United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C. 20460 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5101) EPA500-F-99-061 May 1999 www.epa.gov/brownfields/ >>EPA Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Pilot City of Columbus, OH 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 Columbus, Ohio, with a population over 630,000, has grown significantly in the past two decades. Development, however, has been gravitating away from the urban core of the City, resulting in abandoned buildings and industrial sites, dilapidation of the physical environment, poverty, unemployment, and crime disproportionately higherthan other areas of the City. The urban core of the City is a Federally- designated EmpowermentZone. The poverty rate for the City as a whole is just over 17 percent, and is over 46 percent in the Empowerment Zone. The Empowerment Zone has an unemployment rate that is more than twice that of the entire City's. Portions of the City also are state-designated enterprise zones. Columbus is a Brownfields Assessment Pilot. BCRLF OBJECTIVES The objectives of the Columbus BCRLF are to encourage environmental protection through the remediation and redevelopment of properties, and to foster job creation. The BCRLF will provide needed seed money to finance cleanup activities on identified brownfield properties throughout Columbus. The BCRLF will focus on the entire City of Columbus, but special emphasis will be placed on the urban core and PILOT SNAPSHOT City of Columbus, Ohio Date of Announcement: May 25,1999 Amount: $500,000 BCRLF Target Area: The entire City of Columbus, with emphasis on the urban core and the Empowerment Zone Contacts: Economic Development and Planning Services (614) 645-1954 Region 5 Brownfields Coordinator (312) 886-7576 Visit the EPA Region 5 Brownfields web site at: www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields/ 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/ ------- the Empowerment Zone. The BCRLF will provide cleanup funding to properties not included in the Voluntary Action Program. BCRLF funds will be targeted at smaller business entities who do nottypically have access to cleanup funds. FUND STRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS The Columbus Department of Trade and Development will serve as lead agency and the City's Department of Health will assume sitemanagerresponsibilities. Yerke Mortgage, under contract with the City, will be designated as fund manager. Three to five loans will be made in the initial disbursement period. BCRLF loans will be available in amounts up to $ 100,000. LEVERAGING Empowerment Zone grant funds and BCRLF loans will be used as complementary tools to effect cleanup in the urban core. The City of Columbus will contribute $45,500 in services as an in-kind contribution. In addition, 15 percent of the services of the Trade Development Assistant and 25 percent of the two loan officers services will be provided on an in-kind basis. 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 City of Columbus, Ohio May 1999 EPA 500-F-99-061 ------- |