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Proposal Guidelines for
Brownfields Assessment,
Revolving Loan Fund, and
Cleanup Grants
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Recycled/Recyclable
Printed with Soy/Canola Ink on pap
contains at least 50% recycled fiber
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Solid Waste and EPA-560-F-04-253
Emergency Response September 2004
(5105T) www.epa.gov/brownfields
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Table of Contents
Overview 3
What are Brownfields? 3
Background 3
Section I. Funding Opportunity Description 3
The Brownfields Law 3
What are the Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grant Programs? 6
Assessment Grants 6
Revolving Loan Fund Grants 8
Cleanup Grants 9
Section n. Award Information 10
How Much Funding is Available in FY2005? 10
Section HI. Eligibility Information 10
WhoCanApply? 10
Section IV. Application and Submission Information 12
How Do I Apply for a Brownfields Grant? 12
Proposal submission 12
What Are the General Proposal Requirements? 12
Is Pre-Application Assistance Available to Applicants? 13
Section V. Application Review Information 13
What is EPAs Process for Evaluating Proposals and Selecting the Grant Recipients? 13
What are the Statutory and Policy Considerations that EPAMay Take into Account? 14
Section VI. Award Administration Information 14
Section VII. Agency Contact(s) 14
What Must Be in Each Grant Proposal? 15
Cover Letter and Applicant Information 15
Assessment Grant Criteria 17
Threshold Criteria for Assessment Grants 17
Ranking Criteria for Assessment Grants 21
Revolving Loan Fund Grant Criteria 25
Threshold Criteria for RLF Grants 25
Ranking Criteria for RLF Grants 30
Cleanup Grant Criteria 37
Threshold Criteria for Cleanup Grants 37
Ranking Criteria for Cleanup Grants 42
Appendix 1. Regional Brownfields Coordinators 47
Appendix 2. Prohibitions on Use of Funds 49
Appendix 3. Guidance on Sites Eligible for Brownfields Funding Under CERCLA §104(k) 51
Appendix 4. Guidance for Requests for Property-Specific Determinations for Funding 65
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Overview
What are Brownfields?
These guidelines are provided pursuant to Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance # 66.818. The Small
Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act ("Brownfields Law" or "the Law", PL. 107-
118) requires the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to publish guidance to assist applicants in
preparing proposals for grants to address brownfield sites. This law defines a brownfield site as "real
property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential
presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant," as defined in the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 §101(39), as amended (CERCLA).
The law further defines the term "brownfield site" to include a site that "is contaminated by a controlled
substance...; is contaminated by petroleum or a petroleum product excluded from the definition of
'hazardous substance'...; is mine-scarred land."
Background
In the early 1990s, stakeholders expressed their concerns to EPA about the problems associated with
brownfields across the country. More than 600,000 properties that were once used for industrial,
manufacturing, or commercial uses were lying abandoned or underused due to the suspicion of hazardous
substance contamination. Brownfield areas, particularly those in city centers, were contributing to blight and
joblessness in surrounding communities. Unknown environmental liabilities were preventing communities,
developers, and investors from restoring these properties to productive use and revitalizing impacted
neighborhoods.
In 1994, EPAresponded to the brownfield problem with an environmental protection approach that is
locally based, encourages strong public-private partnerships, and promotes innovative and creative ways to
assess, clean up, and redevelop brownfield sites. This approach empowers state, tribal, and local
environmental and economic development officials to oversee brownfield activities, and encourages
implementing local solutions to local problems. EPAalso has provided funding to create local environmental
j ob training programs to ensure that the economic benefits derived from brownfield revitalization efforts
remain in local neighborhoods.
Section I. Funding Opportunity
Description
The Brownfields Law
On January 11,2002, the President signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields
Revitalization Act (Brownfields Law). The Brownfields Law expands potential federal financial assistance
for brownfield revitalization, including grants for assessment, cleanup, and j ob training. The Law also limits
the liability of certain contiguous property owners and prospective purchasers of brownfield properties, and
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clarifies innocent landowner defenses to encourage revitalization and reuse of brownfield sites. The
Brownfields Law also includes provisions to establish and enhance state and tribal response programs,
which will continue to play a critical role in the successful cleanup and revitalization of brownfields.
The Brownfields Law contains provi sions that are important for grant applicants to keep in mind when using
these guidelines.' Some of those features are summarized below.
Applicant Eligibility
The Brownfields Law expands eligibility for brownfields funding by broadening the entities eligible for
funding by permitting the award of cleanup grants to eligible entities, including nonprofit organizations, that
own the property they wish to clean up. EPA has adopted a definition of nonprofit organizations that
includes universities and other nonprofit educational institutions. In addition, EPA will continue its policy
of accepting proposals from "coalitions," or groups of eligible entities, to pool their revolving loan
capitalization grant funds. A coalition is a group of two or more eligible entities which submits one
revolving loan fund (RLF) grant application under the name of one of the coalition participants. The grant
recipient must administer the RLF grant, is accountable to EPA for proper expenditure of the funds, and
will be the point of contact for the other coalition members.
Site Eligibility
The Brownfields Law defines a brownfield site broadly, but does exclude certain sites from funding
eligibility unless EPA makes a property-specific determination to fund (see Appendix 3 for additional
information). This determination will be based on whether or not awarding a grant will protect human
health and the environment and either promote economic development or enable the property to be used
for parks, greenway s, and similar recreational or nonprofit purposes. (See Appendix 3 and Appendix 4
for more information on "eligibility for funding" and "property-specific determinations")
« The Brownfields Law excludes the following three types of properties from funding eligibility and
prohibits EPAfrom making property-specific determinations on these properties: 1.) Facilities listed (or
proposed for listing) on the National Priorities List (NPL); 2.) Facilities subj ect to unilateral administrative
orders, court orders, administrative orders on consent or judicial consent decrees issued to or entered
into by parties under CERCLA; and 3.) Facilities that are subj ect to the j urisdiction, custody or control,
of the United States government. (Note: Land held in trust by the United States government for an Indian
tribe Is eligible for brownfields funding.)
Petroleum Eligibility
* Generally, the Law allows EPAto award brownfield grant funds for activities at petroleum-contaminated
sites that: 1) EPA or the state determines are of "relatively low risk" compared with other petroleum-
contaminated sites in the state; 2) EPA or the state determines have no viable responsible party and that
will be assessed, investigated, or cleaned up by a person that is not potentially liable for cleaning up the
site; and 3) are not subject to a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) 9003(h) order. EPA
must make available 25 percent of the total grant funds for assessment and/or cleanup of petroleum-
contaminated sites. EPA has designed these guidelines to allow applicants to specify the amount of
funding that will be used at petroleum-contaminated sites. (See Appendix 3 for additional information.)
Cost Share
* The Brownfields Law requires a 20 percent cost share for revolving loan fund (RLF) and cleanup grants.
There is no cost share requirement for assessment grants. For example, a $200,000 cleanup grant will
1 The authority to provide grants in the Brownfields Law is codified at § 104(k) of CERCLA.
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require a $40,000 cost share; a $1 million RLF grant will require a $200,000 cost share. Applicants may
seek a waiver of this cost share due to hardship. EPA will consider hardship waiver requests on a case-
by-case basis and will approve such requests on a limited basis. Refer to the Cost Share threshold
criteria in the RLF and cleanup grant sections for additional information.
Prohibition on Administrative Costs
Grant funds cannot be used for administrative costs. Please note that proposal preparation
costs, including associated consultant fees, are ineligible administrative costs. (See Appendix 2
for additional information.)
Additional Uses/Restrictions of Grant Funds
Grant funds cannot be used to pay response costs at a brownfield site for which the recipient of the
grant or loan i s potentially liable under CERCLA § 107. Under CERCLA § 107, present and past owners
or operators, parties that arranged for the treatment or disposal of hazardous substances, and parties that
accept hazardous substances for transport to disposal or treatment facilities are potentially liable for
cleanup up or paying the cost of cleaning up a site. Thus, an owner of contaminated land may be
liable even though they did not cause or contribute to the contamination at the site. CERCLA
§ 107 does not apply to petroleum sites. The Brownfields Law established liability protection for innocent
land owners, contiguous property owners and bona fide prospective purchasers of contaminated land.
Applicants that own a contaminated site may qualify for one of these landowner liability protections. For
example, applicants that purchased contaminated land on or after the enactment date of the Brownfields
Law (January I1,2002) and meet the statutory landowner liability protection criteria may use brownfield
grant funding at that site. However, applicants that knowingly purchased contaminated property
before January 11,2002, are not eligible for a landowner liability protection and are, therefore,
prohibited from using grant funds at that site.2 (See Appendix 2, Prohibition on Use of Funds,
for additional information on prohibitions).
Under the Brownfields Law, a local government (as defined in 40 CFR Part 31.3, Local Government)
may use up to 10 percent of its grant funds for monitoring the health of populations exposed to one or
more hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants from a brownfield site and monitoring and
enforcement of any institutional control used to prevent human exposure to any hazardous substance,
pollutant, or contaminant from a brownfield site. The term local government does not include state
or tribal governments but may include, among others, public housing authorities, school
districts and councils of governments. To effectively oversee assessments and cleanups, local
governments may use grant funds (within the overall 10 percent limit) for other related program
development and implementation activities (e.g., writing local brownfield-related ordinances) described in
their EPA approved scope of work.
2The Consolidated Appropriations Act for F Y 2004 allowed EPA to award brownfield assessment, revolv-
ing loan fund, and cleanup grants or loans to applicants that were otherwise eligible for a grant or loan and
met all of the elements of a bona fide prospective purchaser except for the fact that the applicant had
acquired the subject property prior to the enactment of the Brownfields Law on January 11,2002. This
change was only for one year (FY2004). Action to appropriate funds for FY2005 is pending.
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What are the Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund,
and Cleanup Grant Programs?
Three competitive brownfields grant programs are discussed in these guidelines: assessment grants, revolv-
ing loan fund (RLF) grants, and cleanup grants.
Assessment Grants
Assessment grants provide funding for a grant recipient to inventory, characterize, assess, and conduct
cleanup and redevelopment planning and community involvement related to brownfield sites.
Applicants may apply for both Community-Wide and Site-Specific assessment grants, as discussed
below. However, an applicant is limited to submitting only ONE hazardous substance assessment grant
proposal and ONE petroleum assessment proposal (refer to the chart on page 7). In the event that an
applicant submits more proposals than allowed, EPA will clarify with the applicant to identify which
proposal(s) must be withdrawn from the grant competition.
An eligible entity may submit no more than 2 assessment proposals.
The performance period for assessment grants is two years. Refer to Appendix 2, Prohibitions on Use
of Funds., for information on activities that may not be funded using brownfields grant funds.
Community- Wide
An applicant may apply for a Community-wide assessment grant if a specific site has notbeen identified
or if the assessment will address more than one site within the community. An applicant may discuss
potential assessment sites in a Community-wide proposal; however, EPAs acceptance of the proposal
does not constitute a determination by EPA that the sites identified in the proposal are eligible. EPA
reserves the right to approve sites as part of the workplan negotiation and upon commencement of the
work. Community-wide assessment grant applicants may focus their proposal on classes or categories
of sites, (e.g. abandoned gas stations, sites with environmental justice concerns, sites in a designated
redevelopment area) rather than identifying and discussing specific sites.
Applicants electing to apply for up to $200,000 for a community-wide hazardous substance
assessment grant are not eligible for a site-specific hazardous substance assessment grant in the same
grant competition. Similarly, applicants applying for up to $200,000 for a Community-wide petroleum
or petroleum product assessment grant will not be eligible for a Site-specific petroleum assessment
grant.
Site-specific
A Site-specific assessment grant must be applied for if the assessment is limited to one, and only one,
site. KSite-specific assessment grant application must be made if a waiver of the funding limitation is
requested.
Applicants will not be allowed to substitute another site for a Site-specific assessment grant
where the subject site is determined to be ineligible.
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Total Assessment Funding Limit per Applicant/Number of Proposals to be submitted
Applicants are subject to community-wide and site-specific assessment grant funding limitations.
An applicant may apply for up to $200,000 for a community-wide assessment grant for hazardous
substances, and up to $200,000 for a community-wide assessment grant for petroleum; OR
An applicant may apply for up to $200,000 for a site-specific assessment grant for hazardous
substances, and up to $200,000 for a site-specific assessment grant for petroleum; OR
An applicant may apply for up to $200,000 for a community-wide assessment grant for hazardous
substances, and up to $200,000 for a site-specific assessment grant for petroleum; OR
An applicant may apply for up to $200,000 for a community-wide assessment grant for petroleum, and
up to $200,000 for a site-specific assessment grant for hazardous substances.
Proposals for assessment of hazardous substance contamination and hazardous substance
contamination co-mingled with petroleum must be submitted separately from proposals for
petroleum or petroleum product contamination. DO/VOTsubmit proposals that combine
requests to hazardous substances with requests to petroleum or petroleum
product. In the event that an applicant submits more proposals than allowed, EPA will clarify with the
applicant to identify which proposal(s) must be withdrawn from the grant competition.
Site-specific Assessment Grant Waiver
* An applicant may seek a waiver of the $200,000 limit for a Site-specific proposal and request up to
$350,000 for a single site. Such waivers must be based on the anticipated level of contamination, the
size, or status of ownership of the site. Sites contaminated by hazardous substances, pollutants, or
contaminants may include hazardous substances co-mingled with petroleum. Site-specific proposals for
sites contaminated by petroleum or petroleum product require separate grant proposals and waiver
requests from those for sites contaminated or co-mingled with hazardous substances.
* Community-wide assessment grants are not eligible for assessment grant "waivers."
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Proposals For Community-Wide and Site-Specific Assessment Grants
The following examples may assist you in understanding the funding limitations applied to assessment grants:
Examples
ApplicantA
Community-Wide
Site-Specific
Applicants
Community-Wide
Site-Specific
Applicant C
Community-Wide
Site-Specific
ApplicantD
Community-Wide
Site-Specific
Hazardous
$200,000
$ -0-
$200,000
$ -0-
$ -0-
$200,000*
$ -0-
$200,000*
Petroleum
Substances
$200,000
$ -0-
$ -0-
$200,000*
$200,000
-0-
-0-
$200,000*
Total Funding
$400,000
$400,000*
$400,000*
$400,000*
Number of
Proposals
Applicant
May Submit
2
2
2
2
* See discussion above regarding assessment grant waivers for site-specific proposals which may
increase funding to up to $350,000 for a site. This dollar amount could increase if an assessment
waiver is requested.
The performance period for these grants is two years.
Refer to Appendix 2, Prohibitions on Use of Funds, for information on activities that may not be
funded using brownfields grant funds.
Revolving Loan Fund Grants
Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) grants provide funding for a grant recipient to capitalize a revolving loan fund
and to provide subgrants to carry out cleanup activities atbrownfield sites.
An eligible entity may submit ONE proposal for up to $ 1,000,000 for an initial RLF grant.
These funds may be used to address sites contaminated by petroleum and/or hazardous substances,
pollutants, or contaminants (including hazardous substances co-mingled with petroleum). If the proposal
is for both petroleum and hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants, the budget must reflect the
distribution of funds (petroleum vs. hazardous substances).
Proposals may be submitted by "coalitions," or groups of eligible entities, to pool their revolving loan
capitalization grant funds. Acoalition is a group of two or more eligible entities which submits one grant
application under the name of one of the coalition participants. The grant recipient must administer the
grant, be accountable to EPA for proper expenditure of the funds, and be the point of contact for the
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other coalition members. Members of the coalition other than the grant recipient must submit letters
agreeing to be part of the coalition.
Coalitions of eligible entities may apply together under one recipient for up to $ 1,000,000 per eligible
entity.
An RLF grant recipient must use at least 60 percent of the awarded funds to capitalize and implement a
revolving loan fund. Revolving loan funds generally are used to provide no-interest or low-interest loans
for brownfields cleanups. An applicant may make intra-governmental loans and loans to for-profit
organizations as long as they are not potentially liable at the site. An RLF grant recipient also may use its
funds to award subgrants to other eligible entities, including nonprofit organizations, for brownfields
cleanups on sites owned by the subgrantee; however, an RLF grant recipient may use no more than 40
percent of the awarded funds for cleanup subgrants and may notsubgrantto itself. An applicant cannot
make a loan or subgrant to a potentially liable party at the site. An RLF grant recipient may not make a
cleanup subgrant that exceeds $200,000 per site. In the case of a coalition, the RLF grant recipient may
subgrant to other coalition members. Unlike loans, cleanup subgrants do not require repayment.
An RLF award requires a 20 percent cost share, which may be in the form of a contribution of money,
labor, material, or services, and must be for eligible and allowable costs (the match must equal 20 percent
of the amount of funding provided by EPA and cannot include administrative costs, as described in
Appendix 2). An RLF grant applicant may request a waiver of the 20 percent cost share requirement
based on hardship.
The performance period for these grants is five years.
Refer to Appendix 2, Prohibitions on Use of Funds, for information on activities that may not be
funded using brownfields grant funds.
Cleanup Grants
Cleanup grants provide funding for a grant recipient to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites.
An eligible entity may apply for up to $200,000 per site. Due to budget limitations, no entity may apply
for funding cleanup activities at more than five sites. These funds may be used to address sites
contaminated by petroleum and hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants (including hazardous
substances co-mingled with petroleum).
A separate proposal must be submitted for each site. If more than one cleanup proposal is submitted for
the same site, EPA will clarify with the applicant as to which proposal must be withdrawn from the
competition.
If an applicant elects to submit a proposal for both hazardous substance and petroleum funding for the
same site, the funding amount cannot exceed the $200,000 site limit AND the budget must reflect the
amount of hazardous substance funding and the amount of petroleum funding requested. Failure to
comply will result in the deduction of points in the budget ranking criteria.
Cleanup grants require a 20 percent cost share, which may be in the form of a contribution of money,
labor, material, or services, and must be for eligible and allowable costs (the match must equal 20 percent
of the amount of funding provided by EPA and cannot include administrative costs, as described in
Appendix 2}. A cleanup grant applicant may request a waiver of the 20 percent cost share requirement
based on hardship.
