United States
                      Environmental
                      Protection Agency
                      Washington, D.C. 20460
  Solid Waste
  and Emergency
  Response (5105)
EPA500-F-01-235
April 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
 <>EPA      Brownfields  Cleanup
                       Revolving  Loan  Fund  Pilot
                          Lansing Brownfields Redevelopment Authority, Ml
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
                       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 $250,000 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 forfuture employment in the environmental field; and, brownfields cleanup revolving
loan fund (BCRLF)programs (each funded up to  $1,000,000 over five years), to  provide financial assistance 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

Lansing has long  been a  center of  automobile
manufacturing and related industries, with  General
Motors (GM) traditionally being one of the largest
employers.  More recently,  Lansing's economy has
suffered, and many jobs have been lost as a result of
GM's corporate downsizing and the closure of older,
less efficient plants. Currently, 19%  of Lansing's
population lives below the poverty line.

In an attempt to combat poverty and urban sprawl, and
to attract new business to the area, the City established
two Renaissance Zones which  offer developers tax
incentives to locate therein. The City also set up the
Lansing  Brownfields   Redevelopment Authority
(LBRA) in  1997 to promote  the  revitalization of
environmentally distressed areas. To date, the LBRA
has completed two brownfields projects. The first was
the redevelopment of an abandoned gas station into a
thriving commercial business, and the second was the
conversion of the former Motor Wheel  facility (27
acres) into the home of GM's new Powertrain Machine
Tool Operations,  retaining over 250 jobs  with the
expectation  of  250 more.  In addition,  the LBRA
utilized the original EPA Assessment Demonstration
Pilot funds to identify, categorize, and prioritize
PILOT SNAPSHOT
  Lansing, Michigan
Contacts:

  Lansing  Brownfield
Redevelopment Authority
   (517)483-4594
                         Date of Announcement:
                         April 2001

                         Amount: $500,000

                         BCRLF Target Area:
                         Sites throughout the City
                         of Lansing
 Region 5 Brownfields
    Coordinator
    (312)886-3058
      Visit the EPA Region 5 Brownfields web site at:
         http://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:
            www.epa.gov/brownfields

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approximately  100  brownfields  properties  with
redevelopment potential  that are evenly dispersed
throughout the city.

BCRLF OBJECTIVES

Lansing's  brownfields  objectives are  to level the
financial playing field between undeveloped greenfield
sites and brownfield properties.  The City wants to
return brownfields to productive use and substantially
increase the property value of those sites identified as
redevelopment priorities; market available sites and
funding mechanisms to potential developers; and create
new employment and economic vitality within the
community.  Implicit is  the  desire to reduce urban
sprawl  and  encourage   environmentally  friendly
development.

Two promising projects  under consideration for the
BCRLF  are  the:  (1)  expansion  of the  Lansing
Convention Center northward onto a site that is known
to  be  contaminated,  requiring  $11   million  in
investment, and (2)  cleanup of contaminated sites in
downtown Lansing  that will then be used for the
construction of an Arts & Education Center.
LEVERAGING OTHER RESOURCES

At the  state level, the  Michigan Department of
Environmental Quality has several grant and/or loan
programs specifically designed to assist brownfields
cleanup efforts.  The Brownfields Redevelopment
Site Reclamation  Grant Program and  the  Clean
Michigan Initiative both may be incorporated into
local brownfields redevelopment plans. In addition,
the  State  provides  tax incentives  to  induce
brownfields redevelopment, the Single Business Tax
Credit, Tax Increment Financing, and credits arising
from neighborhood Renaissance Zone Status. These
will complement  Federal funding  from HUD's
Entitlement and Community Development  Block
Grant Program, and the Department of Commerce's
Economic Development Administration Brownfields
Program.
 Use of BCRLF Pilot funds must be in accordance with
 CERCLA,  and all CERCLA restrictions on use of
funding also apply to BCRLF funds.
FUND STRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS

The LBRA is the cooperative agreement recipient and
will serve as the lead agency and fund manager.  The
LBRA is considering several  options  for a  site
manager.
Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Pilot
April 2001	
                                      Lansing, Ml
                                 EPA 500-F-01-235

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