United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA500-F-00-151
May 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
«>EPA Brownfields Cleanup
Revolving Loan Fund Pilot
Kansas City, MO
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders
in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse
brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and an active potential for
redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two
years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training pilot programs (each funded
up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected by brownfields to facilitate cleanup
of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund
programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds to make loans for the environmental cleanup
of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful
information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to site assessment,
environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND
The Kansas City BCRLF is targeting the Central
Industrial District (CID), the Northeast Industrial
District (NEID), and Blue Valley. The CID was a
national center of rail, livestock, and manufacturing
industries from the 1880s through 1951. In recent
years, the CID has suffered major business losses due
to economic and technological changes and several
devastating floods. The Blue Valley and the NEID
were once home to manufacturing giants and a diverse
set of heavy industries. Plant closures and urban flight
in the 1970s and 1980s have brought about significant
job loss. The City's Enhanced Enterprise Community
(EEC), in particular, is in economic distress. The
EEC' s poverty rate is 3 9 percent and the unemployment
rate is almost 17 percent.
As a coalition with the Unified Government of
Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, the City
was designated a Brownfields Assessment Pilot and a
Federal Showcase Community.
BCRLF OBJECTIVES
Kansas City's BCRLF intends to create employment
opportunities, expand the tax base, empower the
community, and level the playing field between urban
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Kansas City, Missouri
Date of Announcement:
May 2000
Amount: $500,000
BCRLF Target Area:
Central Industrial District,
Northeast Industrial District,
and Blue Valley
Contacts:
Department of Housing and
Community Development
(504)363-1505
Region 7 BCRLF
Coordinator
(913)551-7786
Visit the EPA Region 7 Brownfields web site at:
www.epa.gov/region07/waste/brown/index.htm
For further information, including specific Pilot contacts, additional
Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and publications
and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields
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redevelopment and greenfield opportunities through
the provision of short-term, or gap, financing. The City
initially intends to explore the possibility of a loan to
the Port Authority for the Riverfront Development
Project. Other potential sites include the Sunshine
Bakery site, Zea Chemical properties, the Union Pacific
rail yard, and the General Body Building site.
FUND STRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS
Kansas City's Department of Housing and Community
Development will serve as lead agency and the City's
Department of Environmental Management will serve
as site manager. The fund manager will be the EDC
Loan Corporation, a private, non-profit entity that is
legally separate from, but a component of, the City. The
maximum loan size will be $250,000 and loan terms
will be negotiable, but short terms (two to four years)
are desired.
LEVERAGING OTHER RESOURCES
The City will work to leverage several other resources,
including the US Department of Housing and Urban
Development Enhanced Enterprise Community tax
incentives program; the Missouri Brownfields
Redevelopment Program (including remediation tax
credits); Chapter 353 tax abatement through the
Planned Industrial Expansion Authority; private capital;
and the Federal Brownfields Tax Incentive in the Pilot
zone and other eligible areas of economic distress. The
Economic Development Corporation also has been
working with the City to create a tax increment
financing district in Riverfront Park and the CID. The
City will provide for administrative services, including
environmental consulting and oversight services,
computer support, GIS assistance, marketing expertise
and materials, and community outreach and plan to
keep administrative costs of the BCRLF at 9 percent.
Use of BCRLF Pilot funds must be in accordance with
CERCLA, and all CERCLA restrictions on use of funding
also apply to BCRLF funds.
Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Pilot Kansas City, Missouri
May 2000 EPA 500-F-00-151
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