Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) or Superfund, Section 104; Announcement of Competition for Final Five Brownfield Economic Redevelopment Initiative Pilots

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-5110-5]

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability

Act (CERCLA) or Superfund, Section 104; Announcement of Competition for

Final Five Brownfield Economic Redevelopment Initiative Pilots

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency will begin accepting

proposals for Brownfield Economic Redevelopment Pilots beginning

December 1, 1994. The application period will close March 1, 1995, and

the Agency intends to competitively select five Pilots by June 1, 1995.

DATES: This action is effective as of December 1, 1994, and expires on

March 1, 1995. All proposals must be received and/or post marked by the

expiration date cited above.

ADDRESSES: Application booklets can be obtained by calling the

Superfund Hotline at 800-424-9346, or writing to: U.S. EPA--Brownfield

Application, Superfund Document Center 5201G, 401 M Street, SW.,

Washington, DC 20460.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Superfund Hotline, 800-424-9346.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Brownfield Economic Redevelopment

Initiative is founded on the belief that ``economic development and

environmental protection must go hand in hand,'' (Carol Browner,

Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency, Announcing the

Cleveland Brownfields Pilot on November 8, 1993). EPA's Brownfields

Initiative is an organized commitment to help communities revitalize

abandoned contaminated properties, and to thereby eliminate potential

health risks and restore economic vitality to areas where these

properties exist. Three national pilot projects already have been

awarded.

With as many as 100,000 sites potentially requiring evaluation

under federal or state Superfund programs, hundreds of local, state,

and tribal governments and their citizens inevitably will have to deal

with contaminated properties.

The ``polluter pays'' principle, fundamental to Superfund's success

in deterring the creation of new contaminated sites, has caused public

and private investors to shy away from buying and cleaning up land

which may be contaminated.

Fear of that liability drives investors toward undeveloped

``greenfields.'' The result can be a diminished supply of pristine land

and economic decline in industrial and urban centers. Both are

detrimental to communities.

EPA's Brownfields Pilots (to be funded at $200,000 each over two

years) will test redevelopment models, direct special efforts toward

removing regulatory barriers without sacrificing protectiveness, and

facilitate coordinated efforts at the federal, state, and local levels.

EPA will develop a coordinated federal strategy to help initiate a

significant national effort to clean up and redevelop brownfields.

The objectives of the initiative are: to build the capacity of

affected and interested parties to shape how contaminated sites are

cleaned up and productively reused; to stimulate a national search for

innovative ways to overcome the current obstacles to the reuse of

contaminated properties; and to coalesce federal, state, and municipal

efforts to examine new approaches to achieving cleanup and reuse; and

to explore the potential for combining an economic stimulus and a

speeded-up environmental cleanup to contribute to achieving

environmental justice.

Cities, counties, towns, states, and Native American tribes are all

eligible to apply.

Proposals will be evaluated on the following Criteria (a more

detailed and complete set of criteria will be included in the

application booklet):

Demonstrated commitment of public and private leadership

to brownfields redevelopment.

Plans for effective community involvement.

Clear delineation of how federal support will make a

difference.

Potential for national replication.

Government support and technical, legal, and political

capacity to complete goals.

Clearly outlined potential sources of cleanup funding.

Contributions to environmental justice goals.

Well-defined approach to environmental assessment.

Dated: November 15, 1994.

Timothy Fields, Jr.,

Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency

Response.

[FR Doc. 94-28706 Filed 11-18-94; 8:45 am]

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