EPA Guide Addresses Runoff at Brownfield Sites

Sept. 25 — The Environmental Protection Agency released guidance Sept. 25 to inform urban planners, engineers and developers how they can use bioswales, rain gardens and porous pavements to capture stormwater runoff at brownfield sites without mobilizing pollutants in the soil and contaminating groundwater. The guidance, “Implementing Stormwater Infiltration Practices at Vacant Parcels and Brownfield Sites,” addresses six key questions to determine whether infiltration—which allows accumulated stormwater runoff to percolate into the subsoil—or other management approaches are appropriate for a specific brownfield property. The guidance, prepared by the EPA Office of Water and the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, said stormwater management planning should be done alongside site investigation, state approvals, selection of cleanup approaches and design and engineering of site improvements. The guidance is available athttp://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/greeninfrastructure/upload/brownfield_infiltration_decision_tool.pdf.

WEBINAR: Sept. 27, 2:30 EDT - Making a Plan: Partnerships for Transforming Community Health through City Planning

Successful partnerships are at the core of both public health and planning practice. With the right partners at the table, more change can happen faster and with greater satisfaction for communities. But how do you get planners to work with public health professionals? One answer: It takes leadership at the highest level.

In this webinar, planning directors and health commissioners from Austin, Texas and Baltimore, Maryland will pair up to discuss how they are building bridges between their departments and working to transform their approaches to complex problems such as chronic disease. You will learn about how the Community Transformation Grant program has supported and encouraged these efforts in Austin, while in Baltimore, the city’s mayor has pushed inter-departmental partnerships.

This webinar is offered jointly by the American Planning Association and the American Public Health Association. Join us in learning how two very different cities are Making a Plan for change!

Learning objectives:

1. Understand how planning and public health leaders set priorities.
2.  Understand how planning and public health professionals are building relationships through regular meetings and agreed upon objectives.
3. Identify strategies for engaging staff in planning and public health agencies to participate in and champion the work.
4. Explain how planning is integral to improving health throughout the county and what kind of capacity needs to be developed so that planners and health professionals can better work together.

Sign up by clicking here.

NALGEP's Webinar on October 3rd: Brownfields Update From Capitol Hill

Join NALGEP and its Brownfield Communities Network on Thursday, October 3rd at 2:00 pm eastern time for a webinar where the nation's leading brownfield policy experts will bring you up to speed on the latest Congressional activities related to brownfields. Speakers will include Evans Paull of the National Brownfields Coalition, Judy Sheahan from the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and NALGEP Executive Director Ken Brown. The webinar will cover the key matters before Congress affecting brownfield revitalization, including brownfield reauthorization legislation, the outlook for FY 2014 appropriations for brownfields at EPA and other agencies, and efforts to reinstate the brownfield tax incentive. There will be ample time for questions and discussion. To register, click here.

Getting Started Preparing Your ARC Proposal Early - Step 6 - Contact TAB

Every year, the Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR) receives numerous inquiries regarding preparation of proposals for the Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) grant competitions. Many potential applicants find that it is difficult to prepare their proposals in only 60 days, the typical amount of time the Request for Proposals (RFP) allows from publication until the proposals are due. While the RFP is on schedule to be available in early fall, there are still many activities that applicants can perform in advance of the RFP (commonly referred to as the ARC Guidelines) being made publicly available. We have listed many of these activities below. We hope that using this list to get started preparing your ARC proposal early will facilitate your efforts in the preparation of a thorough, thoughtful, timely, and most importantly, successful proposal.

Technical Assistance to Brownfields (TAB). The TAB Program funds technical assistance to communities and other stakeholders on brownfield issues with the goal of increasing the community's understanding and involvement in brownfield cleanup and revitalization, and helping to move brownfield sites forward toward cleanup and reuse. Applicants can begin by contacting brownfield TAB grantees, Center for Creative Land Recycling (CCLR), Kansas State University (KSU), and New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) to request assistance in preparing proposal applications. Information on the TAB Program can be found at http://epa.gov/brownfields/grant_info/tab.htm.

