Brownfields and Environmental Issues

• Budget Boots Brownfields Funding (5/21/2009)
• EPA Announces 2009 Competitive Brownfields Funding Awards (5/8/2009)
• EPA Announces Renewable Fuels Plan (5/8/2009)
• Coalition Revises Proposal for EPA Brownfields Reauthorization (4/22/2009)
• EPA Brownfields Reauthorization Proposal (abbreviated) (4/22/2009)
• EPA Brownfields Reauthorization Proposal (comprehensive) (4/22/2009)
• House Renews EPA’s Clean Water SRF Program (3/12/2009)
• NADO Research Foundation Information on Rural Brownfields Redevelopment

Budget Boots Brownfields Funding

May 21, 2009 -- The budget requests $10.4 billion in discretionary spending, $2.8 billion over current funding. For State and Tribal Assistance Grants (STAG), the budget requests nearly $5.2 billion, an increase of roughly $2.3 billion.

The additional funding is directed largely to the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF), which would increase nearly $1.7 billion from $689 million to $2.4 billion. The budget proposes $1.5 billion for the Safe Drinking Water SRF, an increase of roughly $670 million.

The budget directs no less than 20 percent of SRF resources to be dedicated to projects addressing green infrastructure, water or energy efficiency improvements or other environmentally innovative activities. The budget also reserves up to 1.5 percent of SRF funds for grants.

The budget requests $174.7 million for the three brownfields accounts, an increase of nearly $5 million over current funding.

No funding is sought for the Climate Change Initiative Grants for Local Communities program. The initiative, which received an initial appropriation of $10 million in FY2009, provides one-time only grants to local communities to implement climate change programs.

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EPA Announces 2009 Competitive Brownfields Funding Awards

May 8, 2009 -- On May 8, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of an estimated $111.9 million in grants to help communities clean up brownfields sites. The grants include $37.3 million from the Recovery Act and $74.6 million from EPA Brownfields general program funding.

A total of 252 applicants were selected to receive 389 grants, with several NADO members benefiting from this year’s funding cycle. In all, nine NADO members accounted for over $5 million in cleanup and assessment funding.

For more information, contact NADO program manager Mike Bellamente at 202.624.7809 or mbellamente@nado.org.

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EPA Announces Renewable Fuels Plan

May 8, 2009 -- On May 5, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its strategy for increasing the national supply of renewable fuels. The plan implements requirements under the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA; P.L. 110-140), which requires 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels to be included in the nation’s motor fuel supply by 2022 and requires ethanol and other biofuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent relative to gasoline. To view the EPA proposal, visit http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d0cf6618525a9efb85257359003fb69d/028f14f22a5224ad852575ad00607923!OpenDocument.

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Coalition Revises Proposal for EPA Brownfields Reauthorization

April 22, 2009 -- On April 21, the National Brownfields Coalition, of which NADO is an active participant, submitted to Congress a revised proposal for reauthorization of the EPA Brownfields Program. Included in the proposal were modifications intended to strengthen the case for reauthorization and eliminate barriers for passage.

Of the priorities listed in the revised proposal is a measure to "allow funding for reasonable administrative costs for local brownfields programs," a sticking point for several NADO members. The Coalition is also giving priority to program changes that will:

• Enable reaching more sites by providing higher authorization levels, higher per project ceilings, and eliminating needless site eligibility hurdles;
  
• Improve effectiveness at the local level by offering multi-purpose grants, and making non-profits eligible for site assessment and revolving loan fund programs;
  
• Encourage sustainability by authorizing new pilot programs for sustainable and alternative energy re-use of brownfields, and pilots for waterfront sites; and
  
• Remove barriers to local government acquisition of mothballed sites by providing greater liability protection for local government acquisitions.

Click here to view an abbreviated, prioritized version of the proposal.

Click here to view the comprehensive format.

The Coalition has also pressed the case for higher appropriations in letters to both House and Senate Appropriations Sub-committees supporting the EPA Brownfields Program ( House letter, Senate letter) and the HUD brownfields-related programs ( House letter, Senate letter).

For more information on NADO's Brownfields initiatives, please contact NADO Program Manager Mike Bellamente at 202.624.7809 or mbellamente@nado.org. Return to the top

House Renews EPA’s Clean Water SRF Program

March 12, 2009 -- On March 12, the House of Representatives approved legislation (HR 1262) reauthorizing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) program. The bill would reauthorize the program, which provides low-interest loans and grants to communities to construct wastewater treatment facilities, for the first time in 15 years. The measure awaits Senate action.

The bill authorizes a total of $13.8 billion through FY2014; $2.4 billion for FY2010 and rising to $3 billion in FY2014.

The measure also authorizes $300 million annually in state management assistance and $100 million annually in grants to non-profit organizations to provide technical and management assistance in improving wastewater treatment systems in rural areas, small municipalities and tribal communities.

The measure includes a “Buy American” provision that requires steel, iron and manufactured goods used in projects financed by the revolving fund to be produced in the United States.

The bill authorizes $2.5 billion annually in grants for projects designed to prevent sewer overflows, $150 million per year to address sediment contamination in the Great Lakes watershed and $50 million annually to provide grants for pilot programs testing alternative methods for enhancing water supplies.

During floor consideration, an amendment to eliminate Davis-Bacon provisions on prevailing wages was defeated. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member John Mica (R-FL), who voted against the final bill because of the Davis-Bacon provisions, vowed to work with the Senate to strike the requirement in a final bill.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee adopted a similar bill (S 3617) last year authorizing a total of $19.6 billion for the Clean Water SRF and $14.7 billion for the Safe Drinking Water SRF. The bill is expected to be a starting point for Senate efforts to reauthorize the SRF programs.

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