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In order to receive a cleanup grant, the applicant must own the property for which they are applying by
the time the grant is awarded and no later than September 30,2005. For the purposes of these
guidelines, the term "own" means fee simple title.
A minimum of a Phase I site assessment must be completed prior to proposal submission.
The performance period for these grants is two years.
Refer to Appendix 2, Prohibitions on Use of Funds., for information on activities that may not be
funded using brownfields grant funds.
Section II. Award Information
How Much Funding is Available in FY2005?
EPA estimates that $ 100 million will be available to make up to 200 grant awards, contingent upon the
availability of funds in FY 2005. EPA reserves the right to reject any or all proposals or applications and
make no awards.
Section III. Eligibility Information
Who Can Apply?
Eligible applicants, including those with existing brownfields grants, may apply for one, or all, of the grant
programs. The following table indicates, by grant program, what types of entities are eligible to receive EPA
funds for brownfields assessment, RLF, and cleanup grants:
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Type of Applicant
General Purpose Unit of Local Government3
Land Clearance Authority or other
quasi-governmental entity that operates under
the supervision and control of, or as an agent
of, a general purpose unit of local government
Government Entity Created by State Legislature
Regional council or group of general purpose
units of local government
Redevelopment Agency that is chartered or
otherwise sanctioned by a state
State
Indian Tribe other than in Alaska4
Alaska Native Regional Corporation, Alaska
Native Village Corporation, and Metlakatla
Indian Community5
Nonprofit organizations6
Assessment
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
RLF1
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Cleanup2
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
1 To be eligible for an RLF subgrant, the subgrantee must own the site and must provide documentation to
demonstrate ownership (e.g., copy of the fee simple title) prior to the award of the subgrant.
2 To be eligible for a cleanup grant, the fund recipient must own the site and provide documentation to
demonstrate ownership (e.g., copy of the fee simple title) prior to the award of the cooperative agreement
and no later than September 30,2004.
3 For purposes of the brownfields grant program, EPA defines general purpose unit of local government as a
"local government" as that term is defined under 40 CFR Part 31.
4 Intertribal Consortia are eligible for funding in accordance with EPA's policy for funding intertribal
consortia published in the Federal Register on November 4,2002. Thi s policy also may be obtained from
your Regional Brownfields Contact.
5 Alaska Native Regional Corporations and Alaska Native Village Corporations are defined in the Alaskan
Native Claim Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 and following).
6 For the purposes of the brownfields grant program, EPA will use the definition of nonprofit organizations
contained in Section 4(6) of the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999,
Public Law 106-107, 31 USC 6101, Note. The term "nonprofit organization" means any corporation,
trust, association, cooperative, or other organization that is operated mainly for scientific, educational,
service, charitable, or similar purpose in the public interest; is not organized primarily for profit; and uses net
proceeds to maintain, improve, or expand the operation of the organization.
In addition to applicant eligibility, the proposal guidelines describe other statutory- and policy-based
threshold criteria (e.g., Community Notification, State or Tribal Environmental Authority Letter, Site
Eligibility and Property Ownership Eligibility, Cleanup Authority and Oversight Structure, Cost Share).
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Section IV. Application and Submission
Information
How Do I Apply for a Brownfields Grant?
Electronic copies of these guidelines can be obtained from the EPAbrownfields web site (www.epa.gov/
brownfields) or by contacting your Regional Brownfields Contact listed in Appendix 1.
Proposal Submission
Applicants must submit a separate proposal for each grant type that they are applying for (i.e., assess-
ment, revolving loan fund, and/or cleanup.) Each proposal must address the thresholdand ranking criteria
identified for each grant activity type. Every proposal must stand on its own merits based on the responses
given to the criteria relevant to the grant type for which the proposal is for and must not reference responses
to criteria in another proposal.
Applicants who exceed the maximum number of proposals allowable for each grant type will be
contacted by EPA to determine which proposals must be withdrawn from the competition.
To submit a proposal, applicants must send an original proposal to Don West, Environmental
Management Support, Inc., 8601 Georgia Avenue, Suite 500, Silver Spring, MD 20910, phone
301-589-5318, and a copy to their Regional Brownfields Coordinator at the addresses shown in
Appendix 1. Refer to the section, What Are the GeneralProposalRequirements?', for instructions on
preparing proposals. Proposals must be postmarked by the U. S. Postal Service or sent via registered or
tracked mail to Environmental Management Support, Inc. and the appropriate Regional representative by
November 12,2004. Please do not fax or hand-deliver proposals. Failure to meet the deadline will
result in the proposal being eliminated from the competition.
What Are the General Proposal Requirements?
All materials included in the proposal (including maps and other attachments) must be printed on letter-
sizedpaper (SVa" by 11"), a minimum of one-inch margins, and font sizes may be no smaller than 12 points.
Proposals received by EPA will be copied and distributed to appropriate reviewers; therefore, do not use
binders and color printing. Proposals must be no more than 15 single-sided pages in length, not including
the cover letter (two-page limit) and attachments. Pages in excess of this limit will be removed and not
evaluated. While there are certain mandatory attachments (e.g., state letter, legal opinions for RLF
proposals, property-specific determination information for excluded sites, nonprofit status documentation,
state petroleum determinations), attachments must be kept to a minimum. Please note that applicants may
be asked by EPA to present other documentation such as community notification documentation, etc. upon
review of the threshold criteria. Please do not include photos. DO NOT INCLUDE RESPONSES TO
RANKING CRITERIA(E.G, BUDGET) AS ATTACHMENTS. Applicants must clearly mark
information they consider confidential. EPA will make final confidentiality decisions in accordance with
Agency regulations in 40 CFR Part 2, Subpart B.
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Proposals should be concise and well organized. Proposals must provide the information requested in the
guidelines and respond to each criterion. Factual information about your proposed proj ect and community
must be provided. Proposals must not include discussions of broad principles that are not specific to the
proposed work or proj ect. Responses to criteria must include the criteria number and title but need not
restate the entire text of the criteria.
Is Pre-application Assistance Available to Applicants?
Yes. EPA will post Frequently Asked Questions on its website at www.epa.gov/brownfields. In addition, if
resources permit, EPARegions may conduct open meetings with potential applicants. Please check with
your regional office for date and location information. EPARegions will also respond to questions from
individual applicants about any of the threshold criteria, including site eligibility and property ownership.
Upon request, Regional staff may review pertinent documents relating to these threshold criteria. However,
in accordance with EPAs Competition Policy, EPA staff will not meet with individual applicants to discuss
draft proposals, provide informal comments on draft proposals, or provide advice to applicants on how to
respond to ranking criteria.
Section V. Application Review Information
What is EPA's Process for Evaluating Proposals and Selecting
the Grant Recipients?
EPAhas established a competitive system for awarding grants to applicants whose proposals have received
the highest rankings.
Proposals will be evaluated and ranked by evaluation panels. EPARegional Offices will evaluate
responses to threshold criteria on a pass/fail basis and national panels will evaluate responses to ranking
criteria (e.g., Budget, Community Need, et al) on a numerical scoring basis. If a proposal fails to meet a
threshold requirement, it will receive no further consideration. However, EPARegional Offices may seek
clarification from an applicant regarding its response to the threshold criteria, if appropriate. (Note: EPA
will not seek clarification on an applicant's Cover Letter or their response to any ranking
criteria.) The panels will score each eligible proposal on the basis of the evaluation criteria described in
the guidelines. The panel scores will be used by EPA staff to determine rankings for use by EPA senior
management in selecting grantees. EPARegions may provide an advisory score to the evaluation panels
on an applicant's response to the Ability to Manage Grants ranking criterion. This advisory score may
take into account the Region's experience, if any, with the applicant's performance on grants managed by
the Region.
Funding requests for each grant type will be evaluated and ranked separately.
Final selections will be made by EPA senior management based upon the ranking of proposals by
National Evaluation Panels. EPA decisions may take into account other statutory and policy
considerations (see below).
Successful proposal applicants will be informed in writing of their selection. EPA plans to announce the
grant recipients in late March/early April 2005. Unsuccessful applicants will also be informed in writing.
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What Are the Statutory and Policy Considerations that EPA May
Take into Account?
Statutory and policy considerations that EPA may take into account when selecting the grant recipients
include fair distribution of funds between urban and non-urban and other geographic factors; compliance
with the statutory petroleum funding allocation; the benefits of promoting the long-term availability of funds
under the RLF grants; designation as a federal Empowerment Zone, Enterprise Community, or Renewal
Community; population; whether the applicant is a federally recognized Indian tribe; and whether the
proposed project may assist to address environmental justice concerns in the area. In addition, special
consideration will be given to projects committed to achieving recognized green building and/or energy
efficiency building standards. Examples include Energy Star, U. S. Green Building Council Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating System, California Collaborative for High Performance
Schools, Austin Green Builder Program or equivalent standards.
Section VI. Award Administration
Information
Funding will be awarded as a cooperative agreement. EPA anticipates substantial involvement with the
cooperative agreement recipient. The applicants whose proposals are selected will be asked to submit a
cooperative agreement application package to their EPARegional office. This package will include an
EPA-approved work plan, a final budget, and required forms. Cooperative agreements approved under
this final selection step will include terms and conditions. These terms and conditions will be binding on the
grant recipient and cover areas such as complying with all applicable federal and state laws and ensuring that
cleanups protect human health and the environment. Applicants also will be required to submit progress
reports in accordance with grant regulations found in 40 CFR 30.51 or 40 CFR 31.40. In addition,
successful grant applicants will be required to provide a Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering
System (DUNS) number, which is now required when applying for federal grants or cooperative
agreements on or after October 2003. For more information, please go to www.grants.gov. EPA will work
closely with the applicant to process and finalize the cooperative agreement package.
Any disputes regarding proposals or applications submitted in response to these guidelines will be resolved
in accordance with 40 CFR 30.63 and Part 31, SubpartF.
In accordance with Executive Order 123 72, EPA encourages applicants to contact their State
Intergovernmental Review Office early so that the required intergovernmental review process may begin
immediately upon selection by EPA. If the state does not have an Intergovernmental Review Office, the
successful applicant must provide notice of the proposed agreement directly to affected state, area-wide,
regional, and local entities. Contact your Regional Brownfields Contact for assistance, if needed.
Section VII. Agency Contact(s)
Please refer to Appendix 1 of the proposal guidelines for your EPARegional Brownfields Contact.
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What Must be in Each Grant Proposal?
Cover Letter and Applicant Information
A Cover Letter, Applicant Information, and applicable mandatory attachments (e.g., state letter, legal
opinions for RLF proposals, property-specific determination information for excluded sites, state petroleum
determinations) must accompany every proposal. Reminder: Applicants are to submit SEPARATE
proposals for EACH type of grant (assessment, revolving loan fund, cleanup) for which you are
applying.
Please provide the following for EACH grant proposal you are preparing:
I. Cover Letter
Submission of a cover letter is required. The cover letter should briefly (maximum 2 pages) describe your
overall Brownfields proj ect and how funding this proposal will advance your proj ect goals. The letter must
be prepared on the applicant's letterhead and signed by an official of your organization. Failure to submit a
cover letter with each proposal will result in the rej ection of the proposal from this competition.
NOTE FOR APPLICANTS APPLYING FOR MORE THAN ONE GRANT: If you are applying for
multiple assessment or cleanup grants, provide a separate cover letter for each proposal.
n. Applicant Information
A. Proj ect Title: Be as specific as possible.
B. Grant Type: 1.) Identify the type of grant you are applying for (i.e., assessment, RLF, or cleanup) and
2.) the type of contamination to be addressed by grant funding (i.e., hazardous substance and/or
petroleum). If applying for an assessment grant, indicate whether you are applying for Community
Wide hazardous substance funding, Community Wide petroleum funding, Site Specific hazardous
substance funding or Site Specific petroleum funding.
C. Total Dollar Amount Requested for this Grant: Specify the actual dollar amount of federal funds you are
requesting (do not include cost share or in-kind) and identify whether you are requesting hazardous
substance funding, petroleum funding, or both. For example, $200,000 hazardous substance;
$150,000 petroleum. For Site Specific assessment grant proposals only: if applying for an assessment
waiver of up to an additional $ 150,000, please include this in the dollar amount. For example,
$350,000 hazardous substance.
D. Name of Applicant: The proposed recipient of the grant funds.
Note: For RLF coalitions, it is not necessary to list the coalition members. However, the entity
named here will be considered the cooperative agreement recipient.
E. Proj ect Contact: Name, mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, and email address of the person
from your organization who is responsible for the proj ect proposal. We will contact this person if we
need further information.
F. ChiefExecutive: Name of the elected or other official who is head of your organization, mailing address,
email address, and phone and fax numbers.
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Note: For RLF coalition proposals, provide the information for the chief executive for each
eligible entity in the coalition.
G. Location: City, county, and state or Indian Reservation, tribally-owned lands, tribal fee lands, etc., of the
area targeted by your proposal.
Note: For RLF coalition proposals, list the relevant information for each eligible entity.
H. Population: 1.) Provide the general population of your jurisdiction. 2.) If you are not a municipal form
of government, provide the population of the area addressed by this proposal. Tribes must provide the
number of tribal/non-tribal members affected.
Note: For RLF coalition proposals, list the relevant information for each eligible entity.
I Other: Indicate whether you are a federally recognized tribe; federally designated Empowerment Zone/
Enterprise Community; or federally designated Renewal Community.
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Assessment Grant Criteria
Provide responses to the following threshold and ranking criteria if you are applying for assessment grant
funding. Threshold criteria are pass/fail criteria. If your responses do not meet the threshold criteria, the
ranking criteria will not be evaluated. An eligible entity may submit no more than two assessment
proposals. (Refer to Assessment Grant section on page 5).
Threshold Criteria for Assessment Grants
Note: For all threshold criteria, EPA may seek further clarification of responses, if needed, during
the selection review process.
A. Applicant Eligibility
Describe how you are an eligible entity for the grant for which you are applying. Refer to the description
of applicant eligibility in the section Who Can Apply?
B. Community Notification
The applicant is responsible for conducting community notification. Describe how the targeted
community(ies) was/were notified of the preparation and submission of this grant proposal. You must
clearly demonstrate that you have made a copy(ies) of this grant proposal available for public review
and have provided an opportunity for public comment prior to submitting this proposal. This may
include putting a notice of availability in the local newspaper or other widely available/accessible local
media asking for public comment; discussing a brownfields proposal during an open government meeting;
holding a public meeting; notifying affected residents door-to-door. Notifications must be current and
related to this specific proposal being submitted for consideration. Failure to demonstrate community
notification will result in failure of this proposal. Applicants who are submitting more than one proposal
may opt to have a single community notification. However, all targeted communities must receive the
notification and be provided an opportunity to comment on the proposal(s) relevant to their community.
Please note that the notification is to citizens or members of the public, not exclusively to government
officials. EPAreserves the right to request documentation of community notification as part of its threshold
review of the proposal.
C. Letter from the State or Tribal Environmental Authority
For an applicant other than a state or tribal environmental authority, attach a current letter from the
appropriate state or tribal environmental authority acknowledging that the applicant plans to conduct
assessment activities and is planning to apply for Federal grant funds. If you are applying for multiple types
of grant program activities, you need to submit only one letter acknowledging the relevant grant activities.
However, you must provide the letter as an attachment to EACH proposal. Please note that general
correspondence and documents evidencing state involvement with the project (i.e., state enforcement
orders or state notice letters) are NOT acceptable. Please provide advance notice to the appropriate
state or tribal environmental authority to allow adequate time to receive the letter to accompany your
proposal.
D. Site Eligibility and Property Ownership Eligibility (Site Specific Proposals Only)
If you are submitting a Community Wide assessment grant proposal, please move on to the ranking
criteria in the next section. If you are submitting a Site Specific assessment grant proposal, address the
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following for the site. If the site does not pass the threshold criteria below, an applicant may not substitute
other sites.
1. Indicate whether you are applying for a waiver of the $200,000 per site funding limit. If so,
indicate the dollar amount requested and provide a justification as to why the waiver should be
granted. Justificationmustbebasedontheanticipatedlevel of contamination, size, or status
of ownership.
2. Affirm that the site is a.) not listed or proposed for listing on the National Priorities List; b.) not
subject to unilateral administrative orders, court orders, administrative orders on consent, or
judicial consent decrees issued to or entered into by parties under CERCLA; and c.) Not
subject to the jurisdiction, custody, or control of the United States government. (Note: Land
held in trust by the United States government for an Indian tribe is eligible for brownfield
funding.) PI ease refer to Appendix 3.
3. Identify a.) the name of the site; b.) the address of the site; c.) whether this site is contaminated
by petroleum or hazardous substances; d.) the operational history and current uses(s) of the
site; and e.) environmental concerns, if known, at the site.
4. If the applicant determines a property-specific determination is needed for the site to be
eligible, the applicant must attach information requested in Appendix 4, Section 4.1.
If the site Is a petroleum site, please proceed to question #11. If the site Is a hazardous
substance site, please continue responding to the questions in order.
5. Explain the phase of" assessment, if any, that has been completed to date. Provide dates of the
assessment(s).
6. Identify a.) who currently owns the site; b.) when they became owner; and c.) from whom the
site was acquired.
7. Identify how the site became contaminated and, to the extent possible, describe the nature and
extent of the contamination.
8. Identify known ongoing or anticipated environmental enforcement actions related to the
brownfield site for which funding is sought. Describe any inquiries or orders from federal,
state, or local government entities that the applicant is aware of regarding the responsibility of
any party for the contamination or hazardous waste at the site. The information provided in
this section may be verified, and EPAmay conduct an independent review of information
related to the applicant's responsibility for the contamination or hazardous waste at the site.
9. If the site is not owned by the applicant:
a. describe your relati onship with the owner;
b. describe the owner's role in the work to be performed; and
c. indicate how you will gain access to the site.
