Technical Assistance to Brownfields (TAB) Communities
GRANTEE UPDATE
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, tribes, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely
clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be
complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant.
The TAB grantees provide technical assistance on a wide range of cleanup and redevelopment activities at brownfield sites. The four
TAB grantees—awarded in 2008—provide technical assistance to communities facing brownfields challenges. TAB grantees also
review and explain technical reports to communities and stakeholders. They help stakeholders understand health risks associated
with brownfields, and assist with understanding environmental issues and how they affect brownfield cleanup and redevelopment. TAB
grantees facilitate brownfield redevelopment efforts by supporting community and stakeholder involvement activities.
HOPE Enterprise Corporation
(H EC)—formerly Enterprise
Corporation of the Delta (ECD)—
is a community development
institution committed to
strengthening economically
distressed communities. HEC
TAB services include "Brownfields 101" educational workshops
and presentations, creation of brownfields site inventories,
personalized site assessment, cleanup and redevelopment
planning; research to identify funding sources; assistance with
community outreach, including meeting and dialogue facilitation;
and workshops on writing brownfields grant applications.
HEC has provided more than 85 specialized types of brownfields
assistance to local governments and nonprofit organizations within
EPA Regions 4 and 6. Through a TAB Helpline set up in 2009,
HEC has helped more than 40 other entities overcome obstacles
to the safe reuse of brownfields. Five of the local governments
assisted by HEC in preparing grant applications received grant
awards. In addition, HEC provided TAB assistance to a number of
existing EPA Brownfields grantees.
In St. Marks, Florida, HEC helped find sources of funding for
a planned solar energy facility, as well as research to identify
solar energy equipment manufacturers. This facility will use 17
acres of a total 55-acre brownfield redevelopment project that
includes a new boat repair facility, other commercial and retail
uses, and preserved natural space. About 200 miles away in
Eustis, Florida, HEC acted as a mediator to encourage dialogue
between the city and two neighborhood associations concerned
about representation in area brownfields redevelopment projects.
Current plans for Eustis' brownfields include a new marina and
expansion of a lakeside park for family recreation.
Stakeholders from EPA and several Mississippi communities participate in
an HEC Brownfields workshop
HEC's greatest success enabled by TAB funding is its ability to
educate small cities and rural communities about brownfields, and
how EPA's Brownfields Program can be a tool for redevelopment
and reuse. "Local governments have to see themselves as being
a part of the redevelopment process, by assembling brownfields,
assessing them, and in some cases, cleaning them to make them
available to the private sector," explains Charles Ray of PPM
Consultants, an HEC contractor. "Many local governments don't
see themselves as being in that role and we are able to change
their perspective on that."
Provider Information
Tab Provider: HOPE Enterprise Corporation
EPA Regions Served: 4 & 6
Areas of Expertise: Technical and financial assistance;
community outreach; meeting facilitation; grant application writing;
creation of site inventories; and personalized redevelopment plans
and strategies
Contacts
For further information about HOPE Enterprise Corporation and its
technical assistance to brownfields communities, visit: www.hope-
ec.org. For specific TAB assistance, call (866) 843-3358 or email
BFhelp@ecd.org.
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ansas State Universit
As a TAB grantee, Kansas
State University (KSU) brings
educational and technical
resources to bear on
communities and stakeholders
affected by and working with
brownfield sites. Through
its TAB grant, KSU assists communities in understanding and
participating in the redevelopment process by providing technical
assistance to entities redeveloping brownfields.
One of KSU's most successful outreach tools is TAB EZ
[http://tabez.org]. TAB EZ is a free online tool that helps users
prepare EPA Brownfields Assessment and Cleanup grant
proposals. The tool offers assistance in creating the framework
for an application and provides strategies for writing. It does not
provide content and ideas for a proposal. The site offers a tutorial
on how to use it, sample grant applications, resources and links
to further assist in the grant writing process, and personal support
from KSU representatives. As of October 2010, TAB EZ has a
total of 3,081 registered users. The tool registered 1,162 new
users since August 2010 due to KSU outreach efforts.
KSU's Brownfields Inventory Tool (BIT) [http://tab-bit.org] is
another free, online tool that assists users in creating inventories,
submitting reports, and logging information about brownfields and
other environmental programs. This program management tool
is used to enter detailed data about brownfield sites and upload
documents and related data; it will then generate a Property
Profile Form (PPF). The PPF is a reporting requirement that EPA
Brownfields grantees use to submit data on sites. BIT streamlines
the creation of PPFs. Since going live in March 2010, the system
has registered over 200 users.
