/!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 ------- 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 ------- |