w5 Brownfields 1996 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet Charlotte, NC 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 EPA selected the City of Charlotte for a Brownfields Pilot. The Brownfields Pilot area is adjacent to uptown in the Wilmore neighborhood and South End business district, which includes Charlotte's earliest industrial area, dating back to the late 1800s. Brownfields redevelopment is an important component of Charlotte's effort to revitalize its urban neighborhoods, which are showing significant signs of economic distress and physical deterioration. Approximately 1.5 million public dollars in physical improvements within the South End area have leveraged the private redevelopment of several mills into retail, entertainment, and residential uses. However, there are many brownfields sites where redevelopment has yet to occur. Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 06/13/1996 Amount: $200,000 Profile: The Pilot targets redevelopment efforts in the city's Wilmore neighborhood and South End business district. 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 4 Brownfields Team (404) 562-8792 EPA Region 4 Brownfields Web site (http ://www .epa.gov/region4/waste/bf) Grant Recipient: Charlotte,NC (704)336-4522 Objectives The city plans to return brownfield properties to productive use by creating jobs, contributing to the tax base, providing needed community services, and creating environmentally safe sites. The city, in conjunction with the state, is establishing clear guidelines for appropriate levels of cleanup on selected sites through community consensus and innovative cleanup plans. Additionally, the city is educating lenders on managing brownfields risk for private sector investment. Volunteer partners (including law firms, lending institutions, environmental professionals, neighborhood representatives, and universities) provide assistance with addressing potential regulatory barriers. Activities The Pilot has: • Held three community meetings, with more than 50 people attending each session. Meetings have focused on defining risk and contamination, and United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 500-F-00-262 Dec 00 ------- were a joint effort by the brownfields partners. Partners presented information on the environmental and liability content related to the targeted area and staffed tables for participants to ask specific questions at the end of the meetings; • Created a site selection committee to select the actual brownfields sites based on input from the community meetings and the criteria cited in the work plan. A representative from each of the following groups is included in the team: South End Development Corporation; Wilmore Neighborhood Association; West Enterprise Community; Dilworth Community Development Corporation; the Sierra Club; a real estate industry representative; a banker; and an environmental engineer; • Identified, through the work of the site-selection committee, seven cleanup and redevelopment projects for assessment that offer significant public benefits to the community; • Completed environmental assessments on the following seven sites: Thomas Construction, Camden Square project, Truck Equipment Manufactures' expansion, South Tryon, Cost Effective Maintenance, Wilmore CDC housing project, and Westover Shopping Center; and • Created the following: a brownfields project logo as a community outreach tool; invitations to the first community meeting; door hangers to inform residents about community meetings; and reminder postcards in conjunction with efforts to publicize the community meetings. The Pilot was recognized for these strong community outreach materials, receiving a Saavy Award from the national City County Marketing and Communications Association. The Pilot is: • Completing cleanup plans for two more sites in the targeted area; and • Keeping community residents and partners informed of the activities of the Pilot. Experience with the Charlotte Pilot has been the catalyst for related activities, including the following: • Cleanup activities have been completed at three properties, and redevelopment activities have begun at four sites. • The Pilot has leveraged a total of $45,483 in assessment funding and $203,938 in cleanup funding. United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 500-F-00-262 Dec 00 ------- • The Pilot has leveraged the creation of 400 redevelopment jobs and a total of $17,310,000 in redevelopment funding, including $14.5 million for the Camden Square site, $2.5 million for the Truck Equipment Manufacturing site, $175,000 for the Cost Effective Maintenance site, $75,000 for the Gaines Brown Design site, and $60,000 for the Thomas Construction site. • The city created a Facade Improvement Grant program and an Infrastructure Grant program to remove blight and make infrastructure improvements in specific business districts, including the Pilot area. • North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry and other Pilot partners drafted state legislation simplifying the regulatory review process and offered covenants-not-to-sue to non-responsible owners whose cleanup and redevelopment plans have been completed and approved by the state. City staff participated in ongoing dialogues with North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources regarding proposed state legislation. The Brownfields Property Reuse Act was signed by the Governor in August 1997. • Pilot partners sponsored a conference for bankers, titled "New Lending Opportunities," with more than 60 people in attendance, including 29 lenders representing 10 banks from 8 cities in North Carolina and South Carolina. • The city produced a segment on the Brownfields Project for the public access television talk show that discussed the impact of brownfields redevelopment in Charlotte and announced the first community meeting. 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 c Environmental anri Fmpflpn™ EPA 500-F-00-262 _ . . and Emergency _ __ Protection Agency Response (5105T) Dec 00 Washington, DC 20450 ^ v ' ------- /!T^. Brownfields 1996 Supplemental Assessment I jig) Pilot Fact Sheet C/'*y of Charlotte, NC 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 EPA awarded the City of Charlotte supplemental assistance for its Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot. The city will expand the targeted area beyond the Wilmore neighborhood/South End business district to include all of its distressed communities, in alignment with the area targeted by the Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund (BCRLF) Pilot. The area has a 25 percent average poverty rate for families, and 67 percent of its residents are minority. This area includes the city's major distressed business corridors that are the target of several other economic revitalization incentives (e.g, low-interest, deferred loans; tax incentives; grants) through initiatives such as the federal Enterprise Communities, North Carolina's State Development Zones, Charlotte's City Within a City (CWAC) Equity Loan Program, Business Corridor Revitalization Program, and Business Investment Zones. Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 03/01/2000 Amount: $100,000 Profile: City of Charlotte, NC. The Pilot will target 6 to 10 properties within Charlotte's major distressed business corridors. 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 4 Brownfields Team (404) 562-8792 EPA Region 4 Brownfields Web site (http ://www .epa.gov/region4/waste/bf) Grant Recipient: Charlotte,NC (704)336-4522 Objectives The Pilot will coordinate these supplemental assessment efforts with the BCRLF program to facilitate completion of the cleanup and redevelopment of a mix of large developer projects and smaller projects handled by small- to medium-sized businesses. The Pilot's efforts will be integral to the city's commitment to improve its older business areas and neighborhoods. To accomplish these objectives, the Pilot plans to: • Identify and convene an Advisory Committee that will lead the property selection process and work with the community to ensure that each project conforms with local needs; • Develop communications and outreach materials to ensure community input; and • Conduct 6 to 10 environmental assessments at properties selected by the Advisory Committee. United States c Environmental anri Fmpflpn™ EPA 500-F-00-006 nil- a ancl Emergency . __ Protection Agency Response (5105*0 Apr°° Washington, DC 20450 ^ v ' ------- The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change. 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-00-006 Apr 00 ------- |