United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C. 20460 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105) EPA500-F-00-211 July 2000 www.epa.gov/brownfields/ &EPA Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Pilot Trenton, Ml 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 Trenton, Michigan, located ten miles south of Detroit, is focusing its BCRLF on brownfield sites abutting the Trenton Channel and the Detroit River. Once the home of thriving steel and automobile manufacturing industries, Trenton's economy has suffered from the closing and downsizing of many manufacturing facilities. The neighborhoods in the vicinity of the target sites meet the criteria for inclusion into the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. The Detroit River has been designated an Area of Concern by the United States/Canada International Joint Commission. Industrial activities and runoff from Trenton brownfields contribute to continued pollution of the Detroit River. Trenton has been working through the Downriver Area Brownfield Consortium to identify and assess brownfield sites. Four Phase I and II Baseline Environmental Assessments have been completed. The Downriver Area Brownfield Consortium was designated a Brownfields Assessment Pilot in 1997. BCRLF OBJECTIVES Trenton's BCRLF goals are to: Provide loan funds to encourage brownfields redevelopment; PILOT SNAPSHOT Date of Announcement: July 2000 Amount: $500,000 BCRLF Target Area: Brownfields along the Trenton Channel and Detroit River Trenton, Michigan Contacts: Community Development Director (734) 675-8251 Region 5 BCRLF Coordinator (312)886-7576 Visit the EPA Region 5 Brownfields web site at: www.epa.gov/region05/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 ------- • Bridge financing gaps to enable completion of cleanups; • Give priority to projects with completed assessments, specific development plans, active community support, and job creation benefits; • Oversee the cleanup of at least four privately owned properties that are known to be brownfields; and • Work with site owners to redevelop targeted sites into mixed use or clean-operating industrial use. Trenton's BCRLF will target brownfields abutting the Trenton Channel of the Detroit River. FUND STRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS The Trenton Brownfields Redevelopment Authority will serve as the lead agency. The Trenton Community Development Director will act as both the fund manager and site manager. The term of loans will be for five years and repayments will begin one year from the date of loan closure. The maximum amount of a loan will be $430,000. LEVERAGING OTHER RESOURCES The BCRLF will leverage Downriver Area Brownfields Consortium funds for brownfields assessments and Clean Michigan Initiative waterfront revitalization grant funds for brownfields cleanups. To further leverage the BCRLF, Trenton will encourage the use of its Brownfields Tax Increment Financing Authority to repay loans and will investigate the use of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Section 206 funds to reestablish a natural shoreline along the Trenton Channel and Detroit River. 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 Trenton, Michigan July 2000 EPA500-F-00-211 ------- |