State Innovation Grant Program: Georgia Georgia Department of Natural Resources: Exploring the Role of an Environmental Management System (EMS) in Brownfield Redevelopment (2006 Competition) The State Innovation Grant Progi In 2002 EPA introduced the State Innovation Grant Program to supp efforts led by state environmental agencies to test innovative approaches for achieving better environmental results and improved efficiency in permitting programs. Between 2002 and 2007, the State Innovation Grant program competition awarded over six million dollars to support 35 state projects that test permitting innovation for a variety of regulated entities including several small business sectors. Asummary of the awards by year appears in the table below. State Innovation Grant Program Statistics, 2002-2007 Competition Proposals Proposals Total Program Year Submitted Selected Funding ($) 2002/2003 $618,000 $1.425 Million $1.479 Million $1.243 Million $1.611 Million $0.825 Million Cumulative $7.201 Million "Innovation in Permitting" has been the theme of the State Innovation Grant competition since its inception. In the last three competition cycles states received awards for projects in the following three categories: • The Environmental Results Program (ERP) is an innovative approach to improving environmental performance based on a system of the interlocking tools of compliance assistance, self-certification (sometimes, where permissible, in lieu of permitting), and statistically-based measurement to gauge the performance of an entire business sector. The program utilizes a multimedia approach to encourage small sources to achieve environmental compliance and pollution prevention. (See: http://www.epa.gov/permits/erp/) • Environmental Management System (EMS) is a system involving a continual cycle of planning, implementing, reviewing and improving the processes and actions that an organization undertakes to meet its business and environmental goals. EMSs provide organizations of all types with a structured system and approach for managing environmental and regulatory responsibilities to improve overall environmental performance and stewardship. (See: www.epa.gov/ems/info/index.htm) • Performance Track is a partnership that recognizes top environmental performance among participating US facilities of all types, sizes, and complexity, both public and private. (See: http://www.epa.gov/performancetrack/) NCEI has provided awards also for projects testing watershed-based permitting, and for permit process streamlining in past competitions. For more information on the history of the programs, including information on solicitations, state proposals, and project awards, please see the EPA State ittD://www.eDa.aov/innovation/statear Project Background: As part of EPA's initiative to reuse and revitalize contaminated property, the Brownfields Program provides funds and technical assistance to states and communities working on economic redevelopment to promote partnership for assessment, safe clean-up, and sustainable reuse of brownfields. The Georgia Brownfields Program began in 2004 and following years of extensive outreach by EPA and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA DNR), Georgia's local governments and developers are now making significant progress in cleaning and redeveloping contaminated properties, and returning them to economically beneficial use. These redevelopment projects succeed in reducing the presence of contaminants in communities where there are abandoned industrial sites while returning properties to productive use. Generally, however, Brownfields redevelopments aim for minimum regulatory compliance measures and largely do not take advantage of significant opportunities for integrating sustainable building practices, technologies and operational practices into the new life of each property. Under current permitting processes and practices developers have little incentive to consider the long term positive environmental impacts of development which creates a disconnection between most project developers' approaches and the longer-term goals of future operators of the property. Project Description The GA DNR project is testing the application of Environmental Management Systems in the redevelopment and operation of a Brownfield site. The pilot project is examining how the application of an EMS can provide a process of continual improvement and better environmental performance in the redevelopment of the former Ford Manufacturing Company, HapevilleAssembly Plant. The GA DNR's Environmental Protection Division (EPD) and Pollution Prevention Assistance Division (P2AD), is working in partnership with a private developer, Jacoby Development Corporation, to create a replicable model of brownfield redevelopment using EMS to achieve better environmental performance in the redevelopment and later operation of the site which will become a mixed-use development. The project will also foster increased public participation in the redevelopment decision processes. Jacoby Development Corporation, a leader in sustainable commercial development, is a partner with GA DNR in exploring NCEI NATIONAL CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION ------- a nextwave of environmental innovation in its redevelopment of the Ford Hapeville Site. Jacoby Development has a previous track record as a successful innovator in the sustainable redevelopment of industrial sites: playing a key role, Jacoby Development teamed up with the State of Georgia, the City of Atlanta, dozens of local stakeholders, and the US EPA in a Project excellence in Leadership (Project XL) environmental innovation pilot project that produced a multi-billion dollar, 135-acre redevelopment—formerly Atlantic Steel Industries— that turned a large brownfield site into a vibrant model for smart growth practices (http://www.epa.gov/ projectxl/atlantic/index.htm). P2AD brings team expertise in EMS, and a framework to assist Jacoby in developing an EMS for the Ford Plant redevelopment. The project is being coordinated through the Partnership for a Sustainable Georgia, an environmental performance-based leadership program operated by P2AD. The program is modeled on EPA's National Environmental Performance Track (NEPT) and currently has 160 Partners participating in four program levels: Champion (advocate), Bronze (on-ramp), Silver (roughly NEPT equivalent), and Gold (NEPT plus). By entering the former Ford Hapeville site into the Partnership for a Sustainable Georgia as a Bronze Level Partner, Jacoby is tapping into an existing framework for EMS technical assistance and training, and sharing of best practices with other members of the Partnership. Collaboration with stakeholders representing a variety of public interests including industry, regulators and the community will result in a more systems-based approach to achieving better environmental results. This project will test the application of EMS in the redevelopment of the property and as a framework for facility operations after development. The project will provide two tangible sets of materials that will lay out a clear, tested, documented process for other developers to follow to integrate EMS into redevelopment of brownfields sites. The first set of materials will be EMS documentation for the redevelopment, and the second will be a guidance manual for developers that will lead them through the creation of an EMS for a brownfield redevelopment project. These materials will provide a template for developers to evaluate green approaches that are appropriate for their redevelopment sites. Connection to EPA's Goals The EMS model to be developed in this project will address the opportunities identified in EPA's draft of Sustainable Land Revitalization model. Successful completion of this projectwould support EPA's Strategic Goal #3 which focuses on land preservation and restoration. This project also contributes to EPA's Strategic Goal #5, focused on compliance and environmental stewardship, by promoting an approach that exceeds minimum compliance for redevelopment programs. Project Contacts: For more specific information on the Georgia State Innovation Grant, please contact one of the individuals below: Suzanne Burnes, Assistant Director Pollution Prevention Assistance Division Georgia Department of Natural Resources 7 Martin Luther King, Jr., Drive, Suite 450 Atlanta, GA 30334 (404) 657 5686 FAX: (404) 651 5130 Suzanne_Burnes@dnr.state.ga.us Mark Smith, Branch Chief Hazardous Waste Management Branch Environmental Protection Division Georgia Department of Natural Resources 2 Martin Luther King Jr., Drive, Suite 1154, East Tower Atlanta, GA 30334 (404) 463 8509 FAX: (404) 651 9425 Mark_Smith@dnr.state.ga.us Latoya Miller US Environmental Protection Agency- Region 4 61 Forsyth Street, S.W. Atlanta, GA 30303-8960 (404) 562 9885 miller.latoya@epa.gov Lisa Comer US Environmental Protection Agency National Center for Environmental Innovation 1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW(MC 1807T) Washington, DC 20460 (202) 566 2206 comer.lisa@epa.gov Program Contact: Sherri Walker State Innovation Grant Program U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20460 (MC1807T) (202)-566-2186; FAX (202) 566-2220 walker.sherri@epa.gov United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Policy, Economics and Innovation (1807T) October 2008 EPA-100-F-08-072 ------- |