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/

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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

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