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Brownfields 1999 Revolving Loan Fund Pilot
Fact Sheet
Des Moines, IA
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
In 1996, a beef processing facility abruptly closed in Des
Moines, and approximately 1,300 workers lost their jobs.
To spur business growth, the City of Des Moines, Iowa
has designated a portion of its southeast region area as
the Agribusiness Enterprise Zone. The State of Iowa
certified the area as an enterprise zone. The area contains
deteriorated structures, vacant lots, and environmental
contamination, and has high poverty levels, and
unemployment rates. Part of the zone - the 1,200-acre
Des Moines Agribusiness Park - is designated as a
Brownfields Assessment Pilot. A Phase I environmental
assessment has been completed, highlighting the need
for further investigation of 230 acres, and the City is
obtaining Phase II environmental results. In January
1998, the City adopted an urban renewal plan and
created a tax increment finance (TIF) district for the
Agribusiness Enterprise Zone.
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 05/25/1999
Amount: $500,000
Profile: The Des Moines Agri-business Enterprise
Zone.
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 7 Brownfields Team
(800)223-0425
EPA Region 7 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/region7/cleanup/brown fields)
Grant Recipient: City of Des Moines,IA
(515)237-1351
Objectives
The City's BCRLF will provide loans for the
environmental cleanup of sites within the Agribusiness
Enterprise Zone. Information from public meetings and
interviews with agribusinesses, the State of Iowa, and
Iowa State University will assist in creating a
comprehensive redevelopment plan for agribusiness
reuse. The City hopes to address barriers to brownfield
redevelopment and develop a process in which
residents, businesses, and the City work together to
facilitate community growth, create development sites
that discourage sprawl; attract additional seed capital for
redevelopment; assume a leadership role in Iowa's new
VCP; and assist other communities implementation of
similar programs.
Activities
Fund Structure and Operations
The City's Office of Economic Development, which
currently manages two other City revolving loan funds,
will serve as the lead agency and fund manager. The
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 500-F-99-066
May 99

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City's Engineering Department will serve as the BCRLF
site manager. The maximum loan amount will be
$100,000 with the term and interest rate negotiated on a
case-by-case basis.
Des Moines will provide in-kind environmental,
bank-ing, and legal resources for the BCRLF program.
In addition, the City has leveraged up to a $1 million of
State resources from the Iowa Physical Infrastructure
Assistance Fund. The Iowa PIAF is a loan and/or loan
guarantee program that can be used for environmental
remediation projects involving substantial capital
investment, the creation of high wage, quality jobs, and
positive statewide impact. The City also will explore the
potential of leveraging funds with the local banking
community. In addition, the Des Moines Action Loan
Fund and the Iowa Community Economic Betterment
Account will provide long-term fixed asset financing.
The Enterprise Zone Program offers job training,
corporate tax incentives, and a refund on sales, service,
and use taxes on materials used in construction
contracts. Community Reinvestment Act objectives will
be stressed. Finally, the City has established a tax
increment financing district for the Agribusiness
Enterprise Zone.
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-99-066
May 99

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