EPA and Appalachian Regional Commission Invite Applications for Technical Support/Implementation Assistance

Appalachian communities interested in revitalizing their downtowns, promoting local food systems, and using other smart growth approaches to improve human health and the environment are invited to apply for technical support and implementation assistance through the Sustainable Communities in Appalachia partnership. The partnership is a program of EPA and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). EPA and ARC have committed up to $200,000 for technical assistance and implementation in four Appalachian communities. Funds will be used to develop action plans and provide small cash grants for first-step implementation efforts. Learn more on the ARC website.

How to Apply
Interested communities in the ARC-defined Appalachia region should submit a letter of interest, no more than two pages, describing the needs and goals of the community as they pertain to the description above.

The selection process will take into account:

· Community interest in food systems, including the production and distribution of healthful local food as a means of boosting economic competitiveness and economic diversification;· The potential to address the community’s development challenges through the strategies described in the Partnership for Sustainable Communities 2011 publication Supporting Sustainable Rural Communities;
· Support from community leaders and community members;
· Interest by the Local Development District or a local university or community college in playing an active role in the technical assistance and potentially replicating such efforts in other communities;
· Potential for the community to receive public or private investments to implement strategies identified through the technical assistance program; and
· The extent of social and economic needs of the Appalachian community as measured by per-capita market income, poverty rate, and unemployment rate.

Submit letters of interest to Wilson Paine at wpaine@arc.gov by October 4, 2013. Letters of interest should indicate a primary point of contact and, if possible, other members of the community who will participate in the technical assistance process. Questions about this solicitation may be addressed to Wilson Paine at wpaine@arc.gov or Ed Fendley at Fendley.Ed@epa.gov.

Getting Started Preparing Your ARC Proposal Early: Step 5: READ/Understand the RANKING Criteria (Part 2)

Every year, the Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR) receives numerous inquiries regarding preparation of proposals for the Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) grant competitions. Many potential applicants find that it is difficult to prepare their proposals in only 60 days, the typical amount of time the Request for Proposals (RFP) allows from publication until the proposals are due. While the RFP is on schedule to be available in early fall, there are still many activities that applicants can perform in advance of the RFP (commonly referred to as the ARC Guidelines) being made publicly available. We have listed many of these activities below. We hope that using this list to get started preparing your ARC proposal early will facilitate your efforts in the preparation of a thorough, thoughtful, timely, and most importantly, successful proposal.

RANKING CRITERIA

Review the Ranking Criteria. Applicants are encouraged to use the FY13 Guidelines found at
http://epa.gov/brownfields/applicat.htm as a guide to begin gathering information and drafting
their proposal. When the FY14 Guidelines are posted, the applicant can then use the time prior to
the submission deadline to organize the information into the required format, fill in any missing
details, and further strengthen their proposal.

• Grant Proposal Framework/Outline. SEE YESTERDAY'S BLOG ENTRY.
• Community Need. SEE YESTERDAY'S BLOG ENTRY.
• Project Description. SEE YESTERDAY'S BLOG ENTRY.
• Community Engagement and Partnerships. Each applicant is required to incorporate community involvement into their grant, and to notify the community that they are planning to apply for a brownfield grant. The applicant should start working with their community early to establish a process and procedures for engaging their community. These efforts can begin well in advance of the grant application. The same goes for establishing partnerships that are critical to the success of your program. Begin identifying and forming these partnerships early in the process.
• Project Benefits. Applicants should begin identifying the health, environmental, infrastructure reuse, economic, and other long term benefits of addressing brownfield sites in their community, or if applying for cleanup grants, benefits of cleaning up the site. Thinking about the benefits in advance will facilitate your ability to identify and articulate these benefits in your proposal.
• Programmatic Capability/Past Performance. Begin gathering information on any past grants you have received and your accomplishments and performance under these grants. If you had performance problems on past grants, identify the issues and put in place corrective actions, so that any performance issues are resolved by the time you apply for the brownfield grant.

