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| City of Phoenix Brownfields Land Recycling Program | Vol. 3 August 1999 |
Phase I ESA Grant funds available
ICMA recognizes Phoenix Brownfields Program
$1 million grant to fund loans for brownfields cleanup
Brownfields news from across the country
Enterprise Zone tax credits for brownfields
Thank you!
For more information
Return to Brownfields Bulletin
Phase I ESA Grant funds available
Are you unsure whether or not your property
is a brownfields?
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If you are a property owner that suspects your property is a brownfields and are interested in selling or redeveloping the property, you may qualify for funding for a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA). |
If you are a potential purchaser of contaminated land and are not sure whether or not it's a brownfields, you also may qualify.
It's very simple. Fill out a short application form that tells us about the property and within a few days we can let you know if you qualify for these funds. Once qualified, we contract with our brownfields consultant to do the work. You just sit back, relax and wait for the results.
We encourage using these funds before they end. Our goal is to determine if a need exists for Phase II ESA funding and one of the ways to do this is to complete Phase I. Grant funding for Phase II ESAs would be a good complement to the existing Phase I ESA money and the Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund that will be available in early 2000.
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ICMA recognizes Phoenix Brownfields Program
The International City/County Managers Association (ICMA) has chosen the city's Brownfields Land Recycling Program as a Mentor to the city of Austin, Texas. This Peer Exchange program provides the opportunity for communities facing specific problems or unique obstacles to learn directly from peers that have successfully overcome those same obstacles. One of the topics of discussion will be our success in making brownfields competitive with greenfields.Return to top of Brownfields Bulletin
$1 million grant to fund loans for brownfields cleanup
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has been awarded a total of $1 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to fund two $500,000 revolving loan funds to clean up brownfield sites in the cities of Phoenix and Tucson.The grant will create the Arizona Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund (Arizona BCRLF), which will provide low interest rate loans to public and private parties for the purposes of cleaning up brownfield sites that already have been assessed for hazardous substance contamination. The fund is termed "revolving" because it will use the loan and interest repayments to provide new loans to additional borrowers. The Arizona BCRLF will be managed through a coalition of partners: ADEQ, the cities of Phoenix and Tucson and the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority.
The grant award was announced in May 1999, and ADEQ expects to make the first loan by early 2000.
During the fall of 1999, ADEQ, the cities of Phoenix and Tucson will conduct an outreach campaign to business groups, professional organizations and other interested parties. In addition, a one-day workshop on the Arizona BCRLF will be held in Phoenix and Tucson to provide information and answer questions regarding the program.
For more information or to be added to the Arizona BCRLF mailing list, contact Amanda Carr, Brownfields coordinator, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, (602) 207-4109 or 1-800-234-5677 ext. 4109 (toll free in Arizona) or via e-mail at: carr.amanda@ev.state.az.us.
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Brownfields news from across the country
- The federal government has awarded more than 300 brownfields grants for more than $69 million to states, cities, towns and tribes. These grants have leveraged nearly $1 billion for redevelopment and created about 2,000 jobs.
- The recently established National Brownfield Association is dedicated to assisting professionals, corporations and the public sector with the complex issues surrounding the development of environmentally impaired properties - Brownfields.
- The United States Conference of Mayors has made passage of Brownfields legislation a top priority for the 106th Congress.
- CERCLA bill currently proposed in House. A bill to amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 to promote brownfields redevelopment and to reauthorize and reform the Superfund program currently is being proposed in the House of Representatives.
- EPA's Brownfields Program recognized by Renew America. The national environmental non-profit Renew America and the President's Council on Sustainable Development has announced that EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative has been selected for a National Award for Sustainability in the category of hazardous waste management and recycling. The Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response Program's Outreach and Special Projects Office manages the Brownfields Initiative.
Enterprise Zone tax credits for brownfields
The Phoenix City Council approved preparation of legislation that would provide Enterprise Zone (EZ) tax credits for brownfields, regardless of their location. The city's brownfields staff will be leading this effort.The ability to extend EZ credits to brownfields projects is an incentive that meets objectives of the city's Brownfields Land Recycling Program and federal brownfield initiatives by encouraging investment and job creation. Currently, these tax credits only are available to sites located within the existing boundaries of designated Enterprise Zones.
The EZ program administered by the Arizona Department of Commerce offers income and property tax benefits for qualifying businesses that make capital investments or increase their workforce within a designated EZ. In Phoenix, more than 100 square miles have been designated as the EZ.
A company located in the EZ can claim up to $3,000 in credits to its Arizona state corporate income tax by creating net new quality jobs. Small manufacturing businesses may qualify for an 80 percent reduction in their primary property tax by investing in new buildings, equipment or property.
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Thank you!
We appreciate your participation in the Phoenix Brownfields '99 Conference held on April 28. Many people representing various industries attended. We hope that you learned as much as we did, and we look forward to an even better event next year!
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For further information
Contact:
Rosanne Sanchez
City of Phoenix
Office of Environmental Programs
200 W. Washington St.,
14th Floor
Phoenix, AZ 85003
(602) 256-5669
(602) 534-0795 fax
rsanchez@ci.phoenix.az.us
Phoenix Brownfields Land Recycling program Web site: www.ci.phoenix.az.us/BROWNFLD/brownfld.html
