United States
                      Environmental
                      Protection Agency
                      Washington, D.C. 20460
  Solid Waste
  and Emergency
  Response (5105)
EPA500-F-01-231
April 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
 <>EPA      Brownfields  Cleanup
                       Revolving  Loan  Fund  Pilot
                                      Essex County Improvement Authority, NJ
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
                       Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders
in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse
brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and an active potential for
redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $250,000 over two
years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training pilot programs (each funded
up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected by brownfields to facilitate cleanup
of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental field; and, brownfields cleanup revolving
loan fund (BCRLF) programs  (each funded up to $1,000,000 over five years), to provide financial assistance for the
environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities, and
communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to
site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND

EPA selected the Essex County Improvement Authority
(ECIA) as a brownfields pilot site. Essex County is the
second most densely populated of New Jersey's 21
counties, representing 10% of the State's population.
Historically, the County developed as an industrial hub
because of its advantageous location on Newark  Bay
and the Passaic River.  As a result of social  and
economic  trends over the past several  decades,
employers  migrated to other areas, leaving behind
underutilized   and  abandoned  properties   and
economically depressed cities.  Essex County has the
highest number of brownfields sites of any county in
the State (150 brownfields sites). Poverty rates reach
over 14%, with unemployment in 1998 at 5.6%.  The
local government's recent efforts to rebuild the local
economy, expand the job base, redevelop the cities, and
improve and protect the environment, have helped to
restore public confidence.

BCRLF OBJECTIVES

The BCRLF will enable the ECIA to protect the health,
safety, and welfare of Essex County and New Jersey
residents by offering loans to developers for cleanup of
contaminated sites.  Through the BCRLF program, the
County will continue its efforts in redevelopment, and
PILOT SNAPSHOT
                        Date of Announcement:
                        April 2001


                        Amount: $1.0 million

                        BCRLF Target Area:
                        Sites located throughout
                         the county
Essex County, New Jersey
Contacts:

  Essex County
Improvement Authority
 (973) 575-0952
   Region 2 Brownfields
     Coordinator
    (212)637-4314
      Visit the EPA Region 2 Brownfields web site at:
  www.epa.gov/region02/superfnd/brownfld/bfmainpg.htm

For further information, including specific Pilot contacts, additional
 Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and publications
     and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
            www.epa.gov/brownfields

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in improving and  protecting  the  environment.  The
BCRLF will be used to fund at least three separate
projects: (1) the proposed redevelopment of a 200-acre
site in Irvington into an Internet technology campus,
hotel, and office complex, (2) a proposed mixed-use
development and preservation of a 240-acre reservation
that  is located  on  a 600+ acre,  suburban tract of
publicly owned property, and (3) the cleanup of three
sites  to  be selected in the  County's  Assessment
Demonstration Pilot inventory of brownfields sites.

FUND STRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS

The  ECIA will serve as the lead agency. ECIA  will
procure the services of a fund manager and a part-time
brownfields site manager. The process for identifying
and selecting potential BCRLF borrowers will be based
on the ability to repay, financial stability, and financial
management capabilities.
 LEVERAGING OTHER RESOURCES

 The New Jersey Commerce and Economic Growth
 Commission has designated Irvington, East Orange,
 and  Orange  as Urban  Enterprise  Zones.  All
 municipalities are eligible for funding from the New
 Jersey Department of Environmental  Protection's
 Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund for
 further environmental and remedial investigations at
 qualified  sites.  The ECIA's in-kind  contribution
 covers a portion of the salary of the ECIA program
 administrator, who will administer the BCRLF  in
 conjunction with a retained fund manager.

 Use of BCRLF Pilot funds must be in accordance with
 CERCLA,  and all CERCLA  restrictions on  use  of
funding also apply to BCRLF funds.
Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Pilot
April 2001	
                                  Essex County, NJ
                                 EPA 500-F-01-231

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