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Brownfields Redevelopment
Efforts Are Big in the Heart
of Dallas
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Dallas, TX
hey do things bigger in Texas...or so they say. Through its
brownfields restoration efforts, Dallas is proving this adage to be true.
The city has been the recipient of multiple awards under EPA's
Brownfields Initiative, including Assessment Demonstration Pilot,
Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Pilot, and Job Training
Demonstration Pilot grants. In addition to having leveraged more
redevelopment funding from the private and public sectors than any
other Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot, Dallas is one of
only three cities selected as a Clean Air/Brownfields Pilot in conjunction
with EPA, the Economic Development Administration, and the U.S.
Conference of Mayors.
Showcase Communities are selected by the Brownfields National
Partnership to demonstrate that through cooperation, federal, state,
local, and private efforts can be concentrated around brownfields to
restore these sites, stimulate economic development, and revitalize
communities. Showcase Communities serve as models for broad-based
cooperative efforts to support locally based initiatives. Showcases
receive up to $400,000 from EPA for both environmental assessments
and to support the loan of a federal employee to the Showcase for up to
three years. Showcase Communities receive additional financial and
technical support from the Partnership's more than 20 federal partners,
depending on the community need and program eligibility.
The Dallas brownfields program has leveraged more than $840 million
for brownfields cleanup and redevelopment in the city. Additional grants
from EPA include $40,000 to Texas A&M University Engineering
Extension Service to conduct an efficiency pilot study of mixed-use,
multistory buildings using EPA's EnergyStar model, and $50,000 for
Phase I and II environmental site assessments (ESAs) on the future site
of the Dallas Police Headquarters.
In addition to public and private sector funding, Dallas has leveraged
community support and awareness of brownfields through its promotion
and outreach efforts. When a site targeted for redevelopment lies close
to a residential neighborhood, Dallas requires the developer to meet with
the community to discuss the project's impact and determine cleanup
strategies. The "Dallas Brownfields Forum" includes more than 100
representatives from all parts of the stakeholder community, including
business, banking, and private citizens, and continues to meet every six
weeks. Dallas also hosted the Brownfields National Conference in
December 1999, which reported 2,400 attendees—at that time a record
for a Brownfields Conference. i,
continued rr
This brownfield became home to a pallet
recycling facility that created 35 jobs while
retaining 60 others.
JUST THE FACTS:
• The Dallas brownfields program has
leveraged more than $840 million for
brownfields cleanup and
redevelopment in the city.
• To further spur brownfields
restoration, Dallas created a public-
private partnership that offers
developers an array of economic
tools and incentives.
• When a brownfield targeted for
redevelopment lies close to a
residential neighborhood, Dallas
requires the developer to meet with
the community to determine cleanup
strategies.
In addition to having leveraged
more redevelopment funding from
the private and public sectors than
any other Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot, Dallas is one of
only three cities selected as a Clean
Air/Brownfields Pilot in conjunction
with EPA, the Economic
Development Administration, and
the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
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To further spur brownfields restoration, Dallas created a public-private partnership that offers
developers an array of economic tools and incentives. Tax abatement on value
added to property is available upon approval of the city council. Dallas also
may partially or fully fund any city infrastructure required to make a
brownfield operational; eligibility is determined on a case-by-case basis.
Further, the city uses any taxes collected from brownfields developers
within a tax increment financing district to fund public improvements
within that district. Taxes assessed to these developers are based
on the property's value prior to any site restorations.
Dallas' Showcase Community has also focused its efforts on West
Dallas and the city's southern sector, areas known for their
disadvantaged communities with high minority populations. One of
the Showcase Community's earliest successes was the transformation
of a former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers soil testing facility into a
homeless shelter. Showcase Community staff worked with the U.S.
General Services Administration to designate the site as a brownfield and
with the state Department of Health and Human Safety to handle requests from
potential purchasers and developers. Once a nonprofit organization showed interest, the Texas Natural
Resources Conservation Commission (TNRCC) performed site assessments that revealed minimal
cleanup requirements. The new shelter opened in Fall 2001.
Additional brownfields restoration successes within Dallas include a former pipe manufacturing plant
that became a pallet recycling facility, creating 35 jobs while retaining 60 others, and a former municipal
landfill that was redeveloped into a 15-acre plaza for restaurant, hotel, and office/warehouse use.
CONTACTS:
For more information on EPA's Showcase
Communities, contact Tony Raia of OSWER's
Office of Brownfields Cleanup and Redevel-
opment at (202) 566-2758
Or visit EPA's Brownfields Website at:
http://www.epa.aov/brownfields/
Brownfields Success Story
Dallas, TX
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-02-155
December 2002
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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