/!T^. Brownfields 1997 Revolving Loan Fund Pilot
I v8y $ Fact Sheet

Boston, 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

As a large urban city with an industrial history, Boston is
known as the economic hub of New England. However,
the city also has its fair share of unemployment, poverty,
abandoned land, and environmental problems. As
industries have been phased out of the city and moved to
the suburban greenfields, parts of Boston have been left
littered with abandoned and vacant properties. These
former industrial properties are often not redeveloped
due to fears of real or perceived environmental
contamination. One such area that will be the focus of the
Boston BCRLF is the city's Enhanced Enterprise
Community (EEC), a 5.8 square mile area that runs north
to south in the center of the city. The poverty rate in the
EEC is 36 percent and the unemployment rate is 16
percent. More than 80 percent of the city's minority
residents live in the EEC.

Pilot Snapshot

Date of Announcement: 09/01/1997
Amount: $350,000

Profile: Boston's federally-designated Enhanced
Enterprise Community.

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 Boston,MA
(617) 722-4300

Objectives

Initially, the Pilot will target loans for five
community-selected priority sites in the EEC that range
in size from 25,000 square feet to nine acres of land. The
BCRLF Pilot will be used in collaboration with key
urban resources offered by the EEC to cleanup and
redevelop property, to encourage sustainable
development, and to increase the city's tax base and
create jobs.

Activities

Fund Structure and Operations

Two city entities, the Economic Development and
Industrial Corporation (EDIC) and the Environmental
Department, will partner as the Lead Agency to ensure
that the loans and cleanups are conducted in compliance
with the terms of the cooperative agreement. The city's
Public Facilities Department will serve as the Site
Manager to oversee cleanups at project sites. The
Boston Local Development Corporation (BLDC), a
non-profit corporation, will act as the Fund Manager

United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450

Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)

EPA 500-F-99-029
May 99


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and implement the loan fund.

Threshold criteria for borrower eligibility include:
completed site assessment and cleanup alternative
evaluation; demonstrated evidence of financial need,
collateral, and equity; demonstrated good standing on
city and state taxes (i.e., not in delinquency); property is
located in or near the EEC. In addition, sites that
demonstrate an overall community benefit (e.g., through
job creation or retention, economic/environmental
revitalization) will be given a preference for the BCRLF
loans. Loan amounts will be determined on a
case-by-case basis, but will range from approximately
$5,000 to $50,000. The city has a preference to provide
smaller loans so that the BCRLF will have a greater
impact in the targeted area. All loans will be secured by
a security agreement covering all assets of the borrower
(e.g., perfected mortgages, personal guarantees).

Leveraging Other Activities

The BCRLF will be used in conjunction with other
funds to produce maximum community empowerment
and revitalization. Within the EEC, up to $44 million is
available in loans, grants, job training, and technical
assistance for both small and large businesses.

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-99-029
May 99


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