 4 website after the end of the five (5) sessions.

Please Register at: www.trainex.org/r4bf

Region 4 website: http://www.epa.gov/region4/rcra/bflr/index.html

Session #1: Tuesday, Aug 21 10 am Grant Application Readiness
Session #2: Wednesday, Aug 22 10 am Ranking Criteria 1: Community Need
Session #3: Tuesday, Aug 28 10 am Ranking Criteria 2: Project Description & Feasibility of Success
Session #4: Wednesday, Aug 29 10 am Ranking Criteria 3: Community Engagement & Partnerships
Session #5: Tuesday, Sept 11 10 am Ranking Criteria 4: Project Benefits and Summary

Webinar: Brownfield RLF Grant Guidelines - August 30th

EPA will be hosting an online webinar on the Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund grant on August 30, 2012 from 3:00-4:00 CDT.. This grant funds cleanup activities through grants and loans. Grants can be given to brownfield site owners including nonprofits and governmental entities. Loans can be given to brownfield site owners including nonprofits, governmental entities and private property owners. The webinar will go over the guidelines relating to threshold criteria which determine who is an eligible applicant, fiscal requirements to run a loan program, and community notification of the application. Next the webinar will focus on the ranking criteria which address the need for a brownfield cleanups in your community and description of your revolving loan program.  To register, go to http://clu-in.org/live/#Brownfields_RLF_Grant_Guideline_20120830 .

Public Notice of Proposed Brownfield Agreement Site

Pursuant to the Mississippi Brownfield Voluntary Cleanup and Redevelopment Act Mississippi Code Annotated Sections § 49-35-1 through § 49-35-27 (Act), notice is hereby given that the City of Ridgeland (“Brownfield Party”) has submitted an application to the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) to enter into a Brownfield Agreement with the Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality (Commission) with regard to tracts of land located at 122 West Moon Street and 102 SE Madison Drive in Ridgeland, Mississippi.  The Brownfield Agreement Site is further described as being situated in Section 30, Township 7N, Range 2E, Madison County, Mississippi, and located at the former Madison Materials (AI#57182) and Jackson Ready Mix sites, in Ridgeland, Mississippi. 

The Brownfield Agreement Site contains an underground petroleum storage tank (UST) requiring permanent closure.  The Brownfield Party has agreed that the proposed remediation measures will be to excavate and dispose of the UST and associated fuel distribution piping and to remediate any petroleum impacted soils identified during the excavation followed by backfilling the UST tank bed excavation with surrounding clean fill material.  The proposed use of the Site after completion of all remediation will be the planned City Center redevelopment project as described more fully in the Ridgeland Area Master Plan (RAMP).  The Brownfield Party will be required to report to the MDEQ regarding the status of the implementation of the Brownfield Agreement and the corrective action.

The staff of the Commission has evaluated the proposed Brownfield Agreement and believes that, with the conditions and restrictions contained within the proposed Brownfield Agreement, the site will be in compliance with all applicable State and Federal laws and standards and will be protective of the public health and the environment once the Brownfield Agreement is completed.  Therefore, the staff of the Commission has made a preliminary decision, based on available information, to recommend to the Commission that the proposed Brownfield Agreement be approved.

The Brownfield Party proposes to remediate the site based on site-specific public health and environmental risks as provided by the Act and in accordance with MDEQ’s Guidelines for the Permanent Closure of Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Systems – July 1, 2009. The Brownfield Party certifies that there are no other known potentially affected Parties other than those that are named in the proposed Brownfield Agreement. The public is invited to submit any comments regarding the proposed Brownfield Agreement no later than close of business on September 7, 2012, to Trey Hess at: 

Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality

Office of Pollution Control

Groundwater Assessment and Remediation Division 

P.O. Box 2261

Jackson, Mississippi 39225-2261

Phone: 601-961-5654

Fax: 601-961-5300

All comments received by that date will be part of the record and considered in the formulation of a final decision in this matter.  A copy of the proposed Brownfield Agreement is available for inspection and copying at the offices of the MDEQ located at 515 Amite Street, Jackson, MS 39225 by calling Ms. Joanne Rials at (601) 961-5068.  A copy of the proposed Brownfield Agreement is also available for inspection at the county courthouse of Madison County, Mississippi at the location where other public notices are posted.  It is expected that the Commission will consider the proposed Brownfield Agreement during its regular meeting to be held at 9:00 a.m. on September 27, 2012 at 515 Amite Street, Jackson, Mississippi.  Questions or comments should be directed to the MDEQ representative set forth above.

Hernando Brownfield RFQ

Source: DeSoto Times Tribune, 8/7/12

REQUEST FOR STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS FOR CONDUCTING ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS AND REMEDIATIONS

The City of Hernando (City), hereby solicits written Statements of Qualifications (SOQ) from professional environment consulting firms interested in contracting with the City to perform grant management activities, environmental assessments, and related activities associated with the recently EPA-awarded Brownfield Community-Wide Assessment Grant. This is Federal Brownfield funding and will require adherence to the conditions required for its use. The firm selected will be eligible to negotiate a contract with the City. No minimum order or work is guaranteed. If the selected firm is unsuccessful in negotiating a contract or does not maintain the minimum requirements, the City, at its discretion, may select the next ranked firm for contract negotiations. All work will be ordered on an “as-needed” basis. Though the Federal Brownfield Grant funding is for a three-year period, the selected firm will be eligible for contract negotiations for up to five (5) years with optional years at the City’s discretion....