10. If you, the applicant, own the site:
a. describe how you took ownership of the site (e.g., tax foreclosure, purchase, donation, eminent
domain) and date of acquisition;
b. identify whether or not all di sposal of hazardous substances at the site occurred before you
acquired the property;
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c. describe any inquiry into the previous ownership, uses of the property, and environmental
conditions prior to taking ownership; describein detail:
the types of site assessments performed (e.g., ASTM Phase I or equivalent); and
who performed the assessments and identify his/her qualifications to perform such work;
d. describe the uses of the site since your ownership began through the present; provide a
timeline with dates and detail s of the uses;
e. describe if you, in any way, are potentially liable, or affiliated with any other person who is
potentially liable, for contamination atthe site;
f. identify any known parties who may be considered potentially liable for the contamination on
the site, and describe any familial, contractual, corporate or financial relationship that you have
with potentially liable parties at the site;
g. describe the appropriate care that you exercised with respect to hazardous substances found CD
at the facility by taking REASONABLE STEPS to:
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* prevent or limit exposure to any previously released hazardous substance
Please note thai reasonable steps may include actions such as limiting access to the
property, monitoring known contaminants, and complying with state and/or local
requirements.
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h. confirm your commitment to:
comply with all land use restrictions and institutional controls;
assist and cooperate with those performing the cleanup and to provide access to the
property;
comply with all information requests and administrative subpoenas that have or may be 3%*
issued in connection with the property; and
provide all legally required notices.
Applicants that own contaminated land should be aware that achieving and maintaining landowner liability
protections, ensuring eligibility for Brownfield grant funds, and complying with the terms and conditions on ***
the uses of grant funds at brownfield sites requires that they meet certain continuing obligations. For
example: grantees must comply with land use restrictions and institutional controls; take reasonable steps
with respect to the hazardous substances on the property; cooperate, assist and allow access to authorized
representatives; and comply with CERCLA information requests and subpoenas and provide legally
required notices. For more information on the obligations of owners of contaminated property, please see
EPA's Common Elements Reference Sheet at http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/policies/
cleanup/superfund/common-elem-ref.pdf.
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11. Petroleum Sites (Proceed to the ranking criteria if you do not have a petroleum site.)
The Brownfields Law allows certain sites contaminated with petroleum or petroleum product to be eligible
for brownfields grant funding. Eligibility will be determined by EPA or the state, as appropriate (See
Appendix 3, part 3.3.2 Contamination by Petroleum or Petroleum Product for a description of the
eligibility requirements).
Non-Tribal applicants must provide the information requested below to your state, so that the state can
make the necessary determinations on petroleum site eligibility in Appendix 3, part 3.3.2. Include any
response to your request received from your state regarding site eligibility with this proposal. If you do not
receive a response from your state by the deadline for filing proposals, please indicate this in your proposal
cover letter. (Note: You must provide EPA with the date you requested your state to make the petroleum
site determinations. EPA will make the petroleum site eligibility determination if a state is unable to do so
following a request from an applicant.)
Tribal applicants must submit the following information with their proposal to EPA. EPA will make the
petroleum site eligibility determinations for Tribes.
Provide the following information to your state and to EPA:
a. Identify the current and immediate past owner of the site.
b. Acquisition of Site. Identify when and by what method the current owner acquired the property
(e.g., purchase, tax foreclosure, donation, eminent domain).
c. No Responsible Party for the Site. Identify whether the current and immediate past owner
dispensed or disposed of petroleum or petroleum product, or exacerbated the existing
petroleum-contamination at the site, and whether the current and immediate past owner took
reasonable steps with regard to the contamination at the site.
d. Cleaned Up by a Person Not Potentially Liable. Identify whether you (the applicant) dispensed
or disposed of petroleum or petroleum product, or exacerbated the existing petroleum-
contamination at the site, and whether you took reasonable steps with regard to the
contamination at the site.
e. Relatively Low Risk. Identify whether the site is of "relatively low risk" compared to other
petroleum or petroleum product-only contaminated sites in the state in which the site is located,
including whether the site is receiving or using Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST)
Trust Fund monies.
f Judgments. Orders, or Third Party Suits. Provide information that no responsible party is
identified for the site through, either:
(1) a judgment rendered in a court of law or an administrative order that would require any
person to assess, investigate, or clean up the site; or
(2) an enforcement action by federal or state authorities against any party that would require any
person to assess, investigate, or clean up the site; or
(3) a citizen suit, contribution action or other third party claim brought against the current or
immediate past owner, that would, if successful, require the assessment, investigation, or cleanup
of the site.
g. Subj ect to RCRA. Identify whether the site is subj ect to any order under section 9003 (h) of the
Solid Waste Disposal Act.
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Financial Viability of Responsible Parties. For any current or immediate past owners identified
as responsible for the contamination at the site, provide information regarding whether they have
the financial capability to satisfy their obligations under federal or state law to assess, investigate
or clean up the site.
Note: If no responsible party is identified in (c) or (f) above, then the petroleum-
contaminated site may be eligible for funding. If a responsible party is identified above,
EPA or the state must next determine whether that party is viable. If any such party is
determined to be viable, then the petroleum-contaminated site may not be eligible for
funding.
Your request to a state or EPA for the determination on site eligibility also must include
a brief explanation of why the information requested above is not available.
Ranking Criteria for Assessment Grants
Note that responses for Community Wide assessment proposals should address the entire target
community. There is no need to identify potential sites in a Community Wide proposal.
A. Assessment Grant Proposal Budget (a maximum of 10 points may be received for this criterion)
Provide the proposed budget for your proposal, including a detailed description and narrative of each task.
Typical tasks might include "Phase I/II Assessments," "Community Outreach," and "Cleanup Planning."
Budgets that include some site assessment or cleanup planning activities will be ranked more favorably than
those that focus only on inventory or planning activities. The narrative must provide a basis for the tasks.
The budget must show the distribution of funds, including cost estimates for each of the proposed activities.
If you are applying for an assessment waiver up to $3 50,000, your budget and tasks must reflect this.
If you plan not to expend federal funds on otherwise eligible activities (e.g., community involvement,
programmatic expenses associated with reporting), please describe these activities (i.e., in-kind) in the
budget narrative and indicate the source(s) of funding.
A local government may use up to 10 percent of its grant funds for monitoring the health of populations
exposed to one or more hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants from a brownfield site and
monitoring and enforcement of any institutional control used to prevent human exposure to any hazardous
substance, pollutant, or contaminant from a brownfield site. To effectively oversee assessments and
cleanups, local governments may use grant funds (subj ect to the 10 percent limit) for other related program
development and implementation activities (e.g., writing local brownfield-related ordinances). Activities
planned for the 10 percent category must be included in a separate budget task.
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Budget Categories
(programmatic costs only)
Personnel
Fringe Benefits
Travel1
Equipment2
Supplies
Contractual3
Other (specify)
Total
Project Tasks
[Taskl]
[Task 2]
[Task 3]
[Task 4]
Total
1 Travel to brownfi eld-related training conferences is an acceptable use of these grant funds.
2 EPA defines equipment as items that cost $5,000 or more with a useful life of more than one year. Items
costing less than $5,000 are considered supplies. Generally, equipment is not required for assessment
grants.
3 Applicants must comply with the procurement procedures contained in 40 CFR 31.36, or for non-
profits, with 40 CFR 30.40 through 30.48.
Provide responses to the following assessment ranking criteria:
B. Community Need (a maximum of 15 points may be received for this criterion)
1. Provide a detailed description of the target community that the proj ect(s) will benefit. Include
demographic information for the target community and indicators, such as the poverty rate,
unemployment rate, special community situations (e.g., population size), or other environmental
justice factors that support community need relating directly to this project (e.g., low-income and/or
minority communities; sensitive populations, such as children and pregnant women; or communities
disproportionately impacted by environmental factors). Identify the source for this information.
2. Explain how the targeted community will benefit from this grant.
3. Characterize the impact of brownfi elds on your target community (or communities) by describing the
extent of brownfields (e.g., size, number, location) and the economic, health, and/or environmental
impacts of the brownfields.
C. Site Selection Process (a maximum of 5 points may be received for this criterion)
1. Describe how sites were selected/will be selected and what site selection criteria were/will be
developed.
2. Describe possible or previous inventory activities, prioritization efforts, or other activities.
3. If you anticipate conducting assessment activities on privately owned sites, discuss possible access
i ssues and how you would resolve the issues.
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D. Sustainable Reuse of Brownfields (a maximum of 10 points may be received for this criterion)
Describe how this grant would support the goals listed below ami, specifically, howyour plans,
development regulations, policies and programs will achieve these goal s.
1. prevent pollution and reduce resource consumption (strategies to do so may include green building,
clean energy production, alternative stormwater management, eco-industrial development,
environmentally beneficial landscaping, and/or others);
2. promote economic benefits (e.g., an expanded tax base, increased investment, j ob creation,
enhanced property values through adjacent green space creation, and/or others);
3. promote a vibrant community characterized by a mix of uses, appropriate density, housing choice
and walkability (strategies to do so may include smart growth, new urbanism, linked recreational
and park areas, and/or others);
4. reuse existing infrastructure (e.g., existing roads, rail/bus/subway services, buildings, utility services,
sidewalks/pedestrian/bicycle trails, recreational services, landscaping, neighborhood centers/ (f)
institutions);
5. promote transportation choices (e.g., public transportation, bike-to-work/walk-to-work (f}
opportunities, and/or others); and
6. prevent future brownfields (through such activities as brownfields inventories, active communication
with operating facilities, preventing land abandonment, and/or others).
E. Creation and/or Preservation of Greenspace/Open Space or Nonprofit Purpose (a maximum of 5
points may be received for this criterion)
Describe the extent to which the grant would facilitate the creation of, preservation of, or addition to a park, 3
greenway, undeveloped property, recreational property, or other property used for nonprofit purposes. If
this grant would result in such creation or addition (e.g., a new or expanded community park), what specific
regulations, policies, or programs, are (or will be) in place to provide for long-term management and care? "O
If this grant would result in such preservation (e.g. preserving outlying greenfields by focusing development
on brownfields) what specific regulations, policies, or programs, are (or will be) in place to assure long-term
management, care and preservation?
F. Community Involvement (a maximum of 15 points may be received for this criterion)
EPA encourages early community notification and continuing community involvement.
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1. Di scuss your plan for involving the targeted community (e.g., neighborhood organizations,
citizens' groups, borrowers, redevelopers, and other stakeholders) in cleanup decisions or reuse
planning. Describe what community involvement activities, if any, have already occurred.
2. Describe your efforts and/or plans to develop partnerships at the local, state, and/or tribal level
with other stakeholders to ensure appropriate and sustainable cleanup and redevelopment of
brownfields in your targeted community.
3. Describe your specific plans for communicating the progress of your proj ect to citizens,
including plans for communicating in languages indigenous to the community or other efforts to
reach the targeted community as well as the broader community.
4. Provide a list of the community-based organizations involved in this project and a contact
person, phone number, and a brief description of the organization's activities and representation
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(these organizations may include, but are not limited to, local citizen groups, environmental
organizations, civic organizations, local business groups and institutions, educational institutions, and
local labor organizations). Community-based organizations do not include the local planning
department, the local fire department, or the mayor's office.
Note: EPA may conduct reference checks to ensure that organizations identified are supportive and
involved with the brownfields project.
G Reduction of Threats to Human Health and the Environment (a maximum of 20 points may be received
for this criterion)
1. Describe how the funds will be used to address/facilitate the identification and/or reduction of
threats to human health and the environment within the target area (including cancer, asthma, or birth
defects) that may be associated with exposure to hazardous substances, pollutants, contaminants, or
petroleum.
2. Describe whether you are working with your state or tribal environmental authority and/or local
public health department to ensure protectiveness of human health and the environment, and to
ensure the consi derati on of publi c health i ssues, during both the cleanup and the redevelopment
process.
H. Leveraging of Additional Resources (a maximum of 10 points may be received for this criterion)
1. Describe the financial needs for each phase of the proj ect (assessment, cleanup, and
redevelopment), if known. For example, assessment of the property is estimated at $300,000;
cleanup of the property is estimated at $500,000; redevelopment of the property into an XX-square
foot office building is estimated at $2.5 million.
2. Identify the funds (e.g., general revenues, Tax Increment Financing (TIP), staff time/in-kind) that
your agency/organization has committed or will commit to meet the needs described above.
3. Describe all other funding sources (e.g., federal, state, nonprofit, or private) that will be committed
or that you are pursuing to fill in any remaining funding gaps to ensure the success of this proj ect.
I Ability to Manage Grants (a maximum of 10 points may be received for this criterion)
1. Demonstrate your ability to manage this grant and oversee all phases of work under this grant. Or
describe the sy stem(s) you have in place to acquire the requisite expertise.
2. Describe your history of managing federal funds. You must identify and provide information
regarding the status of any adverse audit findings from an OMB Circular A-133 audit, an audit
conducted by a federal, state, tribal, or local government inspector general or similar organization,
or audits conducted by the U.S. General Accounting Office. You also must note whether you are,
or have previously been, required to comply with special "high ri sk" terms and conditions under
agency regulations implementing OMB Circular A-l 02.
3. If you are, or have been, a recipient of an EPABrownfields cooperative agreement(s), provide
information regarding your compliance with quarterly progress reports, brownfields reporting
measures, and annual financial status reporting.
4. If you are, or have been, a recipient of an EPABrownfields cooperative agreement(s), indicate the
year of award and the amount of funds remaining.
5. If you are, or have been, a recipient of an EPABrownfields cooperative agreement(s), highlight
significant accomplishments generated through the use of the funds.
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Revolving Loan Fund Criteria
Provide responses to the following threshold and ranking criteria if you are applying for revolving loan fund
grant funding. Threshold criteria are pass/fail criteria. If your responses do not meet the threshold criteria,
the ranking criteria will not be evaluated. An eligible entity (or coalition of eligible entities) may submit only
ONE revolving loan fund proposal. The proposal can be for hazardous substance funding; petroleum
funding; or a combination of both (but it cannot exceed the funding limitations for RLF grants).
Threshold Criteria for RLF Grants
Note: For all threshold criterion, EPA may seek further clarification of responses, if needed, during
the selection review process.
A. Applicant Eligibility
Describe how you are an eligible entity for the grant for which you are applying. Refer to the description of
applicant eligibility in the section Who Can Apply?
Note: Coalition applicants for RLF grants must document how all coalition members are eligible
entities. All coalition members must submit a letter in which they agree to be part of the coalition.
B. Community Notification
The applicant is responsible for conducting community notification. Describe how the targeted
community(ies) was/were notified of the preparation and submission of this grant proposal. You must
clearly demonstrate that you have made a copy(ies) of this grant proposal available for public review and
have provided an opportunity for public comment prior to submitting this proposal. State-wide coalition
revolving loan fund proposals must document state-wide notification. This may include putting a notice of
availability in the local newspaper or other widely available/accessible local media asking for public
comment; discussing a brownfields proposal during an open government meeting; holding a public meeting;
notifying affected residents door-to-door. Notifications must be current and related to this specific
proposal being submitted for consideration. Failure to demonstrate community notification will result in
failure of this proposal. Applicants who are submitting more than one proposal may opt to have a single
community notification. However, all targeted communities must receive the notification and be provided an
opportunity to comment on the proposal(s) relevant to their community. Please note that the notification is
to citizens or members of the public, not exclusively to government officials. EPAreserves the right to
request documentation of community notification as part of its threshold review of the proposal.
C. Letter from the State or Tribal Environmental Authority
For an applicant other than a state or tribal environmental authority, attach a current letter from the
appropriate state or tribal environmental authority acknowledging that the applicant plans to establish a
revolving loan fund and conduct cleanup activities and is planning to apply for Federal grant funds. If you
are applying for multiple types of grant program activities, you need to submit only one letter acknowledging
the relevant grant activities. However, you must provide the letter as an attachment to EACH proposal.
Please note that general correspondence and documents evidencing state involvement with the project (i.e.,
state enforcement orders or state notice letters) are NOT acceptable. Please provide advance notice to the
appropriate state or tribal environmental authority to allow adequate time to receive the letter to accompany
your proposal.
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D. Site Eligibility and Property Ownership Eligibility (Site Specific Proposals Only)
If you do not have specific sites identified, please move on to threshold criterion E. If you have identified
specific sites, address the following for the site. If the site does not pass the threshold criteria below, an
applicant may not substitute other sites.
1. Identify the proposed borrower or subgrantee. Include the organizational name and address.
2. Affirm thatthesiteisa.)notlistedorproposedforlisting on the National Priorities List; b.) not
subject to unilateral administrative orders, court orders, administrative orders on consent, orjudicial
consent decrees issued to or entered into by parties under CERCLA; and c.) Not subject to the
jurisdiction, custody, or control of the United States government. (Note: Land held in trust by the
United States government for an Indian tribe is eligible for brownfield funding.) Please refer to
Appendix 3.
3. Identify a.) the name of the site; b.) the address of the site; c.) whether this site is contaminated by
petroleum or hazardous substances; d.)the operational history and current uses(s) of the site; and
e.) environmental concerns, if known, at the site.
4. If the applicant determines a property-specific determination is needed for the site to be eligible, the
applicant must attach information requested in Appendix 4, Section 4.1.
If the site is a petroleum site, please proceed to question #11. If the site is a hazardous substance
site, please continue responding to the questions in order.
5. Explain the phase of assessment that has been completed to date. Aminimum of an ASTM or
equivalent Phase I site assessment must be completed prior to proposal submission. Provide the
date of the site assessment(s). If additional assessment work is needed, please explain:
a. How much assessment is remaining?
b. What is the estimated cost of the remaining assessment?
c. What is the source of funds to pay for the remaining assessment?
d. What is the schedule for completing the assessment?
6. Identify a.) who currently owns the site; b.) when they became owner; and c.) from whom the site
was acquired.
Note: For sitbgrcmts, the subgrantee must own the site.
1. Identify how the site became contaminated and, to the extent possible, describe the nature and
extent of the contamination.
8. Identify known ongoing or anticipated environmental enforcement actions related to the brownfield
site for which funding is sought. Describe any inquiries or orders from federal, state, or local
government entities that the applicant is aware of regarding the responsibility of any party for the
contamination or hazardous waste at the site. The information provided in this section may be
verified, and EPAmay conduct an independent review of information related to the applicant's
responsibility for the contamination or hazardous waste at the site.
