EPA Announces $67 Million in FY14 Brownfield Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) Grants

EPA announced today 171 communities will receive 264 Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) grants totaling $67 million in EPA brownfield funding. These funds will give communities and businesses a chance to return economic stability to under-served and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods through the assessment and clean-up of abandoned industrial and commercial properties. 

“Not only are these funds protecting the environment and public health by helping communities clean up blighted toxic waste sites, there are new job growth opportunities for local economies to leverage through these investments," said Gina McCarthy, EPA Administrator. “With cities looking at how to combat the impacts of climate change, it's more important than ever for communities to innovate new ways to retrofit formerly polluted sites into assets for the community."
This year several projects were selected to address sites identified in their Brownfield Area Wide Planning projects, including Lowell, Mass., which will focus on revitalizing an Industrial Park and Toledo, OH, which will clean up an old transmission plant. Other selected projects include future uses such as, river walks, a sports park, manufacturing and light industrial use, an eagle sanctuary facility, and a technology corridor.
A total of approximately $23.5 million is going to communities that have been impacted by plant closures. Other selected recipients include tribes and communities in 44 states across the country; and over 50 of the grants are going to HUD-DOT-EPA grant recipient communities.
Since the inception of the EPA’s Brownfield Program in 1995, cumulative brownfield program investments have leveraged more than $21 billion from a variety of public and private sources for cleanup and redevelopment activities. This equates to an average of $17.79 leveraged per EPA brownfield dollar expended. These investments have resulted in approximately 93,000 jobs nationwide. These projects demonstrate the positive impact a small investment of federal brownfield funding can have on community revitalization through leveraging jobs, producing clean energy, and providing recreation opportunities for surrounding neighborhoods. EPA’s Brownfield Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfield sites.
More information on brownfield grants by state: http://cfpub.epa.gov/bf_factsheets/
More information on EPA’s brownfields:
Program http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Success Stories http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/success/index.htm
Program Accomplishments http://epa.gov/brownfields/overview/bf-monthly-report.html

Sustainable Communities - Fiscal Impact of Development Choices

• Scenario Planning and Fiscal Impact Modeling: If you missed our March 10 webinar, you can email smartgrowth@epa.gov to request the slides and recording, or visit http://scenarioplanningtools.org/2014/03/fiscal-impacts-scenario-planning-webinar/ to download them. Presenters John Thomas and Ted Cochin of EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities, Carson Bise of Tischler-Bise, and Alex Steinberger of Fregonese Associates discussed how scenario planning and fiscal impact modeling can be used to reveal the fiscal implications of development choices.
• Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER): Communities seeking funding for transportation projects may wish to consider applying for assistance from the TIGER Discretionary Grant program. Through TIGER, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) invests in road, rail, transit, and port projects in communities nationwide. Applications are due April 28.
  
  DOT is offering a series of webinars on various aspects of the application process. The webinars are free, but space is limited. Register in advance by clicking on the webinar topic below:
  
  • March 12 – How to Compete for TIGER Discretionary Grants – 12:30-1:30 Eastern
  • March 19 – Preparing a TIGER Planning Grant Application – 2-3 Eastern
  • March 26 – Preparing a Benefit Cost Analysis (BCA) for a TIGER Discretionary Grant – 2-3 Eastern

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TIGER Grant Applications due April 28,2014

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced that $600 million will be made available to fund transportation projects across the country under a sixth round of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) competitive grant program. Applications are due April 28, 2014.

TIGER 2014 will emphasize "projects that support reliable, safe and affordable transportation options that improve connections for both urban and rural communities, making it easier for their residents to reach work, school and other ladders of opportunity. While continuing to support projects of all types, DOT will prioritize applications for capital projects that better connect people to jobs, training and other opportunities, promote neighborhood redevelopment, and reconnect neighborhoods divided by physical barriers, such as highways and railroads."

In addition to supporting capital grants, up to $35 million of TIGER funds can be used for planning grants, including planning of innovative transportation, regional transportation planning, freight and port planning, and programmatic mitigation approaches that increase efficiency and improve outcomes for communities and the environment.

Through the HUD-DOT-EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities, EPA has provided input to the TIGER request for proposals and will be involved in the grant review and selection process. TIGER is an important implementation resource for communities seeking to become more sustainable.

• Learn more about TIGER and find the application at http://www.dot.gov/tiger.
• Learn about three TIGER webinars at http://www.dot.gov/tiger/outreach.
• Learn about the Partnership for Sustainable Communities at www.sustainablecommunities.gov.

Prichard, AL begins Brownfield Program

Source: WALA-TV FOX10

Prichard city officials confirm that testing in the Whistler area of Prichard has found PCBs on the site of an old railroad building. PCBs are man-made ...
Full story at (http://fox10tv.com/2014/02/25/new-partnerships-in-prichard/ )