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Webinar: EPA Brownfield Grant Guidelines - August 16th

Brownfield Assessment Grant Guideline - August 16, 2012, 3:00PM-4:00PM CDT (20:00-21:00 GMT). This webinar will focus on the Brownfield Assessment Grant program. Grants in this program cover all brownfield work prior to cleanup including: brownfield inventories; Phase 1 background on a property; Phase 2 sampling to determine extent of contamination at a site; and cleanup planning. Applicants to this program can choose to submit a community wide assessment which designates a target area from which many properties will be chosen for assessment work after the grant is awarded, to site specific property assessments where assessment work will focus on one property. The panel will also review applications from one entity vs. coalition applications. The assessment grants are available only to governmental entities. For more information and to register, see http://clu-in.org/live

Webinar: EPA Brownfield Area-Wide Planning Grants - August 9th

1. Brownfield Area-Wide Planning Grants: Opportunities for Local Governments and Nonprofits
   Conducted with the Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization, this webinar will focus on the benefits of area-wide planning for brownfield development and a new grant opportunity for local governments and nonprofits. The webinar will feature Drew Curtis of the Ironbound Community Corporation in Newark, NJ and Jim Gulnac of Sanford, ME, who will discuss pilot projects and lessons learned in their communities. AICP members can earn Certification Maintenance credits for this activity.
   
   
   
   Webinar Details
   Thursday, August 9, 2012, 2:00-3:00 Central
   To join this webinar, click on https://epa.connectsolutions.com/epasmartgrowth
    
2. Learn more about the Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Pilot Program at http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/areawide_grants.htm

City of McComb Brownfield Request for Proposals

The City of McComb (City), is soliciting written Statements of Qualifications (SOQ) from professional environment consulting firms interested in contracting with the City to perform grant management activities, environmental assessments, and related activities associated with the recently EPA-awarded Brownfields Community-Wide Assessment Grant. This is Federal Brownfields funding and will require adherence to the conditions required for its use. The firm selected will be eligible to negotiate a contract with the City. No minimum order or work is guaranteed. If the selected firm is unsuccessful in negotiating a contract or does not maintain the minimum requirements, the City, at its discretion, may select the next ranked firm for contract negotiations. All work will be ordered on an “as-needed” basis. A copy of the SOQ evaluation form, which shall be used by the SOQ review committee, may be obtained by contacting Quordiniah Lockley, City Administrator at (601) 684-4000 x 232 or via email at qnl@mccomb-ms.gov.

Source: https://procurement.pbnlink.com/MainBidBoard?statusfilter=All&typefilter=2&statefilter=All&search=&ac=0&bidoid=18123&bidid=27456&bidtype=Quote&sortby=issuedate&order=1&pgno=3

Brownfield Grants Overview from EPA

This ARCHIVED webinar presents an overview of the EPA's Brownfield Assessment, Cleanup and Revolving Loan program. Grant guidelines for FY13 are expected to be published at the end of summer so taking time now to learn about the program will be especially useful to new applicants. The presenters will go over: basics of the brownfield program; the three types of grants; who is eligible to apply; and what projects the grants cover. This webinar is meant as a primer for the subsequent webinars we'll be hosting in August where we go into much more details for each of the three grants. Those webinars will be held on Aug. 16 - Assessments, Aug. 23 - Cleanup, and Aug. 30 - Revolving Loan Fund.

Links to this ARCHIVED WEBINAR,

PDF -  http://www.clu-in.org/conf/tio/r9bfoverview_071212/prez/Brownfields-101-7-12-12-Cluin-version-pdf.pdf
Audio - http://clu-in.tv/seminars/tio071212_full.mp3  

City of Columbus Brownfield RFP

Source: http://www.thecityofcolumbusms.org

 

The City of Columbus is soliciting proposals from qualified environmental consulting firms for conducting Phase I and Phase II environmental assessments, project management and reporting, community involvement, and cleanup planning activities related to the EPA Brownfield Assessment grant.  This request for qualifications provides specifications and requirements for prospective, qualified firms to complete a proposal with itemized cost estimates for services. Only proposals submitted no later than 5 pm on August 1, 2012, will be considered. This work will be funded under a Brownfield Assessment Grant awarded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Proposal work should meet any federal requirements for work funded by the EPA Brownfield Grant.

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Hernando Gets Brownfield Grant

EPA Announces Brownfield Grant Awards

05/24/12 - EPA has announced $69.3 million in new Brownfield grants to provide communities with funding necessary to assess, clean and redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and create jobs while protecting public health. The 245 grantees include tribes and communities in 39 states across the country, funded by EPA’s Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) grants and RLF Supplemental Grants. The recipients in Mississippi are Columbus, Hernando, and McComb.

