EPA Proposes To Add E1527-13 to AAI Rule

By: L. Schnapff

Source: http://commonground.edrnet.com/posts/f69583ad60

The good news is that EPA has proposed to amend its AAI rule so that the new ASTM E1527-13 will satisfy the requirements of AAI. The bad news is that EPA has declined to delete E1527-05 from the AAI rule. As a result, property owners and lenders will be able to continue to use E1527-05, thereby undermining the changes to the ASTM standard that were achieved after a protracted process.
EPA published a proposed rule and final direct rule in the August 15th federal register. If no adverse comments are received, the final direct rule will become effective in November. If EPA receives adverse comments, it will withdraw the final rule and respond to the comments.

The direction that EPA has taken seems ill-advised to this observer.  Among the changes in E1527-13  is a presumption that agency files be reviewed as part of the phase 1 process. EPA seems to believe that users will migrate to using E1527-13. However, it is anticipated that E1527-13 will be more costly than E1527-05 because of the time involved to review agency files. Moreover, many of the high volume phase 1 shops were not happy with presumption of doing agency file reviews because it complicated their business model which consists of relying on a high percentage of independent contractors or "1099" employees.  Currently, many of these phase 1 operations charge extra for the file review...even though their customers may have anticipated that the agency file reviews were part of the original agreed upon scope of work....

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Greening America's Capitals: Request for Letters of Interest from Capital Cities

EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities is seeking letters of interest from state capital cities interested in receiving design assistance to create a clear and implementable vision of distinctive, environmentally friendly neighborhoods that incorporate smart growth strategies and green infrastructure systems. Letters of interest are due no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on September 23, 2013.

Design assistance is provided through the Greening America’s Capitals program, administered by EPA. EPA conducts the program in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) through the Partnership for Sustainable Communities. Fourteen state capitals plus the District of Columbia have received assistance from the Greening America’s Capitals program to date; up to 5 capital cities will be selected in 2013.

EPA is providing this design assistance to help state capitals create stronger neighborhoods that protect the environment. EPA will fund a team of designers to visit the successful applicants’ capital cities for up to three days to produce schematic designs and illustrations intended to catalyze or complement a larger planning process for a neighborhood. In the past, the EPA team has provided sustainable design techniques for streets, parks, waterfronts, and town squares. This assistance will help the selected state capitals envision ways to clean up and reuse vacant lands, provide more housing and transportation choices, reduce infrastructure and energy costs, and build civic pride in neighborhoods and the city as a whole. The design team and EPA, HUD, and DOT staff will also assist the city staff in developing specific implementation strategies.

• Read the Request for Letters of Interest: http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/pdf/greencapitals/greening-americas-capitals-letters-of-interest2013.pdf

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The EPA Brownfield Programs 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. 

For example, through fiscal year 2012, on average, $17.79 are leveraged for each EPA Brownfields dollar expended; on average, 7.30 jobs are leveraged per $100,000 of  EPA Brownfields funding expended on Assessment, Cleanup and  Revolving Loan Fund cooperative agreements.

Brownfields Program Accomplishments as of June 2013 Including State and Tribal Program:

•             Properties Assessed: 20,449

•             Cleanups Completed: 872

•             Acres Made Ready for Reuse: 39,906

•             Dollars leveraged: $20.1B

•             Jobs Leveraged: 90,017

Since FY 2006, Accomplishment Report by State and Tribal Response Program Using CERCLA Section 128(a) Funding:

•             Enrolled over 42,000 properties

•             Completed more than 68,800 cleanups

•             Made over 644,000 acres ready for reuse

Flat Branch Park, Columbia, Missouri

Five pilot studies conducted by the Brownfield Program on Environmental (Air and Water) Benefits from Brownfield Redevelopments, indicate brownfield sites tend to have greater location efficiency than alternative development scenarios resulting in a 32 to 57 percent reduction in vehicle miles traveled, thus reducing  pollution emissions including greenhouse gases. These same site comparisons show an estimated 47 to 62 percent reduction of stormwater runoff.

