Quick Reference –Changes from FY10 to FY 11 ARC Guidelines
Changes in italics and/or red
Changes to all guidelines
§ Applicants may submit electronically through www.grants.gov
§ 20 page limit for all attachments
§ Notification regarding the 2012 competition from the intro paragraph “Please note that under the 2012 competitions, applicants who have completed area-wide plans may receive additional consideration under the evaluation factors.”
§ Clarified eligibility for hazardous substances funding: “Sites eligible for hazardous substance funding are those sites with presence or potential presence of hazardous substances, pollutants, contaminants, sites that are contaminated with controlled substances or that are mine-scarred lands.”
§ ALL Applicants are required to answer the sub-criteria Programmatic Capability under programmatic capability and past performance
Describe the management system you will have in place to direct activities under the grant. Include a description of your project manager and staff and a discussion of their expertise, qualifications, and experience. Discuss the means you will use to retain project leadership or recruit qualified staff should employee turnover occur. Describe the system(s) you have in place to acquire additional expertise and resources required to perform the proposed project. If you intend to contract for the necessary expertise, describe the system you have in place to acquire that expertise. Please note you must comply with Section IV.F. [8 points]
§ Language from the ranking criteria: Community Engagement and Partnerships (changes to following ranking criteria in red)
o Discuss your plan for involving the affected community (e.g., neighborhood organizations, citizens’ groups, borrowers, developers, and other stakeholders) in site selection for assessments, cleanup decisions, or reuse planning, including activities that have already occurred. Describe your plan for communicating the progress of your project to citizens, including plans for communicating in languages commonly used in the community. If a related local job training program(s) (including brownfields job training grantees) exists in your target area, explain any specific efforts that have been made to collaborate and to what extent will these efforts encourage future employment in the local community to address brownfields sites (e.g. use of first source hiring ordinances or agreements, incorporating terms and conditions requiring contractors to hire locally).
o Provide a description of, and role of, the key community-based organizations involved in your project. These organizations may include, but are not limited to, local citizen or business groups, environmental or civic organizations, educational institutions, and local labor organizations. [Note: Community-based organizations do not include local government departments, the local planning department/district/office, local contractors, the mayor’s office, or other elected officials.] If Community-based organizations do not exist in your area, please provide background affirming the lack of such organizations. Then, demonstrate how the community is engaged and involved in your project, which can be demonstrated by resident support letters, letters to the editor, attendance at public meetings, etc. Attach letters from all community-based organizations mentioned that describe their roles and affirm any referenced commitments.
Assessment Guidelines
§ Incorporation of Area-wide planning
o On page 6, language from I.B. Uses of funds: “Grant funds may be used for conducting area-wide planning activities within a specific brownfields-impacted area, such as a neighborhood, district, city block or brownfields corridor, that lead to the development of an area-wide plan. Area-wide planning activities may include:
§ Planning to identify potential future uses for brownfields properties. Planning should be to the extent necessary to inform assessment and cleanup decisions, in order to stimulate economic development upon completion of the cleanup.
§ Creating a set of area-wide strategies which will help ensure successful assessment, cleanup and reuse of the brownfield site(s) within the brownfields-impacted area.
§ Developing strategies for facilitating the reuse of existing infrastructure.
§ Determining next steps and identifying resources needed to implement the area-wide plan.”
o On pages 26-27, language from ranking criteria: Project Description and Feasibility of Success (changes in red below)
“Under this criterion, proposals will be evaluated based on the feasibility of the project to be funded under this grant. Specifically, proposals will be evaluated on the extent and quality to which the applicant demonstrates a reasonable approach to the project, sufficient resources to complete the project, and a capability to complete the project in a timely manner. Proposals that budget the majority of grant funds for conducting site assessments will be viewed more favorably than those that focus on inventory. Proposals that budget the majority of grant funds for area-wide planning activities or the development of an area-wide plan will be reviewed more favorably if they plan to conduct assessment activities reported to EPA through the Property Profile Form on at least one or more brownfields sites within the planning area under the grant. Coalition proposals will be viewed more favorably if they budget grant funds to address a minimum of five sites under the grant. If your proposal is focusing primarily on conducting assessments, please describe how the assessment activities are consistent with your community plan. If your proposal is focusing primarily on area-wide planning, please describe the need for creating a community plan and how it will lead to assessment, cleanup and reuse of Brownfields properties.”
Cleanup Guidelines
§ Under the Environmental Assessment Required Threshold Criteria: A phase II environmental assessment must be completed (deleted requirement for a phase I under this threshold criteria only) (language from page 14 of the Cleanup Guidelines)
“Environmental Assessment Required for Cleanup Proposals. A written ASTM E1903-97 or equivalent Phase II site assessment report (a draft report is sufficient) must be completed prior to proposal submission. Equivalent reports would include site investigations or remedial action plans developed for a state cleanup program or Office of Surface Mining surveys for mine-scarred lands. Describe the type of environmental assessments conducted at your proposed site (do not attach assessment reports). Provide the date of the Phase II or equivalent report. Contact your Regional Coordinator listed in Section VII if you have questions.”
RLF Guidelines
§ Under RLF, there will now be up to a 50/50 loan/subgrant split in their proposal (language from page 4 of RLF guidelines)
“An RLF grant recipient must use at least 50 percent of the awarded funds to capitalize and implement a revolving loan fund. An RLF grant recipient may use no more than 50 percent of the awarded funds for subgrants and may not subgrant to itself. The RLF grant recipient may subgrant to other coalition members. While no more than 50% of the funding can be used for subgrants, recipients may request EPA (post-award) on a case-by-case basis to waive the subgrant limitation. Based on the justification for why additional subgrant capacity is needed, EPA will consider waivers of this requirement. RLF funds must be used by the recipient to provide loans or subgrants for the cleanup of eligible brownfields sites and for eligible programmatic costs for managing the RLF.”
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