MDEQ Brownfield Program Acknowledged by EPA Region 4

On March 27, 2008, in a letter to the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), Region 4 of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acknowledged that MDEQ has demonstrated that the Mississippi Brownfield Program meets the requirements of CERCLA Section 128(a) for a State Response Program. Under the existing federal brownfield law, Congress expressly provided a federal enforcement bar under CERCLA §106(a) or §107(a) to all landowners/developers who have enrolled their brownfield site into the State Response Program and who are successfully completing (or have completed) the state prescribed remedial actions. This bar on federal enforcement was Congress’ method of streamlining the administrative process, reducing delay, and providing landowners/developers the prerequisite regulatory clarity needed to undertake brownfield redevelopment. Under the existing federal brownfield law, Congress recognized the primacy of state brownfield clean-up programs to both determine clean-up standards for brownfield sites and confirm when those clean-up standards have been successfully achieved. With the issuance of this acknowledgement letter, the partnership between EPA and MDEQ is further strengthened allowing for greater clarity and less uncertainty in the assessment, cleanup, and reuse of sites moving through the Mississippi Brownfield Program.

Record Number of New Proposals Sent to EPA for Brownfield Grants for 2012

Each year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency solicits proposals for communities interested in receiving grant funding for brownfield redevelopment activities. In 2011, communities in 40 states and 3 Tribes shared $76 million in EPA Brownfield grants to help clean up, revitalize, and sustainably reuse contaminated properties, turning them from problem properties to productive community use. The grants, awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, provide funding to eligible entities through brownfield assessment, revolving loan fund, and cleanup grants. A record number of new applicants have applied this year in hopes of receiving an EPA Brownfield Grant in 2012. Among the communities applying for a 2012 Brownfield Grant are:

Canton	Columbia	Columbus
Forest	Gautier	Greenville
Hattiesburg	Hernando	Lauderdale Co.
McComb	Moss Point	Natchez
Pascagoula/Jackson Co.	Philadelphia	Starkville
Vicksburg	West Point

EPA's Brownfield Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfield sites. A brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. In 2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfield Revitalization Act was passed to help states and communities around the country cleanup and revitalize brownfield sites. Under this law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through four competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. For further information, including specific grant contacts, additional grant information, brownfield news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfield Web site (http://www.epa.gov/brownfields).

The EPA Brownfields Program Produces Widespread Environmental and Economic Benefits

EPA’s Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely cleanup, and sustainably reuse brownfields. Revitalizing brownfield sites creates benefits at the site and throughout the community.

Leveraging Money for Assessment, Cleanup and Revitalization of Brownfields
Based on data from grantee reporting and through the Program’s ACRES database, through fiscal year 2011, on average, $18.01 is leveraged for each EPA Brownfields dollar expended at a brownfield from Assessment, Cleanup, and Revolving Loan Fund cooperative agreements since Program inception.

Leveraging Jobs from EPA Brownfields Dollars Spent to Assess, Clean and Revitalize Brownfields
Based on data through fiscal year 2011, on average, 7.43 jobs are leveraged per $100,000 of EPA Brownfields funding expended on Assessment, Cleanup and Revolving Loan Fund cooperative agreements since program inception. As of April 2012, 75,590 jobs have been leveraged through the Brownfields Program including the State and Tribal 128(a) program since its inception.

Environmental (Air and Water) Benefits of Brownfields Redevelopment
The EPA Brownfields Program has conducted five pilot studies, which concluded that redeveloped brownfield sites tend to have greater location efficiency than alternative development scenarios at greenfield sites, resulting in a 32 to 57 percent reduction in vehicle miles traveled associated with these sites and a reduction in air pollution emissions, including greenhouse gases. These same site comparisons show an estimated 47 to 62 percent reduction in stormwater runoff. The studies suggest a range of impacts due to regional variation in development and travel patterns.

Additional Benefits of Brownfields Redevelopment
The EPA Brownfields Program has funded a study to assess the impact, or economic benefit, of  brownfields grants on residential property values. The study concluded that residential property values increased between 2 and 3 percent once a nearby brownfield was assessed or cleaned up. The study further concluded that cleaning up a brownfield can increase overall property values within a one mile radius by $0.5 to $1.5 million. Additionally, initial anecdotal surveys indicate a reduction in crime in recently revitalized brownfield areas.

Opportunity to Expand Assessment Program and Leverage from Benefits of Agency’s Removal Program
As is apparent from the numbers, there is a huge demand for site assessment work. The Program can expand upon recent policy clarifications to use site assessment dollars for environmental site assessments in conjunction with efforts to promote area-wide planning among areas and corridors of brownfield sites. The use of funds for these purposes is particularly important for economically distressed areas to enable the identification of infrastructure capacity along with potential end uses. Also, in certain instances when environmental site assessments reveal immediate threats to the environment or human health, a more programmatic use of EPA Removal funds to address these threats could be implemented.