Waste Site Cleanup & Reuse in New England
3. Site Cleanup
> Bringing a Brownfields Property Back to Reuse
Redevelopment projects take planning, input, and resources. You may want to hire a consultant to discuss your cleanup options, or look into enrolling your site in a state voluntary cleanup program. The cost and extent of the cleanup needed may factor into the type of end use that is appropriate for your site. There are several challenges involved in redevelopment that will need to be addressed, and multiple stakeholders will need to be involved in the planning process. Once you have finalized your plans and secured your funding, you will need to establish partnerships to ensure that your project is a sustainable endeavor.
Under the Revolving Loan Fund initiative, EPA awards grants to eligible local, tribal, and state entities. Grant funds establish a loan program administered by the pilot to assist private and public entities in cleaning up contaminated sites. The payback and interest from these loans are used to provide additional loans for subsequent brownfields site cleanups. To be eligible, the applicant must demonstrate that they have an established brownfield program and made progress on assessment, cleanup and revitalization of brownfields in a community. Revolving Loan Fund Pilot Application Guidelines are available on the national Brownfields Web site.
State Voluntary Cleanup
Programs
Cleaning up and redeveloping a site can be expensive. All the
states in New England offer programs such as voluntary cleanup programs
to help clean up brownfields properties with mitigated risk or liability.
Interested property owners or prospective property owners can enroll
in the state program and voluntarily clean up a property to standards
appropriate for the type of contamination and the intended reuse.
By doing this, they may be eligible to receive technical and/or
financial assistance, and certification from the state that no further
action is required for redevelopment of the property.