9. If the site is not owned by the applicant:
a. describe your relationship with the owner;
b. describe the owner's role in the work to be performed; and
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c. indicate how you will gain access to the site.
1 0. If you, the applicant, own the site:
a. describe how you took ownership of the site (e.g., tax foreclosure, purchase, donation, eminent
domain) and date of acquisition;
b . identify whether or not all disposal of hazardous substances at the site occurred before you
acquired the property;
c. describe any inquiry into the previous ownership, uses of the property, and environmental
conditions prior to taking ownership; describe in detail :
« the types of site assessments performed (e.g., ASTM Phase I or equivalent);
* who performed the assessments and identify his/her qualifications to perform such work;
d. describe the uses of the site since your ownership began through the present; provide a timeline
with dates and details of the uses;
e. describe if you, in any way, are potentially liable, or affiliated with any other person who is
potentially liable, for contamination at the site;
f identify any known parties who may be considered potentially liable for the contamination on the
site, and describe any familial, contractual, corporate orfinancial relationship thatyou have with
potentially liable parties at the site;
g. describe the appropriate care that you exercised with respect to hazardous substances found at
the facility by taking REASONABLE STEPS to:
stop any continuing releases;
prevent any threatened future release;
prevent or limit exposure to any previously released hazardous substance
Please note that reasonable steps may include actions such as limiting access to the
property, monitoring known contaminants, and complying with state and/or local
requirements.
h. confirm your commitmentto:
comply with all land use restrictions and institutional controls;
* assist and cooperate with those performing the cleanup and to provide access to the
property;
* comply with all information requests and administrative subpoenas that have or may be
issued in connection with the property; and
* provide all legally required notices.
Applicants that own contaminated land should be aware that achieving and maintaining landowner liability
protections, ensuring eligibility for Brownfield grant funds, and complying with the terms and conditions on
the uses of grant funds at brownfield sites requires that they meet certain continuing obligations. For
example: grantees must comply with land use restrictions and institutional controls; take reasonable steps
with respect to the hazardous substances on the property; cooperate, assist and allow access to authorized
representatives; and comply with CERCLA information requests and subpoenas and provide legally
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required notices. For more information on the obligations of owners of contaminated property, please see
EPA's Common Elements Reference Sheet at http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/policies/cleanup/
superfund/common-elem-ref.pdf.
11. Petroleum Sites (Proceed to threshold criterion E if you do not have a petroleum site.)
The Brownfields Law allows certain sites contaminated with petroleum or petroleum product to be eligible
for brownfields grant funding. Eligibility will be determined by EPA or the state, as appropriate (See
Appendix 3, part 3.3,2 Contamination by Petroleum or Petroleum Product for a description of the
eligibility requirements).
Non-Tribal applicants must provide the information requested below to your state, so that the state can
make the necessary determinations on petroleum site eligibility in Appendix 3, part 3.3.2. Include any
response to your request received from your state regarding site eligibility with this proposal. If you do not
receive a response from your state by the deadline for filing proposals, please indicate thi s in your proposal
cover letter. (Note: You must provide EPA with the date you requested your state to make the petroleum
site determinations. EPA will make the petroleum site eligibility determination if a state is unable to do so
following a request from an applicant.)
Tribal applicants must submit the following information with their proposal to EPA. EPA will make the
petroleum site eligibility determinations for Tribes.
Provide the following information to your state and to EPA:
a. Identify the current and immediate past owner of the site.
b. Acquisition of Site. Identify when and by what method the current owner acquired the property
(e.g., purchase, tax foreclosure, donation, eminent domain).
c. No Responsible Party for the Site. Identify whether the current and immediate past owner
dispensed or disposed of petroleum or petroleum product, or exacerbated the existing
petroleum-contamination at the site, and whether the current and immediate past owner took
reasonable steps with regard to the contamination at the site.
d. Cleaned Up by a Person Not Potentially Liable. Identify whether you (the applicant) dispensed
or disposed of petroleum or petroleum product, or exacerbated the existing petroleum-
contamination at the site, and whether you took reasonable steps with regard to the
contamination at the site.
e. Relatively Low Risk. Identify whether the site is of "relatively low risk" compared to other
petroleum or petroleum product-only contaminated sites in the state in which the site is located,
including whether the site i s receiving or using Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST)
Trust Fund monies.
f Judgments. Orders, or Third Party Suits. Provide information that no responsible party is
identified for the site through, either:
(1) ajudgment rendered in a court of law or an administrative order that would require any
person to assess, investigate, or clean up the site; or
(2) an enforcement action by federal or state authorities against any party that would require any
person to assess, investigate, or clean up the site; or
(3) a citizen suit, contribution action or other third party claim brought against the current or
immediate past owner, that would, if successful, require the assessment, investigation, or cleanup
of the site.
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g. Subject to RCRA. Identify whether the site is subj ect to any order under section 9003(h) of the
Solid Waste Disposal Act.
h. Financial Viability of Responsible Parties. For any current or immediate past owners identified
as responsible for the contamination at the site, provide information regarding whether they have
the financial capability to sati sfy their obligations under federal or state law to assess, investigate
or clean up the site.
Note: If no responsible party is identified in (c) or (f) above, then the petroleum-
contaminated site may be eligible for funding. If a responsible party is identified above,
EPA or the state must next determine whether that party is viable. If any such party is
determined to be viable, then the petroleum-contaminated site may not be eligible for
funding.
Your request to a state or EPA for the determination on site eligibility also must include
a brief explanation of why the information requested above is not available.
E. Cleanup Authority and Oversight Structure
Please note that you will be required to comply with all applicable Federal and State laws; and
ensure that the cleanup protects human health and the environment. ~T|
1. Describe how you will oversee the cleanup at the site. Indicate whether you plan to require loan or
subgrant recipients to enroll in a state or tribal response program. If you do not plan to require loan ""I
or subgrant recipients to enroll in a state or tribal response program, or an appropriate state or tribal 22
response program is not available, you will be required to consult with U.S. EPA to ensure cleanups
are protective of human health and the environment. Therefore, if you do not plan to require loan or
subgrant recipients to enroll in a state or tribal response program, provide a description of the
technical expertise you have to conduct, manage, and oversee the cleanup and/or whether you
plan to acquire additional technical expertise. If you do plan to acquire additional technical
expertise, discuss how, consistent with the competitive procurement provisions of 40 CFR 31.36,
you will ensure that this technical expertise is in place prior to beginning cleanup activities.
2. Provide a legal opinion from your counsel that demonstrates that you have legal authority to access O
and secure sites in the event of an emergency or default of a loan agreement or non-performance .
under a subgrant. Attach your counsel's legal opinion.
Note: For coalitions, the applicant must have the broader jurisdiction, authority and program
capacity to ensure adequate program performance of coalition members, borrowers, and/or
subgrantees, if warranted.
F. Cost Share
RLF grant recipients are required by the Brownfields Law to provide a 20 percent cost share.3 This cost
share is calculated as 20 percent of the total federal RLF funds awarded. For example, if you are applying
3 Applicants for an RLF grant may use fees from borrowers, interest on loans, and other "program income"
to meet the cost share requirement. However, if an RLF grant applicant plans to use anticipated program
income for cost share, the applicant also must demonstrate how alternative sources for obtaining money,
labor, material, or services can be used to meet its cost share requirement if program income is less than
anticipated during the performance period for the grant. Recipients of RLF grants may not use repayments
of loan principal to meet the cost share requirement.
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for $1 million of federal RLF funds, you must provide a cost share of an additional $200,000. The cost
share may be in the form of a contribution of money, labor, material, or services from a non-federal source.
If the cost share is in the form of a contribution of labor, material, or other services, it must be incurred for
an eligible and allowable expense under the grant and not for ineligible expenses, such as administrative
costs (see Appendix 2 for a discussion of prohibited costs).
RLF grant applicants may petition EPA to waive the cost-share requirement if it would place an undue
hardship on the eligible entity. EPA will consider hardship waiver requests on a case-by-case basis and will
approve such requests on a limited basis. Undue hardship may be defined as bankruptcy or such other
indicator of distress, including low per-capita income, unemployment rate above national average, or
unemployment or economic adjustment problems resulting from severe short-term or long-term changes in
economic conditions.
Describe your plans for providing the cost share, including the sources of the funding or services, as
required for this RLF grant. If you are requesting a hardship waiver of the cost share, provide an
explanation for the basis of your request as part of your proposal.
G Legal Authority to Manage a Revolving Loan Fund
Provide an opinion from your legal counsel that demonstrates your legal authority to perform the actions
necessary to manage a revolving loan fund. At a minimum, legal authority must include the ability to hold
funds, make loans, enter into loan agreements, and collect repayments. This authority may be based on
statute, regulation, or other authority. Applicant must attach a legal opinion.
Ranking Criteria for RLF Grants
A. RLF Grant Proposal Budget (a maximum of 10 points may be received for this criterion)
Provide the proposed budget for your proposal, including a detailed description and narrative of each task.
Typical tasks might include "Community Involvement," "Establishing the Revolving Fund," "Marketing the
Revolving Fund," "Operating the Revolving Fund," "Cleanup Planning," and "Overseeing Site Cleanup."
The narrative must provide a basis for the tasks. The budget also must reflect your cost share. The budget
must show the distribution of funds, including cost estimates for each of the proposed activities. Please note
that the sample budget below provides for separate budgets for loans and subgrants. An RLF grant
recipient may not make a cleanup subgrant that exceeds $200,000 per site.
If your proposal is requesting both hazardous substance and petroleum funding, please provide two
separate budgets to reflect the amount of hazardous substance and petroleum funding and the tasks
associated with the funding.
A local government may use up to 10 percent of its grant funds for monitoring the health of populations
exposed to one or more hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants from a brownfield site and
monitoring and enforcement of any institutional control used to prevent human exposure to any hazardous
substance, pollutant, or contaminant from a brownfield site. To effectively oversee assessments and
cleanups, local governments may use grant funds (subj ect to the 10 percent limit) for other related program
development and implementation activities (e.g., writing local brownfield-related ordinances). Activities
planned for the 10 percent category must be included in a separate budget task.
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Sample Format for Budget
Budget Categories
(programmatic costs only)
Personnel
Fringe Benefits
Travel1
Equipment2
Supplies
Contractual3
Loans
Other (specify)
Subtotal:
Budget Categories
(programmatic costs only)
Personnel
Fringe Benefits
Travel1
Equipment2
Supplies
Contractual3
Subgrants
Other (specify)
Subtotal:
Total
Cost Share
Project Tasks for Loans (at least 60 percent of amount requested )
[Task 1]
[Task 2]
[Task 3]
[Task 4]
Total
Project Tasks for Subgrants (no more than 40 percent of amount
requested )
[Task 1]
[Task 2]
[Task 3]
[Task 4]
Total
1 Travel to brownfield-related training conferences is an acceptable use of these grant funds.
2 EPA defines equipment as items that cost $5,000 or more with a useful life of more than one year. Items
costing less than $5,000 are considered supplies. Generally, equipment is not required for RLF grants.
3 Applicants must comply with the procurement procedures contained in 40 CFR 3 1 .36, or for non-
profits, with 40 CFR 30.40 through 30.48.
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B. Community Need (a maximum of 15 points may be received for this criterion)
I. Provide a detailed description of the target community that the proj ect(s) will benefit. Include
demographic information for the target community and indicators, such as the poverty rate,
unemployment rate, special community situations (e.g., population size), or other environmental
justice factors that support community need relating directly to this project (e.g., low-income and/or
minority communities; sensitive populations, such as children and pregnant women; or communities
disproportionately impacted by environmental factors). Identify the source for this information.
2. Expl ain how the targeted community will benefit from this grant.
3. Characterize the impact of brownfields on your targeted community (or communities) by describing
the extent of brownfields (e.g., size, number, location) and the economic, health, and/or
environmental impacts of the brownfields.
C. Site Selection Process (a maximum of 5 points may be received for this criterion)
1. Describe your process for sel ecting borrowers and/or sub grantees.
2. Describe how sites were selected/will be selected, what site selection criteria were/will be
developed, and how eligibility determinations were/will be made.
D. Description of Target Market and Business Plan for RLF Loans and Subgrants (a maximum of 20
points may be received for this criterion)
1. Describe your target market and how you plan to reach them. Include the types of borrowers and
subgrantees (i.e., small businesses, developers, local governments) and types of sites (i.e., single
property, multiple properties, geographic area) you plan to reach. Describe the balance of
proj ected loans and subgrants and how this balance will promote the long-term availability of the
RLF.
2. Describeyour business plan including loan structure, interest and repayment rate, 5-and 10-year
timeline for loans and subgrants and program incentives (EZ, EC, or RC benefits, tax credits, TIP,
public and private investment leverage goals).
3. If you plan to award subgrants under the RLF, describe how you will take the following into
consideration4:
a. The extent to which the subgrant will facilitate the creation of, preservation of, or addition to a
park, greenway, undeveloped property, recreational property, or other property used for
nonprofit purposes;
b. The extent to which the subgrant will meet the needs of a community that has an inability to
draw on other sources of funding for environmental remediation and subsequent redevelopment
of the area in which a brownfield site is located because of the small population or low income
of the community;
c. The extent to which a subgrant will facilitate the use or reuse of existing infrastructure; and
d. The benefit of promoting the long-term availability of funds from a revolving loan fund for
brownfield remediation.
4. Describe how you will make full and effective use of the RLF within the grant period. Include in
your discussion an implementation schedule and time line for your use of the RLF funds.
4RLF cooperative agreement recipients must take these into consideration when awarding a subgrant.
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E. Sustainable Reuse of Brownfields (a maximum of 10 points may be received for this criterion)
Describe how this grant would support the goals listed below ami, specifically, howyour plans,
development regulations, policies and programs will achieve these goal s.
1. prevent pollution and reduce resource consumption (strategies to do so may include green building,
clean energy production, alternative stormwater management, eco-industrial development,
environmentally beneficial landscaping, and/or others);
2. promote economic benefits (e.g., an expanded tax base, increased investment, j ob creation,
enhanced property values through adjacent green space creation, and/or others);
3. promote a vibrant community characterized by a mix of uses, appropriate density, housing choice
and walkability (strategies to do so may include smart growth, new urbanism, linked recreational
and park areas, and/or others);
4. reuse existing infrastructure (e.g., existing roads, rail/bus/subway services, buildings, utility services,
sidewalks/pedestrian/bicycle trails, recreational services, landscaping, neighborhood centers/
institutions); Tn
5. promote transportation choices (e.g., public transportation, bike-to-work/walk-to-work «
opportunities, and/or others); and
6. prevent future brownfields (through such activities as brownfields inventories, active communication
with operating facilities, preventing land abandonment, and/or others).
F. Creation and/or Preservation of Greenspace/Open Space or Nonprofit Purpose (a maximum of 5 """*
points may be received for this criterion)
Describe the extent to which the grant would facilitate the creation of, preservation of, or addition to a park,
greenway, undeveloped property, recreational property, or other property used for nonprofit purposes. If 13
this grant would result in such creation or addition (e.g., a new or expanded community park), what specific
regulations, policies, or programs, are (or will be) in place to provide for long-term management and care? JjU
If this grant would result in such preservation (e.g. preserving outlying greenfields by focusing development
on brownfields) what specific regulations, policies, or programs, are (or will be) in place to assure long-term
management, care and preservation?
G Community Involvement (a maximum of 15 points may be received for this criterion)
EPA encourages early community notification and continuing community involvement.
1. Discuss your plan for involving the targeted community (e.g., neighborhood organizations, citizens'
groups, borrowers, redevelopers, and other stakeholders) in cleanup decisions or reuse planning.
Describe what community involvement activities, if any, have already occurred.
2. Describe your efforts and/or plans to develop partnerships at the local, state, and/or tribal level with
other stakeholders to ensure appropriate and sustainable cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields
in your targeted community.
3. Describe your specific plans for communicating the progress of your proj ect to citizens, including
plans for communicating in languages indigenous to the community or other efforts to reach the
targeted community as well as the broader community.
4. Provide a li st of the community-based organizations involved in thi s proj ect and a contact person,
phone number, and a brief description of the organization's activities and representation (these
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organizations may include, but are not limited to, local citizen groups, environmental organizations,
civic organizations, local business groups and institutions, educational institutions, and local labor
organizations). Community-based organizations do not include the local planning department, the
local fire department, or the mayor's office.
Note: EPA may conduct reference checks to ensure that organizations identified are supportive and
involved with the brownfieIds project.
H. Reduction of Threats to Human Health and the Environment (a maximum of 20 points may be received
for this criterion)
1. Describe how the funds will be used to address/facilitate the identification and/or reduction of
threats to human health and the environment within the target area (including cancer, asthma, or birth
defects) that may be associated with exposure to hazardous substances, pollutants, contaminants, or
petroleum.
2. Describe whether you are working with your state or tribal environmental authority and/or local
public health department to ensure protectiveness of human health and the environment, and to
ensure the consideration of public health issues, during both the cleanup and the redevelopment
process.
3. If known, describe the proposed cleanup plan for the site and the estimated costs to complete the
cleanup; also describe how the proposed cleanup plan for the site will reduce threats to human
health and the environment.
4. If proposed cleanup plan is known, describe how you will ensure the proposed cleanup plan will be
protective of human health and the environment, and will comply with all applicable Federal and
State laws.
5. If engineering controls (e.g. fences, pavements: asphalt, concrete, flexible, membrane fiber,
vegetative cover, vapor barriers) are planned, di scuss your plans for operation and maintenance;
enforcement, and long-term monitoring and how these costs will be covered. Also, include how
institutional controls will be managed and tracked to ensure cleanups remain protective of human
health and the environment.
I. Leveraging of Additional Resources (a maximum of 10 points may be received for this criterion)
1. Describe the financial needs for each phase of the proj ect (cleanup and redevelopment), if known.
For example, cleanup of the property is estimated at $500,000; redevelopment of the property into
an XX-square foot office building is estimated at $2.5 million.
2. Identify the funds (e.g., general revenues, Tax Increment Financing (TIP), staff time/in-kind) that
your agency/organization has committed or will commit to meet the needs described above. If you
are applying as a coalition, describe the resources (i.e., funding, services, expertise) that the
coalition members are contributing as part of the coalition.
