Regional Projects Build Regional Legacies

Land-of-Sky Regional Council secured several grants and one revolving loan fund:

• $200,000 EPA assessment pilot grant (2002)
  
• $200,000 hazardous materials and $200,000 petroleum grants (2004)
  
• $1 million revolving loan fund (2004)
  
• Land-of-Sky manages and administers two $200,000 cleanup grants for two publiclyowned sites

The Council has also leveraged $50,000 from EDA, covering lead and asbestos testing, marketing and infrastructure analysis. Land-of-Sky also leveraged $16,500 in matching grants from a local economic development group.

Land-of-Sky officials believe their projects have resulted in $350–500 million in economic benefits. Permanent job creation has not been measured yet, but permanent jobs and new businesses are expected once the projects proceed to redevelopment.

Most of the 12 redevelopment sites are currently in the assessment or cleanup phases, and 50 temporary redevelopment and construction jobs have been created.

Key issues facing the Council include the EPA brownfields grant administrative costs prohibition, the stigma of contaminated sites, explaining how the program works and the differences between brownfields and other contaminated sites.

In 2005, Land-of-Sky established the RLF and has five years to lend $1 million. Sixty percent of the council’s revolving loan fund (RLF) will be used for hazardous materials sites and 40 percent for petroleum sites. A positive outcome for Land-of-Sky, due to its status as an EPA brownfields grantee, has been the opportunity to work closely with the North Carolina brownfields program. A state employee is now housed in their office because 95 percent of projects in the state’s western area are located in the Land-of-Sky region.

The state has a separate voluntary cleanup program for petroleum. The state relies on EPA for its entire brownfields program, so EPA money is critical. The state’s program determines the assessment protocol and cleanup standards and develops terms of liability for cleanup. EPA recognizes the state’s authority in these areas.