/r^. Brownfields 1999 Revolving Loan Fund Pilot
I YK/* Fact Sheet
%(rwat^ City of Brockton, MA
EPA Brownfields Initiative
EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states,
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. On
January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into
law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields
Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields Law, EPA
provides financial assistance to eligible applicants
through four competitive grant programs: assessment
grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and
job training grants. Additionally, funding support is
provided to state and tribal response programs through a
separate mechanism.
Background
Brockton, a small city in Massachusetts, is trying to
rebound from the loss of its industrial base and a pattern
of disinvestment. The City has been designated an
Economic Target Area under the Commonwealth's
Economic Development Incentive Program. The
Brockton BCRLF will focus on sites within the
Economic Corridor, a north-south tract that runs through
the City's center and contains most of its
industrially-zoned land. Brownfields comprise about
one-third of the area in the Corridor. The Corridor has
over 100 old industrial mill buildings with 30 percent to
35 percent of the space vacant and 60 percent to 70
percent contaminated. Since most industrially-zoned land
in Brockton is developed, the Economic Corridor is the
City's last major resource for industrial growth. Brockton
is a Brownfields Assessment Pilot.
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 09/01/1997
Amount: $350,000
Profile: City-wide brownfields sites.
Contacts
For further information, including specific grant
contacts, additional grant information, brownfields
news and events, and publications and links, visit the
EPA Brownfields Web site
(http ://www .epa.gov/brownfields).
EPA Region 1 Brownfields Team
(617)918-1424
EPA Region 1 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/regionl/brownfields)
Grant Recipient: City of Brockton,MA
(612)348-5714
Objectives
The City of Brockton's brownfields program aims to
identify and prioritize brownfields sites in the Economic
Corridor, perform site assessments, identify strategic
ways to reuse the sites, remediate the sites in a
consistent manner with reuse plans, perform
infrastructure improvements, develop the sites, and
explore quality life improvements such as bicycle paths.
The BCRLF will support these objectives by offering a
financing tool specifically targeted at cleanup efforts.
Four types of borrowers are anticipated: Brockton
businesses (mostly industrial or commercial) seeking to
expand or relocate; businesses from outside the City
(mostly industrial or commercial) seeking to establish
operations in Brockton; real-estate developers; and the
City or other City agencies seeking to make sites
attractive to prospective purchasers.
Activities
Fund Structure and Operations
The City will serve as the lead agency and through a
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memorandum of understanding with the Massachusetts
Department of Environmental Protection the City will
obtain assistance in carrying out its site management
responsibilities. The City is exploring two alternatives
for fund manager. One option is to solicit competitive
bids from interested non-profits and local banks.
Alternatively, the City may enter into an
intergovernmental agreement with the SouthEastern
Economic Development Corporation (SEED), a public
entity established to package loans under the Small
Business Administration's 504 program. The City will
contribute $50,000 to the BCRLF for loans. Brockton
has established a limit of $100,000 per loan and
anticipates making about five loans in the initial round
of lending. Loan terms will be established on a
case-by-case basis by the fund manager.
The City will contribute $50,000 to the BCRLF for
loans. Through Massachusetts' brownfields legislation
that will provide $30 million in assistance to
municipalities, there is potential for additional loan
funds. In addition, the Economic Corridor falls within
six Economic Opportunity areas, permitting the City to
offer property tax incentives to companies that locate or
expand in the Corridor. This program also generates an
increase in the state tax credit for the same companies
and triggers priority consideration from state financing
programs. The City also has obtained $250,000 from the
Massachusetts DHCD Demolition of Abandoned
Buildings Program for infrastructure improvements.
Finally, the City plans to continue to offer tax incentives
to attract developers, explore the potential effectiveness
of the six census tracts in the City eligible for the
Federal Brownfields Tax Incentive Program for
encouraging private investment, and pursue additional
funding sources.
Use of BCRLF Pilot funds must be in accordance with
CERCLA, and all CERCLA restrictions on use of
funding also apply to BCRLF funds.
The information presented in this fact sheet comes from
the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of
this information. The cooperative agreement for the
grant has not yet been negotiated. Therefore, activities
described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
Solid Waste
EPA 500-F-99-054
May 99

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