3. Describe all other funding sources (e.g., federal, state, nonprofit, or private) that will be committed
or that you are pursuing to fill in any remaining funding gaps to ensure the success of thi s proj ect.
J. Ability to Manage Grants/Management Structure (a maximum of 10 points may be received for this
criterion)
1. Demonstrate your ability to manage this grant and oversee all phases of work under this grant. Or
describe the system(s) you have in place to acquire the requisite expertise.
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2. Describe your history of managing federal funds. You must identify and provide information
regarding the status of any adverse audit findings from an OMB Circular A-133 audit, an audit
conducted by a federal, state, tribal, or local government inspector general or similar organization,
or audits conducted by the U. S. General Accounting Office. You al so must note whether you are,
or have previously been, required to comply with special "high risk" terms and conditions under
agency regulations implementing OMB Circular A-l 02.
3. Provide your plan for managing the loan fund to ensure that it is managed in accordance with
prudent lending practices. Include information on the qualifications of staff and institutions the
applicant intends to use for financial, analytical, legal, and record keeping activities to ensure that the
loan fund is managed in accordance with prudent lending practices.
4. If you plan to acquire any fond management expertise, describe the relationship between the
potential cooperative agreement recipient and the institution or individual and the type of agreement
(e.g., contract5 or subgrant6) that is planned.
5. If you are, or have been, a recipient of an EPA Brownfields cooperative agreement(s), provide
information regarding your compliance with quarterly progress reports, brownfields reporting
measures, and annual financial status reporting.
6. If you are, or have been, a recipient of an EPA Brownfields cooperative agreement(s), indicate the
year of award and the amount of funds remaining.
7. If you are, or have been, a recipient of an EPABrownfields cooperative agreement(s), highlight
significant accomplishments generated through the use of the funds.
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5Note, cooperative agreement recipients must comply with 40 CFR 31.36 when entering into procurement
contracts with RLF grant funds and 40 CFR 31.37 when issuing subgrants with RLF grant funds. Nonprofit
organizations receiving RLF loans/subgrants and cleanup grants must comply with 40 CFR Part 30 when
entering into procurement contracts with RLF grant funds.
6Note, cooperative agreement recipients cannot award subgrants to for-profit organizations.
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Cleanup Grant Criteria
Provide responses to the following threshold and ranking criteria if you are applying for cleanup grant
funding. Threshold criteria are pass/fail criteria. If your responses do not meet the threshold criteria, the
ranking criteria will not be evaluated.
Note: An eligible entity may apply for up to $200,000 per site. Due to budget limitations, no entity
may apply for cleanup funding at more than five (5) sites. Applicants must submit a separate
proposal for each site. Each proposal will be evaluated separately and funding decisions will be
independent for each site. If EPA determines that the threshold criteria for the site are not met, the
applicant cannot substitute other sites. If an applicant elects to submit a proposal for both
hazardous substance and petroleum funding for the same site, the funding amount cannot exceed the
$200,000 site limit.
Threshold Criteria for Cleanup Grants
Note: For all threshold criterion, EPA may seek further clarification of responses, if needed, during
the selection review process.
A. Applicant Eligibility
Describe how you are an eligible entity for the grant for which you are applying. Refer to the description of
applicant eligibility in the section Who Can Apply? If you are a nonprofit organization, you must
provide documentation, as an attachment to this proposal, indicating nonprofit status.
Note: In order to receive a cleanup grant, the applicant must own the property for which they are
applying by the time the grant is awarded and no later than September 30, 2005. For the purposes
of these guidelines, the term "own " means fee simple title.
B. Community Notification
The applicant is responsible for conducting community notification. Describe how the targeted
community(ies) was/were notified of the preparation and submission of this grant proposal. You must
clearly demonstrate that you have made a copy(ies) of this grant proposal available for public review and
have provided an opportunity for public comment prior to submitting this proposal. This may include
putting a notice of availability in the local newspaper or other widely available/accessible local media asking
for public comment; discussing a brownfields proposal during an open government meeting; holding a public
meeting; notifying affected residents door-to-door. Notifications must be current and related to this
specific proposal being submitted for consideration. Failure to demonstrate community notification will
result in failure of this proposal. Applicants who are submitting more than one proposal may opt to have a
single community notification. However, all targeted communities must receive the notification and be
provided an opportunity to comment on the proposal(s) relevant to their community. Please note that the
notification is to citizens or members of the public, not exclusively to government officials. EPAreserves the
right to request documentation of community notification as part of its threshold review of the proposal.
C. Letter from the State or Tribal Environmental Authority
For an applicant other than a state or tribal environmental authority, attach a current letter from the
appropriate state or tribal environmental authority acknowledging that the applicant plans to conduct
cleanup activities and is planning to apply for Federal grant funds. If you are applying for multiple types of
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grant program activities, you need to submit only one letter acknowledging the relevant grant activities.
However, you must provide the letter as an attachment to EACH proposal Please note that general
correspondence and documents evidencing state involvement with the project (i.e., state enforcement orders
or state notice letters) are NOT acceptable. Please provide advance notice to the appropriate state or
tribal environmental authority to allow adequate time to receive the letter to accompany your proposal.
D. Site Eligibility and Property Ownership Eligibility
For the site, provide the following:
1. Affirm that the site is a.) not listed or proposed for listing on the National Priorities List; b.) not
subject to unilateral administrative orders, court orders, administrative orders on consent, orjudicial
consent decrees issued to or entered into by parties under CERCLA; and c.) Not subj ect to the
jurisdiction, custody, or control of the United States government. (Note: Land held in trust by the
United States government for an Indian tribe is eligible for brownfield funding.) Please refer to
Appendix 3.
2. Identify a.) the name of the site; b.) the address of the site; c.) whether this site is contaminated by
petroleum or hazardous substances; d.) the operational history and current uses(s) of the site; and
e.) environmental concerns, if known, at the site.
3. If the applicant determines a property-specific determination is needed for the site to be eligible, the
applicant must attach information requested m Appendix 4, Section 4,1.
If the site is a petroleum site, please proceed to question #8. If the site is a hazardous substance
site, please continue responding to the questions in order.
4. Identify how the site became contaminated and, to the extent possible, describe the nature and
extent of the contamination.
5. Explain the phase of assessment that has been completed to date. Aminimum of an ASTM or
equivalent Phase I site assessment must be completed prior to proposal submission. Provide the
date of the site assessment(s). If additional assessment work is needed, please explain:
a. How much assessment is remaining?
b. What is the estimated cost of the remaining assessment?
c. What is the source of funds to pay for the remaining assessment?
d. What is the schedule for completing the assessment?
6. Identify known ongoing or anticipated environmental enforcement actions related to the brownfield
site for which funding is sought. Describe any inquiries or orders from federal, state, or local
government entities that the applicant is aware of regarding the responsibility of any party for the
contamination or hazardous waste at the site. The information provided in this section may be
verified, and EPA may conduct an independent review of information related to the applicant's
responsibility for the contamination or hazardous waste at the site.
7. a. Describe how you took ownership of the site (e.g., tax foreclosure, purchase, donation, eminent
domain) and date of acquisition. If you have notyet taken ownership of the site, describe how
you will take ownership of the site by the time the grant is awarded and no later than September
30,2005;
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b. identify whether or not all disposal of hazardous substances at the site occurred before you
acquired the property;
c. describe any inquiry into the previous ownership, uses of the property, and environmental
conditions prior to taking ownership; describein detail:
the types of site assessments performed (e.g., ASTM Phase I or equivalent); and
who performed the assessments and identify his/her qualifications to perform such work;
d. describe the uses of the site since your ownership began through the present; provide a timeline
with dates and detail s of the uses;
e. describe if you, in any way, are potentially liable, or affiliated with any other person who is
potentially liable, for contamination at the site;
f identify any known parties who may be considered potentially liable for the contamination on the
site, and describe any familial, contractual, corporate or financial relationship that you have with ^
potentially liable parties at the site;
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g. describe the appropriate care that you exerci sed with respect to hazardous sub stances found at
the facility by taking REASONABLE STEPS to: 3
* stop any continuing releases; -JQJ
« prevent any threatened future release;
* prevent or limit exposure to any previously released hazardous substance
Please note that reasonable steps may include actions such as limiting access to the 3
property, monitoring known contaminants, and complying with state and/or local
requirements.
*o
h. confirm your commitment to:
comply with all land use restrictions and institutional controls;
assist and cooperate with those performing the cleanup and to provide access to the
property;
comply with all information requests and administrative subpoenas that have or may be 3
issued in connection with the property; and *"
provide all legally required notices.
Applicants that own contaminated land should be aware that achieving and maintaining landowner liability
protections, ensuring eligibility for Brownfield grant funds, and complying with the terms and conditions on
the uses of grant funds at brownfield sites requires that they meet certain continuing obligations. For
example: grantees must comply with land use restrictions and institutional controls; take reasonable steps
with respect to the hazardous substances on the property; cooperate, assist and allow access to authorized
representatives; and comply with CERCLA information requests and subpoenas and provide legally
required notices. For more information on the obligations of owners of contaminated property, please see
EPA's Common Elements Reference Sheet at http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/policies/cleanup/
superfund/common-elem-ref.pdf.
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8. Petroleum Sites (Proceed to threshold criterion E if you do not have a petroleum site.)
The Brownfields Law allows certain sites contaminated with petroleum or petroleum product to be eligible
for brownfields grant funding. Eligibility will be determined by EPA or the state, as appropriate (See
Appendix 3, part 3.3.2 Contamination by Petroleum or Petroleum Product for a description of the
eligibility requirements).
Non-Tribal applicants must provide the information requested below to your state, so that the state can
make the necessary determinations on petroleum site eligibility in Appendix 3, part 3.3.2. Include any
response to your request received from your state regarding site eligibility with thi s proposal. If you do not
receive a response from your state by the deadline for filing proposal s, please indicate this in your proposal
cover letter. (Note: You must provide EPA with the date you requested your state to make the petroleum
site determinations. EPA will make the petroleum site eligibility determination if a state is unable to do so
following a request from an applicant.)
Tribal applicants must submit the following information with their proposal to EPA. EPA will make the
petroleum site eligibility determinations for Tribes.
Provide the following information to your state and to EPA:
a. Identify the current and immediate past owner of the site.
b. Acquisition of Site. Identify when and by what method the current owner acquired the property
(e.g., purchase, tax foreclosure, donation, eminent domain).
c. No Responsible Party for the Site. Identify whether the current and immediate past owner
dispensed or disposed of petroleum or petroleum product, or exacerbated the existing
petroleum-contamination at the site, and whether the current and immediate past owner took
reasonable steps with regard to the contamination at the site.
d. Cleaned Up by a Person Not Potentially Liable. Identify whether you (the applicant) dispensed
or disposed of petroleum or petroleum product, or exacerbated the existing petroleum
contamination at the site, and whether you took reasonable steps with regard to the
contamination at the site.
e. Relatively Low Risk. Identify whether the site is of "relatively low risk" compared to other
petroleum or petroleum product-only contaminated sites in the state in which the site is located,
including whether the site is receiving or using Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST)
Trust Fund monies.
f Judgments, Orders, or Third Party Suits. Provide information that no responsible party is
identified for the site through, either:
(1) ajudgment rendered in a court of law or an administrative order that would require any
person to assess, investigate, or clean up the site; or
(2) an enforcement action by federal or state authorities against any party that would require any
person to assess, investigate, or clean up the site; or
(3) a citizen suit, contribution action or other third party claim brought against the current or
immediate past owner, that would, if successful, require the assessment, investigati on, or cleanup
of the site.
g. Subject to RCRA. Identify whether the site is subj ect to any order under section 9003 (h) of the
Solid Waste Disposal Act.
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h. Financial Viability of Responsible Parties. For any current or immediate past owners identified
as responsible for the contamination at the site, provide information regarding whether they have
the financial capability to satisfy their obligations under federal or state law to assess, investigate
or clean up the site.
Note: If no responsible party is identified in (c) or (f) above, then the petroleum-
contaminated site may be eligible for funding. If a responsible party is identified above,
EPA. or the state must next determine whether that party is viable. If any such party is
determined to be viable, then the petroleum-contaminated site may not be eligible for
funding.
Your request to a state or EPA for the determination on site eligibility also must include
a brief explanation of why the information requested above is not available.
E. Cleanup Authority and Oversight Structure
Please note that you will be required to comply with all applicable Federal and State laws; and
ensure that the cleanup protects human health the environment
1. Describe how you will oversee the cleanup at the site. Indicate whether you plan to enroll in a state CD
or tribal response program. If you do not plan to enroll in a state or tribal response program, or an
appropriate state or tribal response program is not available, you will be required to consult with __
U. S. EPAto ensure cleanups are protective of human health and the environment. Therefore, if you
do not plan to enroll in a state or tribal response program, provide a description of the technical
expertise you have to conduct, manage, and oversee the cleanup and/or whether you plan to
acquire additional technical expertise. If you do plan to acquire additional technical expertise,
discuss how, consistent with the competitive procurement provisions of 40 CFR 31.36 (for eligible
government entities) or 40 CFR Part 3 0 (for nonprofit organizations), you will ensure that this
technical expertise is in place prior to beginning cleanup activities.
2. Cleanup response activities often impact adj acent or neighboring properties. For example, access
to neighboring properties may be necessary to conduct the cleanup, perform confirmation sampling,
or monitor offsite migration of contamination. If this type of access is needed, provide your plan to JD
acquire access to the relevant property.
O
F. Cost Share
Cleanup grant recipients are required by the Brownfields Law to provide a 20 percent cost share. This cost
share is calculated as 20 percent of the total federal cleanup funds awarded. For example, if you are
applying for $200,000 of federal cleanup funds, you must provide a cost share of an additional $40,000.
The cost share may be in the form of a contribution of money, labor, material, or services from a non-federal
source. If the cost share is in the form of a contribution of labor, material, or other services, it must be
incurred for an eligible and allowable expense under the grant and not for ineligible expenses, such as
administrative costs (see Appendix 2 for a discussion of prohibited costs).
Cleanup grant applicants may petition EPAto waive the cost share requirement if it would place an undue
hardship on the eligible entity. EPA will consider hardship waiver requests on a case-by-case basis and will
approve such requests on a limited basis. Undue hardship may be defined as bankruptcy or such other
indicator of distress, including low per-capita income, unemployment rate above national average, or
unemployment or economic adj ustment problems resulting from severe short-term or long-term changes in
economic conditions.
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Describe your plans for providing the cost share, including the sources of the funding or services, as
required for this cleanup grant. If you are requesting a hardship waiver of the cost share, provide an
explanation for the basis of your request as part of your proposal.
Ranking Criteria for Cleanup Grants
A. Cleanup Grant Budget (a maximum of 10 points may be received for this criterion)
Provide the proposed budget(s) for your proposal, including a detailed description and narrative of each
task. Typical tasks might include "Community Involvement," "Site Cleanup," and "Cleanup Planning." The
narrative must provide a basis for the tasks. The budget also must reflect your cost share. The budget(s)
must show the distribution of funds, including cost estimates for each of the proposed activities.
If your proposal is requesting both hazardous substance and petroleum funding, please provide two
separate budgets to reflect the amount of hazardous substance and petroleum funding and the tasks
associated with the funding.
A local government may use up to 10 percent of its grant funds for monitoring the health of populations
exposed to one or more hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants from a brownfield site and
monitoring and enforcement of any institutional control used to prevent human exposure to any hazardous
substance, pollutant, or contaminant from a brownfield site. To effectively oversee assessments and
cleanups, local governments may use grant funds (subj ect to the 10 percent limit) for other related program
development and implementation activities (e.g., writing local brownfield-related ordinances). Activities
planned for the 10 percent category must be included in a separate budget task.
Sample Format for Budget
Budget Categories
(programmatic costs only)
Personnel
Fringe Benefits
Travel1
Equipment2
Supplies
Contractual3
Other (specify)
Total
Project Tasks
[Task 1]
[Task 2]
[Task3]
[Task 4]
Total
Cost Share
1 Travel to brownfield-related training conferences is an acceptable use of these grant funds.
2 EPA defines equipment as items that cost $5,000 or more with a useful life of more than one year. Items
costing less than $5,000 are considered supplies.
3 Applicants must comply with the procurement procedures contained in 40 CFR 3 1 .36, or for non-
profits, with 40 CFR 30.40 through 30.48.
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B. Community Need (a maximum of 15 points may be received for this criterion)
1. Provide a detailed description of the target community that the project(s) will benefit. Include
demographic information for the target community and indicators, such as the poverty rate,
unemployment rate, special community situations (e.g., population size), or other environmental
justice factors that support community need relating directly to this project (e.g., low-income and/or
minority communities; sensitive populations, such as children and pregnant women; or communities
disproportionately impacted by environmental factors). Identify the source for this information.
2. Expl ain how the targeted community wi 11 benefit from thi s grant.
3. Characterize the impact of brownfields on your targeted community (or communities) by describing
the extent of brownfields (e.g., size, number, location) and the economic, health, and/or
environmental impacts of the brownfields.
C. Sustainable Reuse of Brownfields (a maximum of 10 points may be received for thi s criterion)
Describe how this grant would support the goals listed below and, specifically, how your plans,
development regulations, policies and programs will achieve these goals.
1. prevent pollution and reduce resource consumption (strategies to do so may include green building,
clean energy production, alternative stormwater management, eco-industriai development,
environmentally beneficial landscaping, and/or others);
2. promote economic benefits (e.g., an expanded tax base, increased investment, job creation, |7J
enhanced property values through adj acent greenspace creation, and/or others); *"*%
3. promote a vibrant community characterized by a mix of uses, appropriate density, housing choice
and walkabiliry (strategies to do so may include smart growth, new urbanism, linked recreational
and park areas, and/or others);
4. reuse existing infrastructure (e.g., existing roads, rail/bus/subway services, buildings, utility services,
sidewalks/pedestrian/bicycle trails, recreational services, landscaping, neighborhood centers/
institutions); 0
HI
5. promote transportation choices (e.g., public transportation, bike-to-work/walk-to-work
opportunities, and/or others); and Q
6. prevent future brownfields (through such activities as brownfields inventories, active communication tn
\& W
with operating facilities, preventing land abandonment, and/or others).