Since award KSU has provided support in all ten of the states in
Regions 5 and 7; it has also provided 32 communities in those
states with site-specific technical assistance. For example, in
North St. Paul, Minnesota, KSU reviewed ground water chemical
data and a geotechnical report for the city and facilitated
interaction with the state environmental agency. In Fremont,
Nebraska, KSU assisted the city with preparing a Request for
Proposal to secure a contractor for cleanup activities under
EPA's Brownfields Cleanup program. For the Leech Lake Band
of Ojibwe in Minnesota, KSU provided information on writing a
Phase II environmental site assessment.
The TAB Coordinator at KSU, Dr. Sabine Martin, regularly speaks
and presents at workshops and conferences. KSU also helps
plan and coordinate workshops related to brownfields activities.
Community
members and KSU
representatives
work together at
redevelopment
visioning
Dr. Martin sits on many planning committees as they prepare
agendas, speakers and topics to cover. Since the grant award,
KSU representatives hosted and/or participated in 36 workshops
and conducted three redevelopment charettes. KSU assisted
with planning and participating in four brownfields grant outreach
workshops in Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa and Kansas in 2010.
Dr. Martin says, "Through our three web tools and our brownfields
workshops, the TAB program at KSU is reaching people
and providing resources to parties interested in brownfields
revitalization in Regions 5 and 7."
KSU representatives provide a myriad of support to communities,
cities and other stakeholder groups. Whether it is deciphering
a technical report, planning or attending a workshop, providing
general brownfields-related information through representatives,
or supporting its TAB EZ and BIT systems, KSU offers efficient
and effective support.
Provider Information
Tab Provider: Kansas State University
EPA Regions Served: 5 & 7
Areas of Expertise: Workshops on brownfields redevelopment
process, review of contractor solicitations and responses, review
of technical reports related to environmental assessment and
cleanup work, community and stakeholder engagement
Contacts
For further information about KSU, its technical assistance to
brownfields communities, and access to TAB EZ and BIT, visit
www.engg.ksu.edu/chsr/outreach/tab/. For more information about
this project, call (785) 532-6474.
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enter for Creative Land Recyclin
The Center for Creative
Land Recycling (CCLR or
"See Clear") encourages
sustainability and responsible
land use and development.
CCLR and its partner, the
Community Brownfields
Foundation (CBF), who services entities in Region 8, provide
technical assistance and customized education to brownfields
communities in the western United States. CCLR and CBF have
provided assistance to over 175 communities—including states,
counties, cities and nonprofit developers.
To best serve its TAB constituents, CCLR offers an interactive
learning tool on its website. Land Recycling 101 [www.
cclr.org/101/] details the benefits, obstacles and "how-to" of
brownfields cleanup and redevelopment presented in a visual
and interactive manner. It is easy and fun to use, and provides
a user-friendly way for communities, development entities,
and other stakeholders to access up-to-date information on
brownfields redevelopment and CCLR services.
CCLR also uses face-to-face meetings, workshops and its
online Brownfields Resource Center [www.cclr.org/resources]
to provide assistance to brownfields communities in the western
states. The Brownfields Resource Center is a one-stop shop
providing concise, organized information to communities in
EPA Regions 8, 9 and 10. Users can quickly and easily access
information on funding opportunities, regulatory processes,
and other resources in their state. The site includes contact
information and current brownfields redevelopment news. Since
launching the Brownfields Resource Center in October 2009,
CCLR has had over 20,000 website hits with an average of 80
visitors a day.
Both CCLR and CBF regularly participate in forums, workshops
and conferences by designing and planning sessions or
providing communication and outreach about upcoming events.
In 2009, CCLR promoted, designed and hosted a financial
workshop at the Washington Brownfields Conference, garnering
speakers from state and federal agencies. CCLR and CBF
provided similar services for conferences in Alaska, Oregon and
Utah in 2010.