Getting Started Preparing Your ARC Proposal Early - Step 5: READ/Understand RANKING Criteria (Part 1)

Every year, the Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR) receives numerous inquiries regarding preparation of proposals for the Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) grant competitions. Many potential applicants find that it is difficult to prepare their proposals in only 60 days, the typical amount of time the Request for Proposals (RFP) allows from publication until the proposals are due. While the RFP is on schedule to be available in early fall, there are still many activities that applicants can perform in advance of the RFP (commonly referred to as the ARC Guidelines) being made publicly available. We have listed many of these activities below. We hope that using this list to get started preparing your ARC proposal early will facilitate your efforts in the preparation of a thorough, thoughtful, timely, and most importantly, successful proposal.

RANKING CRITERIA

Review the Ranking Criteria. Applicants are encouraged to use the FY13 Guidelines found at
http://epa.gov/brownfields/applicat.htm as a guide to begin gathering information and drafting
their proposal. When the FY14 Guidelines are posted, the applicant can then use the time prior to
the submission deadline to organize the information into the required format, fill in any missing
details, and further strengthen their proposal.

• Grant Proposal Framework/Outline. Applicants should begin by developing a framework or outline of their grant proposal. Think about the story your community wants to tell, and begin gathering the data you need in order to tell that story.
• Community Need. While the actual language in the FY14 Guidelines may vary slightly, EPA will be interested in seeing how brownfields have impacted your community, particularly sensitive or at risk populations. EPA will also want to hear about the community’s financial needs and their ability/inability to draw upon other resources to handle the brownfields in their community. Applicants should be thinking about these issues and begin gathering specific data and information on brownfield sites in their community so that they can speak to this topic with some specificity.
• Project Description. Start working with your brownfield partners to identify and develop the program/project that will be the subject of the grant. For assessment grants, you should begin discussions early with key partners about your project area and how you envision your program operating. Decide the focus of your grant and what sites you want to prioritize or the process you will use to prioritize sites if that will be done after the project starts. Start thinking about how many and what type of sites you plan to address with the grant funding and other key aspects of your program. As more details of your program are developed, you should be able to start drafting a budget of how much it will cost to perform the work described. In addition, applicants should start looking for ways they can leverage additional project funding. Begin capturing this data so that it can be added to the grant proposal.  If you have already leveraged funding for the project, begin gathering documentation (letters, emails, etc…) that document the leveraged funding. Ask partner organizations that plan to provide in-kind support for letters that document the specific in kind support they plan to provide. Gathering these documents now will save time later, and ensure you have the necessary attachments to document your firm leveraged commitments.
• Community Engagement and Partnerships. SEE TOMORROW'S BLOG ENTRY.
• Project Benefits. SEE TOMORROW'S BLOG ENTRY..
• Programmatic Capability/Past Performance. SEE TOMORROW'S BLOG ENTRY.

Getting Started Preparing Your ARC Proposal Early: Step 4: READ/Understand Threshold Criteria

Every year, the Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR) receives numerous inquiries regarding preparation of proposals for the Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) grant competitions. Many potential applicants find that it is difficult to prepare their proposals in only 60 days, the typical amount of time the Request for Proposals (RFP) allows from publication until the proposals are due. While the RFP is on schedule to be available in early fall, there are still many activities that applicants can perform in advance of the RFP (commonly referred to as the ARC Guidelines) being made publicly available. We have listed many of these activities below. We hope that using this list to get started preparing your ARC proposal early will facilitate your efforts in the preparation of a thorough, thoughtful, timely, and most importantly, successful proposal.

THRESHOLD CRITERIA

Applicant Eligibility. Begin gathering the necessary information to document your eligibility status. Contact U.S. EPA Brownfield regional staff if an eligibility question arises. A list of the Brownfield regional staff for your region can be found at http://www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/corcntct.htm

Site Eligibility. Prepare your defenses to CERCLA liability and request state determination for petroleum site eligibility. Non-tribal applicants must provide the information required for a petroleum site eligibility determination to their state, so the state can make the necessary determination on petroleum site eligibility.

State Letter. Request your state letter indicating that the state knows about your plan to submit a proposal. Note: This can be done early, but should not be done so early that the letter is not from the current year.