D. Creation and/or Preservation of Greenspace/Open Space or Nonprofit Purpose (a maximum of 5
points may be received for this criterion)
Describe the extent to which the grant would facilitate the creation of, preservation of, or addition to a park,
greenway, undeveloped properly, recreational property, or other property used for nonprofit purposes. If
this grant would result in such creation or addition (e.g., a new or expanded community park), what specific
regulations, policies, or programs, are (or will be) in place to provide for long-term management and care?
If this grant would result in such preservation (e.g. preserving outlying greenfields by focusing development
on brownfields) what specific regulations, policies, or programs, are (or will be) in place to assure long-term
management, care and preservation?
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E. Community Involvement (a maximum of 15 points may be received for this criterion)
EPA encourages early community notification and continuing community involvement.
1. Discuss your plan for involving the targeted community (e.g., neighborhood organizations, citizens'
groups, borrowers, redevelopers, and other stakeholders) in cleanup decisions and reuse planning
for the site, including making cleanup-related documents available to the public and soliciting public
comment on the analysis of cleanup alternatives. Describe what community involvement activities, if
any, have already occurred.
2. Describe your efforts and/or plans to develop partnerships at the local, state, and/or tribal level with
other stakeholders to ensure appropriate and sustainable cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields
in your targeted community.
3. Describe your specific plans for communicating the progress of your project to citizens, including
plans for communicating in languages indigenous to the community or other efforts to reach the
targeted community as well as the broader community.
4. Provide a list of the community-based organizations involved in this proj ect and a contact person,
phone number, and a brief description of the organization's activities and representation (these
organizations may include, but are not limited to, local citizen groups, environmental organizations,
civic organizations, local business groups and institutions, educational institutions, and local labor
organizations). Community-based organizations do not include the local planning department, the
local fire department, or the mayor's office.
Note: EPA may conduct reference checks to ensure that organizations identified are supportive and,
involved with the brownfields project.
F. Reduction of Threats to Human Health and the Environment (a maximum of 25 points may be received
for this criterion)
1. Describe how the funds will be used to address/facilitate the identification and/or reduction of
threats to human health and the environment within the target area (including cancer, asthma, or birth
defects) that may be associated with exposure to hazardous substances, pollutants, contaminants, or
petroleum.
2. Describe whether you are working with your state or tribal environmental authority and/or local
public health department to ensure protectiveness of human health and the environment, and to
ensure the consideration of public health issues, during both the cleanup and the redevelopment
process.
3. Describe the proposed cleanup plan for the site and the estimated costs to complete the cleanup;
also describe how the proposed cleanup plan for the site will reduce threats to human health and the
environment.
4. Describe how you will ensure the proposed cleanup plan will be protective of human health and the
environment, and will comply with all applicable Federal and State laws.
5. If engineering controls (e.g. fences, pavements: asphalt, concrete, flexible, membrane fiber,
vegetative cover, vapor barriers) are planned, di scuss your plans for operation and maintenance;
enforcement, and long-term monitoring and how these costs will be covered. Also, include how
institutional controls will be managed and tracked to ensure cleanups remain protective of human
health and the environment.
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G Leveraging of Additional Resources (a maximum of 10 points may be received for this criterion)
1. Describe the financial needs for each phase of the proj ect (cleanup and redevelopment), if known.
For example, cleanup of the property is estimated at $500,000; redevelopment of the property into
an XX-square foot office building is estimated at $2.5 million.
2. Identify the funds (e.g., general revenues, tax increment financing (TIP), staff time/in-kind) that your
agency/organization has committed or will commit to meet the needs described above.
3. Describe all other funding sources (e.g., federal, state, nonprofit, or private) that will be committed
or that you are pursuing to fill in any remaining funding gaps to ensure the success of this proj ect.
H. Ability to Manage Grants (a maximum of 10 points may be received for this criterion)
1. Describe your ability to manage this grant and oversee all phases of work under this grant. Or
describe the system(s) you have in place to hire the requisite expertise.
2. Describe your history of managing federal funds. You must identify and provide information
regardingthe status of any adverse audit findings from an OMB Circular A-133 audit, an audit
conducted by a federal, state, tribal, or local government inspector general or similar organization, or -»
audits conducted by the U.S. General Accounting Office. You also must note whether you are, or
have previously been, required to comply with special "high risk" terms and conditions under agency
regulations implementing OMB Circular A-102. "U
If you are, or have been, a recipient of an EPABrownfields cooperative agreement(s), provide
information regarding your compliance with quarterly progress reports, brownfields reporting -
measures, and annual financial status reporting. ZZ
4. If you are, or have been, a recipient of an EPABrownfields cooperative agreement(s), indicate the
year of award and the amount of funds remaining.
5. If you are, or have been, a recipient of an EPABrownfields cooperative agreement(s), highlight
significant accomplishments generated through the use of the funds.
~O
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3
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EPA Regional Brownfields
Coordinators
Regions and States
EPA Region 1
Carol Tucker
EPA Region 2
Larry D'Andrea
EPA Region 3
Tom Stolle
EPA Region 4
Wanda Jennings
EPA Region 5
Deborah Orr
EPA Region 6
Jonathan Weisberg
EPA Region 7
Susan Klein
EPA Region 8
KathieAtencio
EPA Region 9
Jim Hanson
EPA Region 10
Tim Brincefield
CT,ME,MA,
NH,RI,VT
NJ, NY, PR, VI
DE,DC,MD,
PA,VA,WV
AL,FL,GA,KY,
MS,NC,SC,TN
IL,IN,MI,
MN,OH,WI
AR,LA,NM,
OK,TX
IA,KS,MO,NE
CO,MT,ND,
SD,UT,WY
AZ,CA,ffl,
NV,AS,GU
AK,D),OR,WA
Address and Phone Number
One Congress Street
Boston, MA 02 114-2023
Phone (617) 918-1221 Fax (617) 918-1291
tucker.carol@epa.gov
290 Broadway, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10007
Phone (212) 63743 14 Fax (212) 6374360
dandrea.larry@epa.gov
1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19 103
Phone (215) 814-3 129 Fax (215)814-5518
stolle .tom@epa. gov
Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street
Atlanta, GA 30303
Phone (404) 562-8682 Fax (404) 562-8628
Jennings . wanda@epa. gov
77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604-3507
Phone (3 12) 886-7576 Fax (3 12) 886-7 190
orr.deborah@epa.gov
1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200 (6SF-PB), Dallas, TX 75202-273 3
Phone (214) 665-2180 Fax (214) 665-6660
weisberg.j onathan@epa. gov
901 N. 5th Street, Kansas City, KS 66101
Phone (913) 551-7786 Fax (913) 551-8688
klein. susan@epa. gov
999 18th Street, Suite 300 (EPR-B), Denver, CO 80202-2406
Phone (303) 3 12-6803 Fax (303) 3 12-6955
atencio.kathie@epa.gov
75 Hawthorne Street, SFD 1-1, SanFrancisco, CA 94105
Phone (415) 972-3 188 Fax (415) 947-3528
hanson.jim@epa.gov
1200 SixthAvenue (ECL-112), Seattle, WA98101
Phone (206) 553-2100 Fax (206) 553-0124
brincefield.timothy@epa.gov
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Prohibitions on Use of Funds
Grant funds may not be used for the payment of:
A penalty or fine.
A federal cost-share requirement (for example, a cost share required by
other federal funds).
An administrative cost (see below).
A response cost at a brownfield site for which the recipient of the grant or loan is potentially liable under
CERCLA§107.
Acost of compliance with any federal law, excluding the cost of compliance with laws applicable to the
cleanup.
Unallowable costs (e.g., lobbying and fund raising) under OMB Circulars A-21, A-87, or A-122, as
applicable.
Administrative Cost Prohibition
The Brownfields Law prohibits the use of any "part of a grant or loan" for the payment of an administrative
cost. In implementing this prohibition, EPAhas made a distinction between prohibited administrative costs
and eligible programmatic costs.
A. Administrative Costs. Prohibited administrative costs are direct costs, including those in the form of
salaries, benefits, contractual costs, supplies, and data processing charges, incurred to comply with most
provisions of the Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants contained in 40 CFRPart 30 or
40 CFR Part 31. Direct costs for grant administration are ineligible even if the grantee or subgrantee is
required to carry out the activity under the grant agreement. Prohibited administrative costs also are
all indirect costs under OMB Circulars A-21, A-87, and A-122, and Subpart 31.2 of the
Federal Acquisition Regulation.
B. Statutory Exclusions. The administrative cost prohibition does not apply to direct costs for:
1. Investigation and identification of the extent of contamination;
2. Design and performance of a response action; or
3. Monitoring of a natural resource.
C. Programmatic Costs. EPA has determined that the administrative cost prohibition does not apply to
"programmatic" costs, i.e., costs for activities that are integral to achieving the purpose of the grant,
even if EPA considered the costs to be "administrative" under the prior brownfields program. For
example, the prohibition does not apply, under a revolving loan fund grant, to costs incurred in making
loans (such as the costs of loan processing, legal fees, and professional services) or overseeing the
borrower's activities to ensure compliance with relevant and appropriate requirements of the National
Contingency Plan (see 40 CFR §300.700 etseq.). These costs are programmatic, not administrative.
Direct costs, as defined in the applicable OMB Cost Principle Circular, for the following programmatic
activities are not subj ect to the administrative cost prohibition:
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1. In the case of grants for site characterization and assessment, expenses for inventorying,
characterizing, assessing, and conducting planning related to brownfield sites.
2. In the case of grants for capitalization of revolving loan funds:
(a) expenses for making and managing loans;
(b) expenses, including financial management expenses, for operating the revolving fund; and
(c) expenses for making and managing subgrants under CERCLA § 104(k)(3)(B)(ii).
3. In the case of grants for direct use by eligible entities and nonprofit organizations in remediation of
brownfield sites under CERCLA § 104(k)(3)(A)(ii), expenses for site remediation activities.
4. In the case of grants for implementation of brownfields programs under CERCLA § I04(k)(6),
expenses for providing training, research, and technical assistance.
5. Costs incurred for complying with procurement provisions of 40 CFR Part 30 and 3I are
considered eligible programmatic costs only if the procurement contract is for services or products
that are direct costs for performing activities specified above in Section B, "Statutory Exclusions,"
or Section C, "Programmatic Costs."
6. Costs for performance and financial reporting required under 40 CFR 30.51 and 30.52, and 40
CFR 31.40 and 31.41 are eligible programmatic costs. Performance and financial reporting are
essential programmatic tools for both the recipient and EPA to ensure that grants are carried out in
accordance with statutory and regulatory requirements.
Eligible programmatic costs can include expenses for travel, training, equipment, supplies, reference
materials, and contractual support if those costs are reasonable and allocable to tasks specified in a
grantee's approved scope of work for carrying out the activities described in Section B, "Statutory
Exclusions," or Section C, "Programmatic Costs."
Eligible programmatic costs may be used to help meet the RLF capitalization grant and direct cleanup grant
recipients' 20 percent cost share. Prohibited administrative costs may not be used to meet recipients' cost
share.
For further information on these prohibitions, contact your Regional Brownfields Coordinator listed in
Appendix I.
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Guidance on Sites Eligible for
Brownfields Funding Under
CERCLA§104(k)
Contents
Page
3.1 Introduction 52
3.2 General Definition of Brownfield Site 52
3.3 Additional Areas Specifically Eligible for Funding 52
3.3.1 Contaminated by Controlled Substance 52
3.3.2 Contamination by Petroleum or Petroleum Product 53
3.3.3 Mine-scarred Lands 55
3.4 Particular Classes of Sites Not Eligible for Funding or Eligible Only Under
Property-specific Determinations 56
3.4.1 Facilities Subject to CERCLARemoval Actions 57
3.4.2 Facilities Subject to Unilateral Administrative Orders, Court Orders, Administrative
Orders on Consent, or Judicial Consent Decrees Issued to or Entered into by Parties
UnderCERCLA 58
3.4.3 Facilities Listed (or Proposed for Listing) on the National Priorities List 58
3.4.4 Facilities to which a permit has been issued by the United States or an authorized
state under the Solid Waste Disposal Act (RCRA), the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, or the Safe Drinking Water Act 59
3.4.5 RCRASites 59
3.4.6 Land disposal units that have filed a closure notification under Subtitle C of RCRA
and to which closure requirements have been specified in a closure plan or permit 60
3.4.7 Facilities that are subject to the jurisdiction, custody, or control of the United
States government 61
3.4.8 Sites Contaminated with PCBs 61
3.4.9 Exclusion of LUST Trust Fund Sites 62
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3.1 Introduction
The information provided in this appendix should be used by applicants as a guide in determining the
eligibility of any property for brownfields funding. The following guidance provides EPA's preliminary views
on the types of sites that may be appropriate for funding. EPAis providing this information as guidance to
applicants to assist you in developing your proposals for funding under CERCLA § 104(k). This guidance
provides preliminary interpretations and policy guidance that EPA intends to use as a guide when we
exercise our authority to award funds under § 104(k). However, we believe that further development may
impact our view of these provisions, and we will reevaluate our preliminary views in light of the factual
information we receive with each proposal, as well as over the course of implementing the § 104(k) grant
program.
This guidance does not impose legally-binding requirements. Applicants are free to raise questions about
the appropriateness of these preliminary views, and EPA will consider whether these preliminary views are
appropriate at that time. Any decision by EPA to apply this preliminary guidance will be made based on the
applicable statutory provisions.
3.2 General Definition of Brownfield Site
The new Brownfields Law defines a "Brownfield Site" to mean:
".. .real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the
presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant."
Brownfield sites include all "real property," including residential, as well as commercial and industrial
properties.
3.3 Additional Areas Specifically Eligible for Funding
The Brownfields Law identifies three types of properties that are specifically eligible for funding:
1. Sites contaminated by controlled substances.
2. Sites contaminated by petroleum or a petroleum product.
3. Mine-scarred lands.
See below for guidance on determining the scope of each of these three types of sites. Applicants should
identify properties included within their funding proposals that fall within the scope of any of the following
three areas.
3.3.1 Contamination by Controlled Substance
Sites eligible for funding include real property, including residential property, that is contaminated by a
controlled substance. A"controlled substance" is defined under the Controlled Substances Act as "a drug
or other substance, or immediate precursor, included in schedule I, II, III, IV, or V of part B of this title (21
USC Section 812). The term does not include distilled spirits, wine, malt beverages, or tobacco..."
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For example, sites eligible for brownfields funding may include private residences, formerly used for the
manufacture and/or distribution of methamphetamines or other illegal drugs where there is a presence or
potential presence of controlled substances or pollutants, contaminants, or hazardous substances (e.g., red
phosphorous, kerosene, acids).
3.3.2 Contamination by Petroleum or Petroleum Product
Petroleum-contaminated sites (except those sites receiving LUST trust fund monies) may be eligible for
brownfi elds funding if the applicant can provide information that will enable EPA or the state to make certain
statutory determinations, as described in Appendix 4l. (EPA will make the statutory determinations for
tribes). Petroleum-contaminated sites (or portions of properties contaminated with petroleum or petroleum
product) that are eligible for brownfi elds funding include certain sites that are not underground storage tank
(UST) sites as described below. Petroleum is defined under CERCLAas "crude oil or any fraction thereof
which is not otherwise specifically listed or designated as a hazardous substance under that section."
For a petroleum contaminated site(s) that otherwise meets the definition of a brownfi elds site to be eligible
for funding, EPA or the state must determine:
1. the site is of "relatively low risk" compared with other "petroleum-only" sites in the state; and
2. there is no viable responsible party; and
3. the site will not be assessed, investigated or cleaned up by a person that is potentially liable for
cleaning up the site.
In addition, petroleum-contaminated sites must not be subject to a corrective action order under the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) §9003(h).
In the case of proposals that include requests for an assessment or direct cleanup grant to address
petroleum-contaminated sites, applicants must provide information in their proposal indicating whether the
site meets each of the criteria listed above. If EPA awards an applicant a revolving loan fund grant, the state
or EPA must make the same determinations for site(s) that will be cleaned up under a loan or subgrant.
These criteria are explained below.
Note: A determination by the EPA or a state under CERCLA section 101(39)(D) for the
purpose of brownfields funding does not release any party from obligations under any federal
or state law or regulation, or under common law, and does not impact or limit EPA or state
enforcement authorities against any party.
"Relatively Low Risk":
Applicants whose brownfi eld site(s) include properties or portions of properties contaminated with
petroleum or petroleum products must provide information in their proposal indicating that the property
represents a relatively low risk (compared to other petroleum-only sites). Our preliminary view is that
the following types of petroleum-contaminated sites are high risk sites, or are not of "relatively low risk."
1. "High risk" sites currently being cleaned up using LUST trust fund monies.
2. Any petroleum-contaminated site that currently is subj ect to a response under the Oil Pollution Act
(OPA).
1 Appendix 4: Guidance for Requests for Property-Specific Determinations for Funding
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Note: Any site that does not fall under any of the provisions listed above would be considered
to be of relatively low risk for purposes of determining eligibility for a brownfields grant.
"A Site for Which There is No Viable Responsible Party"
EPA or the state is required to determine that there is no viable responsible party that can address the
petroleum contamination at the site. If EPA, or the state, identifies a party that is responsible for the site,
and that party i s financially viable, then the site i s not eligible for funding and EPA cannot award the grant.
This analysis is twofold EPA or the state must first determine whether a responsible party exists and, if a
responsible party is identified, then determine whetherthat party is viable. Applicants must provide
information in their proposal to demonstrate that the property or portion of property contaminated with
petroleum or petroleum product for which they seek funding has no viable responsible party.
A petroleum-contaminated site may be determined to have no responsible party if the site was last acquired
(regardless of whether the site is owned by the applicant) through tax foreclosure, abandonment, or
equivalent government proceedings, and that site meets the criteria in (1) below. Any petroleum-
contaminated site not acquired by a method listed above may be determined to have no responsible party if
the site meets the criteria in both (1) and (2) below.
