United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA500-F-99-057
May 1999
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
>>EPA Brownfields Cleanup
Revolving Loan Fund Pilot
Charlotte, NC
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
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 forthe 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
The City of Charlotte has population of 128,232, a
quarter of which lives below the poverty line (compared
with 13 percent forthe entire County). The City has
over 3,000 brownfield sites, representing more than $2
billion in taxable value, where potential contamination
hinders redevelopment efforts. The focus of Charlotte' s
BCRLF is the major distressed business corridors
radiating from the center city and the neighborhoods
they serve. These corridors are currently the target of
several revitalization efforts, including Federal
Empowerment Communities, the Brownfields
Assessment Pilot, State Development Zones,
Charlotte' s City Within a City (CWAC) program, the
Business Corridor Revitalization Program, and Business
Investment Zones.
BCRLF OBJECTIVES
Capitalization of the BCRLF program will help advance
Charlotte's goal of revitalizing distressed business
districts by providing low interest loans for
environmental cleanups. Charlotte' s BCRLF will add
cleanup funds to the City's inventory oftoolsto bring
businesses and investment partners to brownfields
properties. The BCRLF program also will enable the
City to act as a needed link between developers of
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Charlotte, North Carolina
Date of Announcement:
May 25,1999
Amount: $500,000
BCRLF Target Area: 3,000
brownfield sites throughout
the City, focusing on the
major distressed business
corridors radiating from the
center city and the
neighborhoods they serve.
Contacts:
City of Charlotte, Employment
and Business Services Division,
Neighborhood Development
Key Business, (704) 336-4522
Region 4 Brownfields
Coordinator
(404) 562-8661
Visit the EPA Region 4 Brownfields web site at:
www.epa.gov/region4/wastepgs/brownfpgs/bf.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/
-------
brownfield sites and lenders. The BCRLF's focus is
the cleanup and revitalization ofmaj or business corridors
in the center city.
FUND STRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS
The City' s Neighborhoods Development Key Business,
partofthe City'sEmploymentandBusiness Services
Division, will serve as lead agency and, in conjunction
with the Finance Department, also as fund manager.
The City is exploring several options for site manager:
the North Carolina Department of Environment and
Natural Resources; the US Army Corps of Engineers;
and the Mecklenburg County Environmental Protection
Department. B CRLF proj ects must have approval for
permanent financing with a bank's loan contingent
upon the City' s cleanup loan and loan repayment must
occur as part of a bank's permanent financing, enabling
the BCRLFto recycle funds quickly. The average loan
term will not exceed three years; principal and interest
payments will be deferred during cleanup and
construction.
LEVERAGING
The BCRLF program has been designed to facilitate
private investment. Using the BCRLF award funds to
finance loans for cleanup, lender risk and uncertainty
is reduced, permitting banks to commit permanent
financing to projects contingent on site cleanup. The
loans made through the BCRLF program also may
leverage incentives available through multiple Federal,
state, and local programs. In-kind contributions include
those from the Neighborhood Development Key
Business Department, Finance Department, and City
engineering staff as well as services from the City's in-
house television station and graphic artists for marketing
and outreach efforts. In addition, in instances where a
proj ect will not initially support repayment of both the
project development debt and the cleanup cost, the
City will use its existing small business revolving loan
program to provide additional equity funds required by
a lender to qualify for the bank's permanent loans.
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 Charlotte, North Carolina
May 1999 EPA 500-F-99-057
------- |