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

1. Brownfields 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 brownfields 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.
   
   Learn more about the Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Pilot Program at http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/areawide_grants.htm
   Webinar Details
   Thursday, August 9, 2012, 3:00-4:00 Eastern
   To join this webinar, click on https://epa.connectsolutions.com/epasmartgrowth
   No pre-registration is required.
   No phone call is required. Participants will be able to hear the meeting audio through their computer speakers.
   
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Webinar: Recognizing the Positive Economic Impacts of Superfund Reuse - August 22nd

Superfund Redevelopment Initiative Webinar Series: Recognizing the Positive Economic Impacts of Superfund Reuse - August 22, 2012, 2:00PM-4:00PM EDT(18:00-20:00 GMT). Superfund site cleanup and reuse has resulted in restored value to site properties and new economic opportunities for surrounding communities. Communities reuse Superfund sites in many ways new parks, shopping centers, athletic fields, wildlife sanctuaries, manufacturing facilities, residences, new roads and infrastructure centers are just a few examples. Once a site property is ready for reuse, it can revitalize a local economy with jobs, new businesses, tax revenues and local spending. EPA looks at many types of economic impacts of reuse at Superfund sites, including: number of on-site jobs, annual employment income from on-site jobs, on-site property value information, local property tax revenues, and other economic impacts that are unique to specific sites. This webinar will share the stories of how Superfund Redevelopment is spurring economic growth in three communities. For more information and to register, see http://clu-in.org/live .

Webinar: EPA Brownfield Grant Guidelines - August 16th

Brownfields Assessment Grant Guideline - August 16, 2012, 4:00PM-5:00PM EDT (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

Brownfield Grant Q&A - Pre-Selecting a Contractor

Question: I am concerned that submitting a proposal that includes a for-profit team member (i.e. contractor) that was not selected via a competitive process may disqualify our proposal. Can you advise me on this issue and any precedents you are aware of?

Response: Please see the guidelines section where these statements are made "Applicants must compete contracts for services and products, including consultant contracts, and conduct cost and price analyses to the extent required by the procurement provisions of the regulations at 40 CFR Parts 30 or 31, as appropriate. ...Applicants are not required to identify subawardees/subgrantees and/or contractors (including consultants) in their proposal/application. However, if they do, the fact that an applicant selected for award has named a specific subawardee/subgrantee, contractor, or consultant in the proposal/application EPA selects for funding does not relieve [emphasis added] the applicant of its obligations to comply with subaward/subgrant and/or competitive procurement requirements as appropriate. Please note that applicants may not [emphasis added] award sole source contracts to consulting, engineering, or other firms assisting applicants with the proposal solely based on the firm’s role in preparing the proposal/application."

Please become familiar with the federal regulations concerning open competition of procurements under federal grants. Procurement of professional services in a non-competitive manner would be a potentially ineligible grant cost. If you participate in a grant writing workshop or get a copy of the presentation, you will learn that EPA recommends applicants do not raise cost eligibility "red flags" in their proposals. Red flags cause lower rankings. Lower ranked proposals are not selected for funding.

While applicant's planned procurement procedures are not a "Threshold Criteria" (basic grant eligibility issue), discussions in proposals about applicant's procurement plans can impact the ranking review and ultimate selection for funding.

Source: EPA Region 6 Brownfield Program