(1) No responsible party has been identified for the site through:
(a) a judgment rendered in a court of law or an admini strative order that would require any party to
assess, investigate, or clean up the site,
(b) an enforcement action by federal or state authorities that would require any party to assess,
investigate, or clean up the site, or
(c) a citizen suit, contribution action or other third party claim brought against the current or
immediate past owner for the site that would, if successful, require the assessment, investigation, or
clean up the site, and
(2) The current and immediate past owner did not dispose of, or own the subject property during the
disposal of, any contamination at the site, did not exacerbate the contamination at the site, and took
reasonable steps with regard to the contamination at the site.2
If no responsible party is identified above, then the petroleum-contaminated site may be eligible for funding.
If a responsible party is identified above, EPA or the state must next determine whether that party is viable.
If any such party is determined to be viable, then the petroleum-contaminated site may not be eligible for
funding. A party will be considered viable if:
(3) the party is financially capable of satisfying obligations under federal or state law to assess,
investigate or clean up the site. For example, a corporation that may be responsible for the cleanup
of the site that is insolvent or defunct will generally not have the financial capacity to satisfy its
obligations. Resources available to assist in determination of financial viability include Chapter 3
(Business Status and Financial Research) of the EPAPRP Search Manual at http ://www. epa.gov/
Compliance/resources/publications/cleanup/superfund/prpmanual/ and the EPA economic models
for analyzing financial ability to pay at http://www.epa.gov/compliance/civil/programs/econmodels/.
2For purposes of determining petroleum brownfield grant eligibility "reasonable steps with regard to
contamination at the site" includes, as appropriate: stopping continuing releases, preventing threatened future
releases, and preventing or limiting human, environmental, or natural resource exposure to earlier petroleum
or petroleum product releases. Reasonable steps are discussed in more detail on pages 9-12 of EPA's
March 6, 2003, "Common Elements" guidance.
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"Cleaned Up by a Person Not Potentially Liable":
Brownfields funding may be awarded for the assessment and cleanup of petroleum-contaminated sites
provided:
1) the applicant has not dispensed petroleum or petroleum-product at the site, and
2) the applicant did not exacerbate the contamination at the site and took reasonable steps with regard
to the contamination at the site.
"Is not subj ect to any order issued under §9003 (h) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act":
Proposals that include requests for an assessment or direct cleanup grant to address petroleum-
contaminated sites must not be subj ect to a corrective action order under a Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA) §9003(h). If EPAawards an applicant a revolving loan fund grant, the State or EPA
must make the same determination for site(s) that will be cleaned up under a loan or subgrant.
3.3.3 Mine-scarred Lands
Under the new Brownfields Law, mine-scarred lands are eligible for brownfields funding. Applicants for
brownfields funding that include properties within their proposal that they believe fall within the following
definition of mine-scarred lands are encouraged to provide in the site description section of their proposals
information identifying and describing such properties.
EPAs preliminary view is that "mine-scarred lands" are those lands, associated waters, and surrounding
watersheds where extraction, beneficiation, or processing of ores and minerals (including coal) has
occurred. For the purposes of this section, the definition of extraction, beneficiation, and processing is the
definition found at 40 CFR 261.4(b)(7).
Mine-scarred lands include abandoned coal mines and lands scarred by strip mining.
Examples of coal mine-scarred lands may include, but are not limited to:
abandoned surface coal mine areas,
abandoned deep coal mines,
abandoned coal processing areas,
abandoned coal refuse areas,
acid or alkaline mine drainage, and
associated waters affected by abandoned coal mine (or acid mine) drainage or runoff, including stream
beds and adjacent watersheds.
Examples of non-coal hard rock mine-scarred lands may include, but are not limited to:
abandoned surface and deep mines,
abandoned waste rock or spent ore piles,
abandoned roads constructed wholly or partially of waste rock or spent ore,
abandoned tailings, disposal ponds, or piles,
abandoned ore concentration mills,
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abandoned smelters,
abandoned cyanide heap leach piles,
abandoned dams constructed wholly or partially of waste rock, tailings, or spent ore,
abandoned dumps or dump areas used for the disposal of waste rock or spent ore,
acid or alkaline rock drainage, and
waters affected by abandoned metal mine drainage or runoff, including stream beds and adj acent
watersheds.
3.4 Particular Classes of Sites Not Eligible for Funding or
Eligible Only Under Property-specific Determinations
EPA excludes the following types of facilities from funding eligibility unless the applicant fulfills the
requirements for demonstrating that the site meets the criteria for a property-specific determination for
funding (see Appendix 4 Guidance/or Requests for Property-Specific Determinations for Funding).
Applicants are encouraged to indicate within the site description section of their proposal if any site or
property included within the scope of their funding proposal falls within the scope of any of the categories of
sites listed below. When requesting a property-specific determination for funding, applicants should follow
the instructions provided in Appendix 4 for indicating that brownfields funding at such sites will ensure
protection of human health and the environment and promote economic development or the creation or
preservation of greenspace or recreational areas. (Note: The following discusses limitations on funding
particular classes of sites. Many of these limitations reflect policy decisions. Where the limitations are based
on statutory provisions, we have noted that.)
Also, please note that in providing funding for brownfield sites, and given that a limited amount of funding is
available for brownfields grants, EPAs goal is to not provide brownfields funding to sites where EPAhas a
planned or ongoing enforcement action. While EPA does not intend that the existence of a planned or
ongoing enforcement action will necessarily disqualify a site from receipt of brownfields funding, EPA does
believe it is necessary that EPAbe aware of the existence of any such action in making funding decisions.
As a result, EPA will conduct an investigation to evaluate whether a site is, or will be, subj ect to an
enforcement action under CERCL A or other federal environmental statutes. EPA is requesting that
applicants identify ongoing or anticipated environmental enforcement actions related to the brownfield site
for which funding is sought.
The Brownfields Law also excludes three types of properties from funding eligibility and does not allow EPA
the opportunity to provide funding for these properties after making a property-specific determination.
These three types of properties include: 1) sites listed on the NPL, 2) facilities subject to unilateral
administrative orders, court orders, administrative orders on consent or judicial consent decrees issued to or
entered into by parties under CERCLA, and 3) facilities that are subj ect to the jurisdiction, custody, or
control of the United States government.
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Sites Not Eligible for Funding Without a Property-Specific Determination
1 .
2.
Facilities subj ect to planned or ongoing CERCLA removal actions.
Facilities that are subj ect to unilateral administrative orders, court orders, administrative orders on
consent or judicial consent decrees or to which a permit has been issued by the United States or an
authorized state under the Solid Waste Disposal Act (as amended by the Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act (RCRA)), the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPC A), the Toxic
Substances Control Act (TSCA), or the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
Facilities subj ect to corrective action orders under RCRA (sections 3004(u) or 3008(h)) and to
which a corrective action permit or order has been issued or modified to require the implementation
of corrective measures.
Facilities that are land disposal units that have filed a closure notification under subtitle C of RCRA
and to which closure requirements have been specified in a closure plan or permit.
Facilities where there has been a release of poly chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and are subject to
remediation under TSCA.
6
Portions of facilities for which funding for remediation has been obtained from the Leaking
Underground Storage Tank (LUST) Trust Fund.
Guidance regarding the scope of each of the funding restrictions listed above is provided below.
Sites Not Eligible for Brownfields Funding and Not Eligible for a Property-Specific
Determination
1. Facilities listed (or proposed for listing) on the National Priorities List (NPL).
2. Facilities subj ect to unilateral administrative orders, court orders, administrative orders on consent,
or judicial consent decrees issued to or entered into by parties under CERCLA.
3. Facilities that are subj ect to the jurisdiction, custody, or control of the United States government.
(NOTE: Land held in trust by the United States government for an Indian tribe is eligible for
brownfield funding.)
3.4.1 Facilities Subject to CERCLA Removal Actions
Properties (including parcels of properties) where there are removal actions may not receive funding, unless
EPAmakes a property-specific determination of funding eligibility.
EPAs preliminary view is that a removal may be identified by the occurrence of one of the following events,
whichever occurs first in time: EPAissues an action memo; EPAissues an EE/CA approval memo; EPA
mobilizes onsite; or EPAissues anotice of federal interest to one or more potentially responsible parties
(PRP(s)), which in emergencies may be made verbally.
Our preliminary view is that, for the purposes of eligibility to receive brownfields funding, and for no other
reason, a removal is complete when the actions specified in the action memorandum are met, or when the
contractor has demobilized and left the site (as documented in the "pollution report" or POLREP). Once a
removal action is complete, a property is eligible for brownfields funding without having to obtain a
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property-specific funding determination. Applicants applying for brownfields funding for sites at which
removal actions are complete must include documentation of the action being complete with their funding
proposal.
Parcels of facilities not affected by removal action at the same property may apply for brownfields funding
and may be eligible for brownfields funding on a property-specific basis. Property-specific funding decisions
will be made in coordination with the on-scene coordinator (OSC) to ensure that all removals and cleanup
activities at the property are conducted in safe and protective manners and to ensure that the OSC retains
the ability to address all risks and contamination.
Please note that if a federal brownfields-funded site assessment results in identifying the need for a new
removal action, the grantee may continue to expend assessment grant funds on additional assessment
activities. However, any additional expenditure of federal brownfield funds and any additional site
assessment activities should be conducted in coordination with the OSC for the site.
Any property or site where there are removal actions may be eligible for brownfields funding if a grant or
loan applicant can demonstrate that brownfi elds funding will ensure protection of human health and the
environment and promote economic development, or the preservation of green space. EPA will consider
providing funding to an eligible entity for assessment or cleanup activities at the site, on a property-specific
basis (see guidance on documenting eligibility for property-specific funding determinations provided in
Appendix 4).
3.4.2 Facilities Subject to Unilateral Administrative Orders,
Court Orders, Administrative Orders on Consent, or Judicial
Consent Decrees Issued to or Entered into by Parties Under
CERCLA
Sites subject to administrative orders, court orders, and consent or judicial consent decrees issued or
entered into by parties under the provisions of CERCLA are not eligible for funding, even on a property-
specific basis. Therefore, applicants should not include such sites within the scope of their brownfields
funding proposals.
3.4.3 Facilities Listed (or Proposed for Listing) on the National
Priorities List
CERCLA sites listed on the NPL and sites proposed to be listed on the NPL are not eligible for brownfields
funding. In addition, these sites are not eligible for funding on a property-specific basis. Therefore,
applicants should not include proposed or listed NPL sites within the scope of brownfields funding
proposals.
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3.4.4 Facilities to which a permit has been issued by the United
States or an authorized state under the Solid Waste Disposal
Act (RCRA), the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Toxic
Substances Control Act, or the Safe Drinking Water Act
Generally, in cases where a property or a portion of a property is permitted under the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act, Section §1321 of the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and/
or the Toxic Substances and Control Act, the property, or portion of the property, may not receive funding,
without a property-specific determination. Therefore, applicants should review the following guidance
regarding which types of permitted facilities may not receive funding unless EPA makes a property-specific
determination to provide funding. Applicants should note that the exclusion for permitted facilities does not
extend to facilities with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits issued under the
authorities of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, but is limited to facilities issued permits under the
authorities of the Oil Pollution Act (i.e., §1321 ofFWPCA).
In cases where one or more portions of a property are not eligible for funding, the applicant should identify
the specific permit and situation that causes the property to be excluded. In addition, the applicant must
include, within the proposal, documentation that federal brownfields funding for the assessment or clean up
of the property will further the goals established for property-specific funding determinations (see attached
guidance on property-specific funding determinations).
Any property or site that has been issued a permit under the federal environmental statutes listed above (and
in accordance with any additional guidelines provided in Appendix 4) may be eligible for brownfields
funding if a grant or loan applicant can demonstrate that brownfields funding will ensure protection of human
health and the environment and promote economic development or the preservation of greenspace. EPA
will consider providing funding to an eligible entity for assessment or cleanup activities at the site, on a
property-specific basis (see guidance on documenting eligibility for property-specific funding determinations
provided in Appendix 4}.
In some cases, a facility may not have a permit or order because they are not in compliance with federal or
state environmental laws requiring that they obtain a permit or the facility has failed to notify EPA of their
regulatory status. Such facilities are not eligible for brownfields funding. For example, a RCRA treatment
unit operator is required to obtain a permit and/or notify EPA of its operation. An operator that fails to fulfill
those obligations will likely not have a permit or order as EPA will be unaware of their existence. Therefore,
it is EPAs preliminary view that such facilities are ineligible to receive brownfields funds as a result of their
failure to comply with a basic regulatory requirement. Additional guidance on the eligibility of RCRA-
permitted facilities, including facilities under administrative or court orders, including corrective action
orders, is provided in Appendix 4.
3.4.5 RCRA Sites
Excluded RCRA Facilities
EPAs preliminary view is that the following types of RCRA facilities may not receive funding without a
property-specific determination.
a. RCRA-permittedfacilities.
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b. RCRA interim status facilities with administrative orders requiring the facility to conduct corrective action
or otherwise address contamination, including facilities with orders issued under the authorities of RCRA
§3008(a), §3008(h), §3013, and §7003.
c. Facilities under court order or under an administrative order on consent or judicial consent decree under
RCRA or CERCLA that require the facility to conduct corrective action or otherwise address
contamination at the facility.
d. Land disposal units that have notified EPA or an authorized state of their intent to close and have closure
requirements specified in closure plans or permits.
However, if a grant or loan applicant is requesting a grant for property that is excluded, the applicant may
still be eligible for a brownfields grant if the applicant can demonstrate that funding will ensure protection of
human health and the environment and promote economic development or the preservation of greenspace.
EPA will consider providing funding to an applicant for assessment or cleanup activities at such a site on a
property-specific basis (see guidance on documenting eligibility for property-specific funding determinations
in Appendix 4).
RCRA Facilities that are Eligible for Funding
EPAs preliminary view is that the following types of RCRA facilities would not fall within the scope of the
exclusion and would be eligible for funding:
a. RCRA interim status facilities that are not subj ect to any administrative or judicial order or consent
decree;
b. RCRA interim status facilities that are subj ect to administrative or judicial orders that do not include
corrective action requirements or any other cleanup provisions (e.g., RCRA §3008(a) orders without
provisions requiring the owner/operator to address contamination); and
c. Parcels of RCRA facilities that are not under the scope of a RCRA permit or administrative or judicial
order.
In addition, any property or site that has been issued a permit under RCRA may be eligible for brownfields
funding if a grant or loan applicant can demonstrate that brownfields funding will ensure protection of human
health and the environment and promote economic development or the preservation of green space. EPA
will consider providing funding to an eligible entity for assessment or cleanup activities at the site on a
property-specific basis (see guidance on documenting eligibility for property-specific funding determinations
provided in Appendix 4}.
3.4.6 Land disposal units that have filed a closure notification
under Subtitle C of RCRA and to which closure requirements
have been specified in a closure plan or permit.
RCRA hazardous waste landfills that have submitted closure notifications, as required under 40 CFR
264.112(d) or 265.112(d), generally will not be funded. This may include permitted facilities that have filed
notification of closure and for which EPA and/or an authorized state is proceeding with final closure
requirements for the facility. For interim status facilities, this is done through approval of a closure plan
submitted with closure notification; for permitted facilities, this is routinely done as a modification to the
permit, requested by the facility at the time of closure notification.
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Please note that RCRA hazardous waste landfills that have submitted closure notifications may be eligible for
brownfields funding if a grant or loan applicant can demonstrate that brownfields funding will ensure
protection of human health and the environment and promote economic development or the preservation of
green space. EPA will consider providing funding to an eligible entity for assessment or cleanup activities at
the site on a property-specific basis (see guidance on documenting eligibility for property-specific funding
determinations provided in Appendix 4).
3.4.7 Facilities that are subject to the jurisdiction, custody, or
control of the United States government.
Facilities owned by, or under the custody or control of the federal government are not eligible for
brownfields funding, even on a property-specific basis. EPA's preliminary view is that this exclusion may not
extend to:
a. Privately-owned, Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS);
b. Privately-owned, Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) properties; and
c. Other former federal properties that have been disposed of by the U. S. government.
Also note that land held in trust by the United States government for an Indian tribe is not excluded from
funding eligibility.
Also note that eligibility for brownfields funding does not alter a private owner's ability to cost recover from
the federal government in cases where the previous federal government owner remains liable for
environmental damages.
3.4.8 Sites Contaminated with PCBs
The Brownfields Law excludes from funding eligibility portions of facilities where there has been a release of
PCBs that are subject to remediation under TSCA.
EPA's preliminary view is that all portions of properties are eligible for brownfields site assessment grants,
except where EPAhas initiated an involuntary action with any person to address PCB contamination. Also,
it is our preliminary view that all portions of properties are eligible for cleanup and RLF grants, except
where EPAhas an ongoing action against a disposer to address PCB contamination.
Therefore, portions of properties that are excluded from funding eligibility include those portions of
properties where:
There is a release (or disposal) of any waste meeting the definition of "PCB remediation waste" at 40
At which EPA has an initiated an involuntary action with any person to address the PCB contamination.
Such involuntary actions could include:
Enforcement action for illegal disposal;
Regional Administrator's order to characterize or remediate a spill or old disposal (40 CFR
761.50(b)(3));
Penalty for violation of TSCA remediation requirements;
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Superfund removal action; or
Remediation required under RCRA §3004(u) or §3004(v).
PCBs may be remediated under any one of the following provisions under TSCA:
a. Section 761.50(b)(3), the directed characterization, remediation, or disposal action.
b. Section 761.61(a), the self-implementing provision.
c. An approval issued under §761.61 (c), the risk-based provision.
d. Section 761.61(b) to the level of PCB quantification (i.e., 1 ppm in soil).
e. An approval issued under §761.77, the coordinated approval provision.
f Section 761.79, the decontamination provision.
g. An existing EPAPCB Spill Cleanup Policy.
Any future policy or guidance addressing PCB spill clean up or remediation specifically addressing the
remediation of PCBs atbrownfield sites.
