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Announcements and Press Releases
Organizations Receive $1.5 Million for Brownfields Training, Research, and Technical Assistance
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is awarding 10 grants for brownfields
training, research, and technical assistance projects with national scope and
impact. More than $1.5million in funding will support brownfields assessment,
cleanup, and revitalization across the country.
The grants will fund projects that are exploring new and innovative ideas in the areas of protection of human health and the environment, sustainable development, and equitable development. Each assistance project will receive between $100,000 and $150,000 in annual funding for up to five years. Project examples include:
- Research to advance the science of characterizing arsenic at mine-scarred land sites.
- Advancing the sustainability of local gardening and farming initiatives on brownfields.
- Identifying mine-scarred or contaminated lands that could be used for renewable energy production.
- Supporting green jobs through technical assistance to communities establishing brownfields job training programs.
Brownfields are sites where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. In January 2002, President Bush signed the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act, which increased funding, expanded authority, and provided liability protection to help communities revitalize brownfields. EPA provides grants, technical assistance and training to support local brownfields efforts. For more information on the brownfields grants, go to www.epa.gov/brownfields/trta.htm#app or contact Latisha Petteway (petteway.latisha@epa.gov) at (202) 564-4355.
New Website for Brownfield Insurance Programs
A new website is available for those needing information about and assistance with insurance for brownfield projects.
The site provides access to insurers, brokers, and attorneys with specialized capacities to address brownfield insurance matters. Additional brokers and attorneys are invited to add their qualifications and share documents they have written. Listing is free and easy to do.
The site also offer a library that includes funded reports, journal articles, and case studies of insurance usage, as well as a glossary of terms. Reports currently on the site include "State Brownfield Insurance Programs - 2006" and "Environmental Insurance Products Available for Brownfield Redevelopment- 2005."
BrownfieldsInsurance.org was developed by Kristen Yount and Peter Meyer of Northern Kentucky University under a cooperative agreement with EPA. For more information, go to www.BrownfieldsInsurance.org.
Report: State Brownfield Insurance Programs, 2006
Researchers from Northern Kentucky University issued a report on State-level
Brownfields Insurance Programs. The report provides information that will
help state officials and other brownfields stakeholders to assess the value
of state-assisted brownfields insurance.
The report is available on the EPA Brownfields Web site at: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/pubs/state_report_2006.pdf.
New Brownfields Tool Kit Available
EPA Region 4 Administrator Jimmy Palmer released the publication
of an interactive CD entitled "Revitalizing Southeastern Communities: A
Brownfields Toolkit" to provide information on regional and national revitalization
efforts and on federal and State brownfields program requirements.
βI am pleased,β said Mr. Palmer, βto offer local officials...this Brownfields environmental information system for their use. The Brownfields Program promotes environmental protection and economic growth, bringing new life to abandoned sites, improving the environment and public health, creating jobs, and revitalizing our communities.β The CD was developed by the National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals (NALGEP) through an EPA Cooperative Agreement.