Through its outreach and assistance tools, CCLR (together
with CBF) is reaching as many communities as possible. The
CCLR and CBF provide information to communities, plan workshops, and
participate in forums
organization combines the global outreach capabilities of the
Internet with personal, one-on-one contact with individuals,
states, cities, communities or entities working in brownfields
in Regions 8, 9 and 10. As Ignacio Dayrit, CCLR Director of
Programs puts it, "Every community is unique, and we want to
reach anyone doing brownfields in the West."
Provider Information
Tab Provider: Center for Creative Land Recycling
EPA Regions Served: 8, 9 & 10
Areas of Expertise: Resource center approach to providing
assistance, specialized technical assistance to stakeholders in
brownfields redevelopment, custom trainings
Contacts
For further information about CCLR and its technical assistance to
brownfields communities in Regions 9 and 10 (American Samoa,
Alaska, Arizona, California, Commonwealth of the Northern
Marianas Islands, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and
Washington) visit www. cclr.org/resources or call (415) 398-1080,
or for Region 8 (Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota,
Utah, and Wyoming), visit www.ColoradoBrownfieldsFoundation.
org or call (303) 962-0942.
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ew Jersey Institute of Technolog
The New Jersey Institute
for Technology (NJIT), York
Center for Environmental
Engineering and Science
has provided brownfields
services to communities in the
Northeast United States for 14
years. NJIT was awarded its TAB grant to assist communities
that are attempting to clean up and revitalize brownfield
properties in EPA Regions 1, 2 and 3. NJIT draws upon a
team of professionals with experience in academic research,
government, industry and consulting.
Since receiving its TAB grant, NJIT has provided a myriad
of services to communities in its service area. For example,
NJIT's assistance includes: EPAAssessment and Cleanup
grant proposal assistance; one-on-one technical assistance with
communities; hosting and running workshops on topics such
as state voluntary cleanup programs (VCP) and Brownfields
Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) grant assistance; webinars on
funding sources and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(ARRA) grant requirements; assistance with data gathering; and
other technical assistance.
In May 2009, NJIT held a workshop in Derby, Connecticut for
EPA Brownfields grantees that were experiencing difficulties
in marketing their RLF programs to potential borrowers.
Communities in attendance consisted primarily of grantees
in New England and included training topics such as: "how
to identify your audience," "developing a good sales pitch,"
and "making the RLF more appealing to borrowers." As a
result of the workshop, many grantees in attendance gained a
better understanding of how to market loans in the economic
downturn. Specifically, the Valley Council of Governments in
Derby reported back to NJIT that they are working on several
projects as result of the workshop and felt they have a better
understanding of marketing as they move forward with projects.
In addition to educational workshops, NJIT provides direct
technical assistance to communities facing challenges with
brownfields issues. For example, NJIT helped the Middlesex
County Improvement Authority, in Middlesex County, New
Jersey, with site prioritization, consultant procurement,
Hudson County Assessment grant's new stadium under construction
in New Jersey
stakeholder coordination, and technical field support. In Luzerne
County, Pennsylvania, NJIT assisted Earth Conservancy—a
nonprofit dedicated to reclamation and reutilization of former
coal mining lands—with the development of project goals, data
gathering and outreach, and a feasibility analysis for utilizing a
mine fire as a source of geothermal energy.
As Colette Santasieri, Manager of NJIT's TAB Program, states,
"The NJIT TAB program provides valuable assistance to
communities that lack the technical capabilities for identifying,
remediating and redeveloping brownfields. Through our
workshops, one-on-one technical mentoring and website, we
have been able to bring to bear on-the-ground experience to
help communities navigate brownfields issues as well as save
them grant money by assisting in data gathering, investigation
planning, and redevelopment strategizing."
Provider Information
Tab Provider: New Jersey Institute of Technology
EPA Regions Served: 1.2&3
Areas of Expertise: Environmental laws and regulations, grant
application assistance, site cleanup and redevelopment planning,
community engagement
Contacts
For further information about the New Jersey Institute of
Technology and its technical assistance to brownfields
communities, visitwww.njit.edu/tab/. To reach the NJIT TAB
Hotline, call (973) 642-4165.
This TAB Grantee Update provides general information about the four TAB providers as well as describes some of the ongoing efforts each provider
is undertaking. For further information, including specific grant contacts, additional grant information, brownfields news and events, and publications
and links, visit the EPA Brownfields website at: www.epa.gov/brownfields or call (202) 566-2777.
:olid Waste and Emergency Response (51
February 2011
www.epa.gov/brownfield
EPA-560-F-11
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