Additional study funded by the Brownfield program to assess the impact of Brownfield grants on residential property values, concluded 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 over‐ all property values within a one mile radius by $0.5 to $1.5 million.  Also, Initial anecdotal surveys indicate a reduction in crime in recently revitalized brownfield areas.

Opportunity to expand assessment program and achieve leverage funds and jobs has increased. Policy clarification provides the use of site assessments 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 to help those economically distress areas. Moreover, 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.

Funding Available: 100 Resilient Cities Centennial Challenge

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To enable 100 cities to better address major 21st century challenges, the Rockefeller Foundation is inviting cities around the world to apply for the 100 Resilient Cities Centennial Challenge. The chosen cities will receive a variety of benefits, including financial support to hire a "chief resilience officer" to oversee the development of a resilience strategy for the city. Winning cities will be announced in three rounds over the next three years, with the final round of winners named in 2015.

 

Registration Due Date: September 23, 2013

August 21 Webinar on the Sustainable Communities HotReport

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Sustainable Communities HotReport: How well is your community performing on transportation, housing, economic development, income, and equity? This webinar is on Wednesday, August 21, at 1:00 - 2:00 EDT. The Sustainable Communities HotReport is a new web-based tool that gives community leaders and residents a quick and easy way to determine how well their community is performing on a variety of sustainability indicators, including transportation, housing, economic development, income, and equity. Produced by the U.S. Census Bureau and the HUD-DOT-EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities, the tool can help communities measure their own performance and compare themselves to communities of a similar type. Speakers from EPA, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the Mid-America Regional Council will walk through the tool and help participants understand how it can be help communities achieve their sustainability goals. For more information on how to join the webinar, click here.

Join NALGEP's Environmental Justice Workshop on August 28th in Tampa or Online

NALGEP and the Florida Brownfields Association's EJ and Outreach Committees are pleased to collaborate on an Environmental Justice Workshop on Wednesday, August 28th in East Tampa, Florida. The workshop will feature a variety of topics related to addressing environmental justice, including:

• improving access to healthcare through brownfields redevelopment
• responses to environmental injustice - how to be heard locally and nationally
• economic justice, job creation, and community transformation
• health disparities - the untold story
• food deserts / community gardens / urban agriculture
• tools for effective community engagement and empowerment
• brownfields resource support - private/public/federal/state
• successes and challenges

The workshop is from 9:00 am to 3:30pm at the Ragan Park Community Center. If you can't get to Tampa, the workshop will be available via webinar. For more information and to register, click here.

WEBINAR: Smart Growth and Economic Success, Sep. 18, 3-4PM

 Smart Growth and Economic Success. September 18, 3:00 - 4:00 Eastern. This webinar will explore how smart growth strategies at the regional, city, and neighborhood level can maximize economic advantages while creating attractive, healthy communities that help protect the environment. EPA's Melissa Kramer will discuss the report, Smart Growth and Economic Success: Benefits for Real Estate Developers, Investors, Businesses, and Local Government, and speakers from Lehigh Valley, PA, Champaign, IL, and Phoenix, AZ will discuss how smart growth is helping their communities prosper. Details on how to access this webinar are provided below.
 
Webinar Details

• No pre-registration is required.
• Click on https://epa.connectsolutions.com/epasmartgrowth. Log in as a guest.
• Please test your computer before attending the meeting at http://admin.adobeconnect.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm
• The Connection Test checks your computer to make sure all system requirements are met. If you pass the first three steps of the test, then you are ready to participate in a meeting. If you do not pass the test, perform the suggested actions and run the test again.
• Please allow adequate time to access the site. If there are a large number of participants, it may take more time for the program to respond.
• There is no conference call. Participants will hear the webinar through their computer speakers. Please check to be sure your speakers are turned on.