On December 8, 2004, President Bush signed the Consolidated Appropriations
Act, 2005, which temporarily expands the number of brownfield sites
that are eligible for funding under the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) brownfields assessment, revolving loan fund, and cleanup grants
awarded under section 104(k) of the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), as amended.
EPA's Fiscal Year 2005 appropriations may be used by recipients of
brownfields grants and loans for eligible and allowable costs at
brownfield sites as long as the recipient of a brownfield grant or loan
satisfies all of the elements required to qualify as a bona fide
prospective purchaser under CERCLA section 101(40) notwithstanding the
fact that the property was acquired prior to the enactment of the Small
Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2001,
P.L. 107-118, on January 11, 2002.
EPA is reopening the FY2005 brownfields grant competition to allow
entities who are affected by the above-referenced changes to submit
and/or resubmit proposals for brownfields funding. To qualify for
participation in the reopened competition, applicants must have specific
brownfields sites identified, and these sites must now be eligible for
EPA funding in FY2005 due to the above-referenced provision of the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005. Applications for funding at other
sites are not eligible to apply during the reopened competition.
Applicants who submitted proposals by the November 12, 2004, deadline
for brownfields assessment, revolving loan fund, and cleanup grants and
who otherwise satisfied all of the requirements to be eligible to
receive brownfields grants or loans, as well as satisfied all of the
elements required to qualify as a bona fide prospective purchaser, and
were determined by EPA to be prohibited from using brownfield funds at
the proposed site(s) because the applicant acquired the brownfield site
prior to the January 11, 2002, enactment date, may choose to resubmit
their proposal for consideration.
An original proposal and/or a request for reconsideration of a
proposal that was submitted by the November 12, 2004, deadline must be
received by 6:00 p.m. EST on or before January 14, 2005, by
Environmental Management Support, Inc., Attention: Don West, 8601
Georgia Avenue, Suite 500, Silver Spring, MD 20910, phone 301-589-5318.
Applicants must also provide a copy to the EPA Regional Brownfields
Coordinator at the addresses shown in Appendix 1 of the September 2004
Proposal Guidelines.
Applicants should refer to the Proposal Guidelines for Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grants and http://www.epa.gov.
In addition, on page 5, the first bullet under Additional
Uses/Restrictions of Grant Funds was revised to implement the language
in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005. For more information,
please contact your Regional Brownfields Coordinator.
"Brownfields" is a term coined to describe parcels of land where
known or suspected contamination presents a barrier to reuse and
redevelopment. Recent federal legislation is removing many barriers to
redevelopment due to the threat of environmental liability. In 1997, the
Florida Legislature passed a brownfields incentive program to encourage
the redevelopment of contaminated properties.
This program does not provide significant state funding for local
brownfield sites except on a demonstration project basis. However,
incentives include tax breaks and regulatory relief for qualified sites.
Alachua Countys involvement with brownfield sites involves the efforts
of the Alachua County Environmental Protection Department (ACEPD) to
improve the coordination of petroleum cleanup activities in potential
brownfield zones.
ACEPD is also involved in an advisory and technical oversight role in
the East Gainesville Sprout Project (EGSP), a City of Gainesville
economic redevelopment effort focused on the rehabilitation of the Depot
Avenue/South Main Street/Downtown corridor. This project has received
funding from the US EPA and the State of Florida as a brownfields pilot project.
As part of this EGSP effort, a cooperative electronic database / GIS
system has been developed by the University of Florida Geoplan Center.
The GIS compiles environmental data about the East Gainesville Sprout
Project area from ACEPD, FDOT, SJRWMD, FDEP and City of Gainesville
sources into a single information bank for inventory and analysis
purposes. Additionally, this information resource is to provide summary
economic development information over the Internet for all interested
parties.