United States Environmental Protection k Agency Carolina vvEPA State Incentives for Achieving Clean and Renewable Energy Development on Contaminated Lands The development of clean and renewable energy on formerly used land offers many economic and environmental benefits. Combining clean and renewable energy and contaminated land cleanup incentives can allow investors and communities to create economically viable clean and renewable energy redevelopment projects. This document provides information about incentives in your state that can be leveraged for clean and renewable energy and development of contaminated land. Incentives for Clean and Renewable Energy Funding (grants, loans, bonds, etc.) North Carolina Green Business Fund www.ncscltech. com/gbf/ Provides up to $100,000 to organizations for the development and commercialization of renewable energy and green building technologies. Grants are available for the development of commercial innovations and applications in the biofuels industry, sustainable building practices, and private sector investment in renewable energy technologies. North Carolina-based businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 100 employees, as well as state and local governmental entities, are generally eligible. Energy Improvement Loan Program www.energync.net/Hinding/eilp.html Provides loans with an interest rate of 1 % for certain renewable energy and energy recycling projects. Loans up to $500,000 per recipient are available. Eligible renewable energy projects generally include solar, wind, small hydropower, and biomass Tax Incentives (abatements, deductions, credits, etc.) Renewable Energy Corporate Tax Credit www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByArticle/ChapterJ 05/Article_3B.html Provides a tax credit of 35% of the cost of renewable energy property constructed, purchased or leased by a taxpayer and placed into service in North Carolina during the taxable year, with a maximum incentive of $2.5 million for commercial or industrial facilities. Property Tax Abatement for Solar Electric Systems www.ncsc.ncsu.edu/information_resources/factsheets/lncentives_Com mercial_Solar_2009update.pdf Exempts 80% of the appraised value of a photovoltaic electric system from property tax for commercial, industrial, residential, and agricultural property. Technical Assistance and Other Incentives GreenPower Production Incentive www.ncgreenpower. org/ Offers production payments for electricity generated by solar, wind, small hydro (10 MW or less), and biomass resources. The incentives, which include payments from utility power-purchase agreements, are made on a per-kWh basis and vary by technology. Owners of solar- electric systems enrolled in NC GreenPower receive $.15/kWh from the program, plus approximately $.04 kWh from their utility under the power-purchase agreement, for a total production payment of approximately $.19/kWh. Net Metering www.ncuc.commerce.state.nc.us Offers net metering in conjunction with the utility's interconnection standards. The maximum capacity of net-metered residential systems is 20 kW; the maximum capacity of net-metered non-residential systems is 100 kW. Quick Facts Public Benefit Fund (PBF) Yes D No 0 Renewable Portfolio Standard Yes 0 No D 12.5% of 2020 retail sales by 2021 for investor-owned utilities; 10% of 2017 retail sales by 2018 for electric cooperatives and municipal utilities Net Metering Yes 0 No D Interconnection Standards Yes 0 No D Electric Power Industry Generation by Primary Energy Source (EIA, 2006) Petroleum-Fired 0.3% Nuclear 31.9% Natural Gas-Fired 2.5% Hydroelectric 3.1% Coal-Fired 60.3% Other Renewables 1.5% Points of Contact North Carolina Green Business Fund North Carolina Board of Science and Technology www.ncscienceandtechnology.com ncbst@nccommerce.com, (919) 733-6500 Energy Improvement Loan Program www. energync. net/funding/eilp. html Enass Wahby, enass.wahby@ncmail.net, (919) 733-1919 Renewable Energy Corporate Tax Credit North Carolina State University North Carolina Solar Center www.ncsc.ncsu.edu Brian Lips, brian_lips@ncsu.edu, (919) 515-3954 Property Tax Abatement for Solar Electric Systems Department of Revenue Tax Payer Assistance (877)308-9103 GreenPower Production Incentive GreenPower Public Information info@ncgreenpower.org, (919) 716-6398 Net Metering James McLawhorn, James.McLawhorn@ncmail.net, (919) 733-2267 Information current as of November 2008; please refer to www.dsireusa.org and the state Web Sites Web sites provided, or contact the points of contact identified above for more up to date information. North Carolina Incentives for Clean and Renewable Energy - Page ' ------- Incentives for Development of Contaminated Land Funding (grants, loans, bonds, etc.) Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Dry-Cleaning Solvent Cleanup Program www.ncdsca.org/ Provides funds to assess and clean up contaminated dry-cleaning sites using state-lead contractors. The source for the cleanup fund is a tax on dry-cleaning and dry-cleaning solvents (both perchloroethylene and petroleum-based solvents). Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund www. wastenotnc. org/ust/trustfunds.html Provides reimbursement for costs incurred during the cleanup of soil and ground water contamination resulting from a release of petroleum from an underground storage tank. Inactive Hazardous Sites Program www.wastenotnc.org/sfhome/IHSBRNCH_OldLandfills.HTM Provides a reimbursement program for addressing non-permitted landfills. A tax, effective July 2008, will fund the reimbursement to local governments that conduct assessment and mitigation activities under a plan approved by the Inactive Hazardous Sites Program. Tax Incentives (abatements, credits, deductions, etc.) Brownfields Tax Incentive www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/BySection/Chapter_1 05/GS_105-277.13.pdf Provides local property tax relief upon completion of improvements to a former brownfields property. The value of the improvements is excluded from future property taxes for five years at a rate of 90% exclusion in the first year, gradually decreasing to a 10% exclusion in year five. Limitations on Liability Voluntary Cleanup Program www.wastenotnc.org/sfhome/ihsbrnch.htm Provides prospective developers, who are noncausative parties, liability protection under a brownfields agreement in the form of a Covenant Not To Sue (CNTS), contingent on completion of cleanup and/or safe- making actions in the brownfields agreement. Quick Facts Limitations on Liability Yes 0 No D Number of State-Tracked Contaminated Properties: 259 Includes Brownfields/Voluntary Cleanup Programs sites that are pending eligibility, active or completed Number of EPA CERCLIS Sites: 228 Sites identified for potential investigation under the federal Superfund Program Number of EPA Brownfields Properties: 150 Properties being funded or addressed under the EPA Brownfields Program There may be some overlap among the categories listed and sites listed may not represent all potentially contaminated sites in North Carolina. Information current as of November 2008; please refer to www.epa.gov/brownfields/pubs/st_res_prog_report.htm and the state Web sites provided, or contact the points of contact identified above for more up to date information. Points of Contact Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Dry-Cleaning Solvent Cleanup Program John Powers, John.Powers@NCmail.net, (919) 508-8470 Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund Division of Waste Management- UST Section, (919) 733-8486 Inactive Hazardous Sites Program www. wastenotnc. org/sfhome/IHSBRNCH_OldLandfills.HTM Charlotte Jesneck, charlotte.jesneck@ncmail.net, (919) 508-8400 Brownfields Tax Incentive Bruce Nicholson, bruce.nicholson@ncmail.net, (919) 508-8400 Voluntary Cleanup Program Charlotte Jesneck, charlotte.jesneck@ncmail.net, (919) 508-8400 North Carolina Incentives for Development of Contaminated Land - Page 2 ------- |