Note that any portion of a property where EPA has initiated an involuntary action with any person to
address PCB contamination and portions of properties where EPAhas an ongoing action against a disposer
to address PCB contamination may be eligible for brownfields funding if a grant or loan applicant can
demonstrate that brownfields funding will ensure protection of human health and the environment and
promote economic development or the preservation of green space. EPA will consider providing funding to
an eligible entity for assessment or cleanup activities at the site on a property-specific basis (see guidance on
documenting eligibility for property-specific funding determinations provided in Appendix 4).
3.4.9 Exclusion of LUST Trust Fund Sites
The Brownfields Law excludes from eligibility for funding (unless EPAmakes a property-specific
determination for funding) those sites (or portions of properties) for which assistance for response activity
has been obtained under Subtitle I of RCRA from the LUST trust fund. EPAs preliminary view is that this
provision may exclude:
a. UST sites where money is being spent on actual assessment and/or clean up of UST/petroleum
contamination.
However, in cases where an UST site is located in a state where the state agency has used LUST trust fund
money for state program oversight activities but has not expended LUST trust funds for specific assessment
and/or cleanup activities at the site, the site would not necessarily be excluded from eligibility for brownfields
funding.
Such sites may receive brownfields funding on a property-specific basis, if it is determined that brownfields
funding will protect human health and the environment and the funding will promote economic development
or enable the creation of, preservation of, or addition to greenspace (see guidance on documenting eligibility
for property-specific funding determinations provided in Appendix 4).
Examples of "excluded" sites (Le., sites receiving LUST trust fund monies) we would consider to
be good candidates to receive brownfields grants or loans.
a. All USTfields pilots (50 pilots)
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b. Sites (or portions of properties) where an assessment was completed using LUST trust fund monies and
the state has determined that the site is a low-priority UST site and therefore additional LUST trust fund
money cannot be provided for the clean up of petroleum contamination, but the site still needs some
clean up and otherwise is a good candidate for economic revitalization.
c. Sites (or portions of properti es) where LUST trust fund money was spent for emergency activities, but
then the site was determined to be ineligible for further expenditures of LUST trust funds, yet the site
needs additional funding for continued assessment and/or clean up that will contribute to economic
revitalizati on of the site.
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Guidance for Requests for
Property-Specific
Determinations for Funding
Contents Page
4.1 Overview 66
4.2 Funding Limitations 66
4.3 Criteria for Determining Eligibility for Funding on a Property-Specific Basis 67
4.3.1 Protection of Human Health and the Environment 68
4.3.2 Promote Economic Development 69
4.3.3 Creation of, Preservation of, or Addition to Parks, Greenways, Undeveloped Property,
other Recreational Property, or Other Property Used for Nonprofit Purposes 69
4.3.4 Other Documentation 70
4.4 Properties Not Eligible for Brownfields Funding 70
4.5 Additional Information on Potential for Continual Funding at Sites Subject to
Removal Actions 70
4.6 Additional Information on Potential Funding for Petroleum-contaminated Sites 71
4.7 Eligible Response Sites/Enforcement Limits 72
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4.1 Overview
Grant applicants must determine if any of the properties, or facilities, included in their proposal require a
property-specific determination. Alist of the categories of facilities that are only eligible for funding via a
property-specific determination is provided below.
If an applicant includes within the scope of a grant proposal a facility that requires a property-specific
funding determination, the proposal must include, on a separate page, the following information (to the
extentthis information replicates information requested elsewhere in the proposal, the applicant may directly
copy the text to this page):
1. Basic site identification information and eligible entity identification information.
2. The specific circumstance that requires the grantee to request a property-specific determination (from
the list in Section 3.4 of Appendix 3).
3. A short explanation of why the site falls within the identified circumstance requiring the property-specific
funding determination.
4. An explanation of how providing brownfields funding for the site will meet the criteria necessary for
making a property-specific funding determination Section 4.3.
5. The degree to which other funding is or is not available for the assessment or clean up of the site.
6. A explanation of whether or not the applicant is responsible for the contamination at a site.
The information provided will be used in making a property-specific determination for funding purposes,
which will take place during the proposal evaluation process.
4.2 Funding Limitations
Although the statutory definition of "brownfield site" is broad, Congress limited the extent to which
brownfields funding may be provided to eligible entities to assess and clean up sites that are being addressed
under other federal programs. In addition, the Brownfields Law prohibits the use of grant and loan funds for
the payment of response costs at sites for which the funding recipient of the grant or loan is potentially liable
under §107 of CERCLA6. (See Appendix 2 for additional prohibitions on the use of brownfields funding.)
The types of properties that Congress excluded from the definition of a brownfield site are listed below.
However, certain types of properties listed below as excluded from the definition of a brownfield site, may
still qualify for brownfields funding. The types of properties marked with an asterisk (*) below are eligible
for brownfields funding if a property-specific determination is made that funding for assessment or cleanup
activities will meet the criteria set forth in the statute and meet the goals and criteria of the brownfields
program.
Properties subj ect to planned or ongoing removal actions under CERCLA. *
Properties currently listed, or proposed to be listed, on the NPL.
6Applicants also should note that the Brownfields Law contains other prohibitions on the use of grant and
loan monies, including the use of grant and loan monies for paying penalties, administrative costs, federal
cost-share requirements, and the cost of complying with any federal law (see §101(k)(4)(B)).
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Properties that include facilities subj ect to a unilateral administrative order, a court order, an administrative
order on consent, or a judicial consent decree under CERCLA.
Properties with facilities that have been issued or entered into a unilateral administrative order, a court
order, an administrative order on consent, or judicial consent decree or to which a permit has been issued
by the U. S. or an authorized state under RCRA, FWPCA, TSCA, or SDWA. *
Properties with facilities subj ect to RCRA corrective action (§3004(u) or §3008(h)) to which a
corrective action permit or order has been issued or modified to require the implementation of corrective
measures.*
Properties that are land disposal units that have submitted a RCRA closure notification or that are subj ect
to closure requirements specified in a closure plan or permit.*
Properties that are subject to the jurisdiction, custody, or control of a department, agency, or
instrumentality of the U. S., except for land held in trust for an Indian tribe.
Properties where there has been a release of PCBs and all or part of the property is subject to TSCA
remediation.*
Properties that include facilities receiving monies for clean up from the LUST trust fund. *
* Sites eligible for property-specific funding determinations.
The types of facilities marked with an asterisk above may qualify for brownfields funding if EPAmakes a
property-specific determination that brownfields funding will protect human health and the environment and
will either promote economic development or the creation, preservation, or addition to parks, greenways,
undeveloped property, other recreational property, or other property used for nonprofit purposes. A
determination of eligibility for funding will be made by EPA at the time of proposal evaluation based upon
information provided by the applicant.
Grant applicants must determine whether the property or properties that are the subj ect of their proposal fall
within the scope of one or more of the exclusions listed above. Actual determinations of eligibility or
exclusion will be made by EPA. However, if one or more properties that are the subj ect of a grant proposal
fall within the scope of any of the types of properties listed above, the grant proposal should specifically
identify the properties, identify the applicable funding exclusion from the list above, and describe why each
property falls within the exclusion (e.g., RCRA permit for hazardous waste storage, CERCLA removal
action on-going.) Descriptions summarizing the scope of each of the exclusions listed above are provided in
Appendix 3 of these guidelines.
4.3 Criteria for Determining Eligibility for Funding on a Property-
Specific Basis
Certain properties that are excluded from funding eligibility because the properties fall within the scope of
the statutory exclusions from the definition of "brownfield site" may qualify for brownfields funding if a
property-specific determination is made that the sites meet the goals and criteria of the brownfields program
and the criteria set forth in the statute. The following types of properties, although excluded from the
definition of brownfield site above, are eligible for property-specific determinations for brownfields
funding:
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1. Properties subj ect to planned or ongoing removal action under CERCLA.
2. Properties that include facilities to which a permit has been issued by the U. S. or authorized state under
RCRA, FWPCA, TSCA, or SDWA.
3. Properties that include facilities subj ect to RCRA orders requiring corrective action (§3 004(u) or
§3008(h)).
4. Properties that are land disposal units that have submitted a RCRA closure notification or that are
subj ect to closure requirements specified in a closure plan or permit.
5. Properties where there has been a release of PCBs and all or part of the property is subject to TSCA
remediation.
6. Properties receiving monies for clean up from the LUST trust fund.
In the case of each type of property listed above, the new legislation allows EPA to award financial
assistance to an eligible entity for assessment or cleanup activities at the property, if it is found that financial
assistance will:
1. Protect human health and the environment, and
2. Either:
- promote economic development, or
- enable the creation of, preservation of, or addition to parks, greenways, undeveloped property,
other recreational property, or other property used for nonprofit purposes.
Grant proposals for brownfields funding that include, within the scope of planned assessment or cleanup
activities, sites, properties, or facilities that potentially fall within any of the funding exclusions listed above,
should specifically identify such circumstances and explain, in as much detail as possible, why the availability
of brownfields funding will protect human health and the environment and promote economic development
or the creation or preservation of greenspace (or other listed obj ectives). Information provided by the
applicant in addressing these criteria will be used in documenting EPAs decision in making property-specific
determinations for funding eligibility.
4.3.1 Protection of Human Health and the Environment
Grant applicants must provide a detailed discussion of how financial assistance for brownfields assessment
or cleanup activities at each property for which a property-specific determination for funding eligibility must
be made will result in the allocation of funding in accordance with legislative intent. Each proposal for
financial assistance, including a recipient of a revolving loan fund grant seeking EPAapproval of loans,
whose proposal includes one or more sites for which a property-specific determination must be made must
include a discussion of how brownfields funding will ensure protection of human health and the environment.
Documentation supporting a determination that brownfields funding will ensure protection of human health
and the environment should include documentation of one or more of the following:
Specific examples of human health risks that will be mitigated by activities funded under a brownfields
grant.
Specific environmental improvements that can reasonably be expected to result from activities funded
under a brownfields grant.
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Specific examples of contamination that will be addressed, including the specific hazardous substances,
pollutants, or contaminants of concern and the environmental media that will be addressed.
Description of how the proposed clean up and redevelopment of the property will ensure that the
property will be protective of human health and the environment and that the remedy will be both
protective and consistent with the planned reuse of the property.
4.3.2 Promote Economic Development
Applicants also must provide detail on how financial assistance will promote economic development or the
creation of, preservation of, or addition to parks, greenways, undeveloped property, other recreational
property, or other property used for nonprofit purposes. Documentation of economic development activities
should include information such as the following:
A description of economic development activities that can reasonably be expected to occur as a result of
brownfields funding (e.g., number of j obs created, estimated increase in the property and/or profits/sales
tax base to community, additional business expansion or new business relocation that may occur within
the community).
A description of how the redevelopment of the brownfields property will contribute to community-wide
redevelopment and revitalization plans with a specific emphasis on how funding for the brownfields
redevelopment is integral to the success of the community-wide plan.
A description of new businesses or business expansions that are planned for the brownfields property.
4.3.3 Creation of, Preservation of, or Addition to Parks,
Greenways, Undeveloped Property, other Recreational Property,
or Other Property Used for Nonprofit Purposes
If brownfields funding will be used by the applicant to preserve or create greenspace, recreational areas,
undeveloped property, or property to be used for nonprofit purposes, the applicant should provide specific
documentation of these activities in the proposal. Grant proposals should provide specific information
documenting how brownfields funding will result in the creation of, preservation of, or addition to parks,
greenways, undeveloped property, other recreational property, or other property used for nonprofit
purposes, such as:
A description of the proposed park, recreational property, greenspace, undeveloped space, or other type
of property to be used for nonprofit purposes, including size, use, and surrounding environment that will
be preserved or created as a result of brownfields funding.
A description of how the property will be used and by whom.
A description of how the property will be integrated with surrounding properties or environments.
A description of how the property will be maintained or preserved for its continued use as a greenspace,
recreational area, etc.
When documenting compliance with these criteria, applicants may copy information provided elsewhere in
their proposal, if such information directly addresses the criteria. However, all documentation must be
comprehensive and specific to actual events that will be mitigated or can reasonably be expected to occur
as a result of federal brownfields funding, should the applicant receive brownfields funding.
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4.3.4 Other Documentation
Property-specific brownfields funding determinations will be made based upon the availability of funding and
the extent to which applicants can provide documentation that funding for particular sites offers opportunities
to protect human health and the environment and enhance economic development or create or preserve
greenspace (as the criteria is described above). However, at the same time, Congress explicitly prohibited
the use of federal brownfields funding to reimburse liable parties for response costs. The statute prohibits
grant and loan monies from being used for the payment of response costs at brownfields for which the
recipient of a grant or loan is potentially liable (§101 (k)(4)(B)(i)(IV)). Applicants are encouraged to
address, in the body of the proposal, why federal funding is appropriate for brownfields assessment and/or
clean up at the property, given that brownfields funding cannot be used to reimburse liable property owners
for response activity costs.
4.4 Properties Not Eligible for Brownfields Funding
Grant applicants must keep in mind that the legislation excludes certain types of properties from
qualifying for the property-specific funding determinations and therefore from federal brownfields
financial assistance. Properties that may not be included within the scope of a grant proposal and for which
brownfields grants and loans cannot be made available regardless of property-specific circumstances
include properties containing the following types of sites or facilities:
Facilities listed or proposed for listing on the NPL.
Facilities subj ect to a unilateral administrative order, an administrative order, a court order, an
administrative order on consent, or a judicial consent decree issued or entered into by parties under
CERCLA.
Facilities that are subj ect to the jurisdiction, custody, or control of the United States government, except
for land held in trust by the U. S. for an Indian Tribe.
Applicants should note that the discussion of property-specific determinations for funding properties that are
otherwise excluded from funding eligibility that is provided here only applies to funding determinations. This
discussion does not apply to, or have bearing on, any other property-specific determinations or other
aspects of the brownfields program. For example, a property-specific determination for funding purposes in
no way affects a facility's or an entity's status with regard to EPA's enforcement and cost recovery
authorities.
4.5 Additional Information on Potential for Continual Funding at
Sites Subject to Removal Actions
Some brownfield sites that receive federal brownfields assessment grants may, as a result of the federally
funded site assessment require a CERCLA removal action. Under the Brownfields Law (§ 101 (3 9)(B)(i)),
properties that are subj ect to planned or on-going removal actions under CERCLA are excluded from
funding eligibility. However, such properties may receive federal brownfields funding if a property-specific
determination is made that such funding will meet the property-specific determination criteria. Applicants
should follow the procedures listed in the previous section to request a property-specific determination.
(Note: If a removal action is required at a property where an assessment grant exists, the grantee does not
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need to obtain the property-specific determination noted above. However, grant recipients must obtain
approval from the EPAremoval OSC prior to any onsite work commencing.)
Grant applicants requesting federal brownfields funding and recipients of revolving loan fund grants seeking
EPA approval of loans for properties at which a CERCLAremoval action is planned or on-going must
document in their proposals (or loan approval requests) that the requested funding will be used in
accordance with legislative intent. Therefore, proposals must include a discussion of how brownfields grant
or loan funds will ensure protection of human health and the environment and provide detail on how financial
assistance will promote economic development or the creation of, preservation or, or addition to parks,
greenways, undeveloped property, other recreational property, or other property used for nonprofit
purposes. Requests for property-specific determinations for funding for the assessment or clean up of
properties where there is a planned or ongoing removal action will be considered in the following
circumstances: 1) when it is clear a follow-on response action will be required to address long-term threats
at a property; and 2) in cases where portions of a property are not under the current scope of a planned or
ongoing removal action.
In addition to the specific criteria listed above, applicants also should explain in their proposal the extent to
which other funding sources are not available for the assessment and/or clean up of the site or property.
Federal brownfields funding cannot be used to reimburse liable parties for response costs. In addition,
federal brownfields funding may not be used for an ensuing removal action. Applicants should specifically
address, in the body of the proposal, why federal funding is appropriate for brownfields assessment and/or
clean up at the property, given the Congressional intent not to reimburse liable property owners for response
activity costs.
4.6 Additional Information on Potential Funding for Petroleum-
contaminated Sites
As noted above, portions of properties receiving assistance for response activities from the LUST trust fund
are excluded from eligibility for brownfields funding. However, these facilities are eligible for funding on a
property-specific basis. To assist applicants in determining whether their properties are good candidates for
property-specific funding determinations, below are examples of properties that are excluded from the
definition of a brownfield site (i.e., sites receiving LUST trust fund monies) that EPA considers to be
potentially good candidates to receive brownfields grants or loans under the property-specific determination
provisions (i.e., CERCLA §101(39)(C)).
All USTfields pilots.
Sites (or portions of properties) where an assessment was completed using LUST trust fund monies and
the state has determined that the site is a low-priority UST site and therefore additional LUST trust fund
money cannot be provided for the clean up of petroleum contamination, but the site still needs some clean
up and otherwise is a good candidate for economic revitalization.
Sites (or portions of properties) where LUST trust fund money was spent for emergency activities, and
are otherwise determined to be ineligible for further LUST trust funds, yet the site needs additional
funding for continued assessment and/or clean up that will contribute to economic revitalization of the site.
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4.7 Eligible Response Sites/Enforcement Limits
The Brownfields Law limits EPA's enforcement and cost recovery authorities at "eligible response sites"
where a response action is conducted in compliance with a state response program. Section 101 (40) of
CERCLA defines an "eligible response site" by referencing the general definition of a "brownfield site" in
§ 101 (3 9)(A) and incorporating the exclusions at § 101 (3 9)(B). The law places further limitations on the
types of properties included within the definition of an eligible response site, but grants EPA the authority to
include within the definition of eligible response site, and on a property-specific basis, some properties that
are otherwise excluded from the definition. Such property-specific determinations must be based upon a
finding that limits on enforcement will be appropriate, after consultation with state authorities, and will
protect human health and the environment and promote economic development or facilitate the creation of,
preservation, or addition to a park, a greenway, undeveloped property, recreational property, or other
property used for nonprofit purposes. While the criteria appear similar to those for determining eligibility for
funding on a property-specific basis, the determinations are distinct, will be made through a separate
process, and may not be based on the same information requested in this document for property-specific
funding determinations.
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