W5
Brownfields 1997 Revolving Loan Fund Pilot
Fact Sheet
Dallas, TX
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
The City of Dallas is located in the north central region
of Texas. More than 50 percent of Dallas' population is
minority, and the city has an unemployment rate of
almost 12 percent. Nineteen percent of the Dallas
population is living below the poverty level. Some of the
city's major brownfields areas have unemployment rates
of 22 to 25 percent. Several thousand sites in Dallas have
been identified as having potential, or already
determined, environmental problems. In particular, the
central business district and the surrounding
neighborhoods have many acres of potential brownfields.
There are approximately 5,300 vacant commercial
buildings in Dallas.
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 09/01/1997
Amount: $350,000
Profile: Brownfields sites throughout Dallas,
particularly those in the central business district and
surrounding neighborhoods.
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 6 Brownfields Team
(214) 665-6780
EPA Region 6 Brownfields Web site
(http ://www .epa.gov/region6/brownfields)
Grant Recipient: City of Dallas,TX
(214)670-1685
Objectives
The goal of the Dallas BCRLF Pilot is to fund the
cleanup of the city's brownfields and supplement the
city's Brownfields Program. In addition to fostering
brownfields cleanup and helping stimulate economic
development, the BCRLF funds will in turn strengthen
Dallas's neighborhoods, encourage business and job
growth, and increase city tax revenues. To help
implement the BCRLF Pilot, the city will rely on a
number of standard operating procedures, documents,
and systems developed by the Dallas Brownfields
Forum, a city-wide representative citizen, industry, and
regulatory advisory committee.
Activities
Fund Structure and Operations
Dallas plans to provide revolving fund gap financing for
brownfields cleanup using the $350,000 in EPA BCRLF
funds and $350,000 in city funds, for a total of
$700,000. The city will also provide in-kind
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 500-F-99-046
May 99

-------
contributions to cover many of the administrative
expenses of implementing the loan fund. The city's
Economic Development Department (EDD) will serve
as Lead Agency, in-house Fund Manager, and Site
Manager. Further, the city will partner with a third party
(e.g., a financial institution or trust department) to serve
as the day-to-day Fund Manager that will be responsible
for structuring loan agreements, collateral agreements,
record keeping, loan disbursements, tracking and
repayment instruments. In an effort to leverage funds
and to induce the borrowers to complete the projects,
borrowers will be strongly urged, and may be required,
to purchase two forms of environmental
insurance-excess cleanup cost and third party liability
protection. In addition to this environmental insurance
protection, the city will require performance bonding by
the environmental consultants conducting the cleanup
activities. The cap for the BCRLF loans is expected to
be $100,000 for each loan. Prospective borrowers will
be encouraged, and may be required, to enter the Texas
Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC)
Voluntary Cleanup Program.
Leveraging Other Activities
In addition to the city's contribution of $350,000 to the
BCRLF, additional efforts will continue to develop a
larger pool of resources. The city is working with the
Small Business Administration (SBA), several financial
institutions, and the TNRCC to leverage the BCRLF.
Although the Small Business Administration, lending
institutions, and non-profit development corporations
will not finance environmental cleanup, they will work
hand-in-hand with a cleanup loan fund to provide
complementary real estate, minority training, and
business start-up loans. Dallas currently offers a set of
incentives known as the city's Public/Private Partnership
Program. For example, the city's tax abatement policy
seeks to direct growth to the city's Enterprise Zones.
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-99-046
May 99

-------