United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response(5101)
EPA 500-F-99-048
May 1999
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA Brownfields Cleanup
Revolving Loan Fund Pilot
St. Louis, MO
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
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
upto $200,000 overtwo 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 brownfieldstofacilitatecleanupofbrownfieldssites and preparetrainees for future employmentintheenvironmental
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
Since 1952, St. Louis has lost half of its jobs, two-
thirds of its population, and much of its tax base,
because many of its major employers have moved
outside the city. Nearly one-fourth of the city's
residents live in poverty and more than ten percent are
unemployed. More than 54 million square feet of city-
owned abandoned property and buildings affect the
downtown, while also undermining the safety and
value of nearby properties. These areas frequently
provide a haven for drug dealers and other criminals.
Various initiatives are already underway to address
these concerns, mostnotably in the federally designated
Enterprise Community (EC).
BCRLFOBJECTIVES
The goal of the St. Louis BCRLF Pilot program is to
fund cleanup of several environmentally contaminated
properties and facilitate their return to productive use.
BCRLF Pilot loans will target distressed areas and
complementthe city's strategic economic development
plan being drafted by local businesses, neighborhoods,
developers, investors, and government officials. By
funding brownfields cleanup, the city hopes to stimulate
economic revitalization in target areas through business
development and investment and job growth and
PILOTSNAPSHOT
St. Louis, Missouri
Date of Award:
September 1997
Amount: $350,000
BCRLF Target Area :
Brownfields in St. Louis's
distressed areas, including
the federally designated
Enterprise Community.
Contacts:
St. Louis Development
Corporation
(314) 622-3400
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 7
(913)551-7786
Visit the EPA Region 7 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region07/specinit/brown/brownfields.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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retention. The BCRLF Pilot will fill gaps in
brownfields cleanup funding. The city currently is
without loan pools to fund private-party cleanup or to
supplement strategies and programs. Preference will
be given to projects located within the federal EC or
state Empowerment Zone (EZ) areas, and for those
which target previously publicly owned properties,
which will allow further leveraging of state funds.
FUNDSTRUCTUREANDOPERATIONS
All administrative costs of the BCRLF Pilot will be
provided as in-kind contributions so that the total
amount of the BCRLF funding goes to the loan pool.
The St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) will
serve as the Lead Agency and Site Manager for the
BCRLF. The St. Louis Local Development
Corporation (LDC) will act as the Fund Manager. In
addition, the Regional Commerce and Growth
Administration Brownfields Task Force will partner
with the Pilot to provide professional expertise to help
ensure all proposed cleanup efforts are in compliance
with federal and state laws. To secure a loan or loan
guarantee, a prospective borrower must first secure
all other financing and must apply for proj ect approval
through the state voluntary cleanup program (VCP).
LEVERAGINGOTHERRESOURCES
Because the St. Louis BCRLF will be supplemented
by $350,000 in private funds from Civic Progress and
St. Louis 2004, a local non-profit civic organization
that represents area businesses, the initial capitalization
of the loan pool will total $700,000. In addition to the
EPA funds, private matching funds, and in-kind
contributions, St. Louis will work to leverage new and
existing incentives to encourage further brownfields
cleanup and redevelopment. For example, the state's
petroleum storage tank insurance fund may provide
businesses and developers with insurance to cover
any excess or unanticipated costs associated with the
removal or maintenance of underground storage tanks
on brownfields sites. Tax credits from state agencies
may also be used to fill out the financing package on
any given project. Finally, the city will couple its
BCRLF Pilot loans with the incentives available in the
federal EC and state EZ, since half of the 44
brownfields identified in St. Louis are within the EC
area.
Use of BCRLF Pilot funds must be in accordance with
CERCLA, andallCERCLA restrictions on use of funding
also apply to BCRLF funds.
Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Pilot
May 1999
St. Louis, Missouri
EPA500-F-99-048
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