Site Ownership. For cleanup grant proposals, acquire ownership of the site. Remember, applicants must be the sole owner of the site that is the subject of its cleanup grant proposal in order to be eligible to receive a cleanup grant.

Draft Analysis of Brownfield Cleanup Alternatives (ABCA). For cleanup grant proposals, begin working on your draft ABCA which briefly summarizes information about the site and contamination issues, cleanup standards, applicable laws, cleanup alternatives considered, and the proposed cleanup remedy. This will allow you to see if there are critical data gaps so you can begin filling in those gaps and have the draft ABCA ready to go by the proposal due date.

Getting Started Preparing Your ARC Proposal Early - Step 3: Establish Needed Partnerships

Every year, the Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR) receives numerous inquiries regarding preparation of proposals for the Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) grant competitions. Many potential applicants find that it is difficult to prepare their proposals in only 60 days, the typical amount of time the Request for Proposals (RFP) allows from publication until the proposals are due. While the RFP is on schedule to be available in early fall, there are still many activities that applicants can perform in advance of the RFP (commonly referred to as the ARC Guidelines) being made publicly available. We have listed many of these activities below. We hope that using this list to get started preparing your ARC proposal early will facilitate your efforts in the preparation of a thorough, thoughtful, timely, and most importantly, successful proposal.

Establish the needed partnerships. Determine whether your community should apply as an individual or a coalition. If you are applying as a coalition, identify who will be part of the coalition, who will be the lead coalition member and manage the cooperative agreement, and who will be members. Also, be sure to discuss what each coalition member’s role will be in the program. Once all that is determined, document your agreement through a memorandum of understanding/agreement.

Getting Started Preparing Your ARC Proposal Early - Step 2: "Establish Framework"

Every year, the Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR) receives numerous inquiries regarding preparation of proposals for the Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) grant competitions. Many potential applicants find that it is difficult to prepare their proposals in only 60 days, the typical amount of time the Request for Proposals (RFP) allows from publication until the proposals are due. While the RFP is on schedule to be available in early fall, there are still many activities that applicants can perform in advance of the RFP (commonly referred to as the ARC Guidelines) being made publically available. We have listed many of these activities below. We hope that using this list to get started preparing your ARC proposal early will facilitate your efforts in the preparation of a thorough, thoughtful, timely, and most importantly, successful proposal.

Establish the framework (core elements) of your brownfield program. Think about the needs and goals of your community. How best could your community accomplish these goals? Would an assessment grant help your community to achieve these goals? Do you have the manpower to manage a grant? If not, maybe a Targeted Brownfield Assessment may be a better option for your community or being part of an assessment coalition. Once you establish the framework, it will be easier to determine the next steps you need to take and begin implementing those steps.

Getting Started Preparing Your ARC Proposal Early - "Step 1: Review"

Every year, the Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR) receives numerous inquiries regarding preparation of proposals for the Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) grant competitions. Many potential applicants find that it is difficult to prepare their proposals in only 60 days, the typical amount of time the Request for Proposals (RFP) allows from publication until the proposals are due. While the RFP is on schedule to be available in early fall, there are still many activities that applicants can perform in advance of the RFP (commonly referred to as the ARC Guidelines) being made publically available. We have listed many of these activities below. We hope that using this list to get started preparing your ARC proposal early will facilitate your efforts in the preparation of a thorough, thoughtful, timely, and most importantly, successful proposal.

Review last year’s ARC Guidelines - While there will be some changes between the FY13 and FY14 Guidelines, the Guidelines remain the same from year to year as many of the criteria and requirements come directly from the Brownfields statute. Reading the Guidelines, thinking through and gathering the information required, and even putting together the plan for your brownfields program and brownfields project will give you a step up when it comes to preparing your proposal.

NOTE: We currently anticipate only one major eligibility change for assessment grants in FY14. The change in eligibility relates to whether or not you received an assessment grant, of any kind, in the FY13 grant competition. If you did, then you will not be eligible to apply for an assessment grant in the FY14 competition. While there may be other minor changes in the wording of the RFP, for the most part they will remain unchanged. For example, we clarified the ranking criteria to make them more understandable and regrouped and divided the information requested into 5 criteria rather than 4.