[CPEO-BIF] FY 2001 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Pilots Competition

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6884-1]

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act 
(CERCLA) or Superfund, Section 104; "Announcement of Proposal Deadline 
for the Competition for the FY 2001 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan 
Fund Pilots"

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of proposal deadlines, revised guidelines.

[Guidelines on line at: www.epa.gov/brownfields/rlflst.htm#app]

SUMMARY: The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will 
begin to accept proposals for the FY 2001 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving 
Loan Fund Pilots on October 11, 2000. The Brownfields Cleanup Revolving 
Loan Fund pilots (each may be funded up to $1,000,000) to test cleanup 
and redevelopment planning models, direct special efforts toward 
removing regulatory barriers without sacrificing protectiveness, and 
facilitate coordinated public and private environmental cleanup and 
redevelopment efforts. EPA expects to select up to 35 additional 
Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund pilots by March 2001. The 
deadline for new proposals for the FY 2000 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving 
Loan Fund pilots is December 18, 2000. Proposals must be postmarked by 
the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) by December 18, 2000, and sent to U.S. 
EPA Headquarters. In addition, duplicate copies of the proposal must 
also be submitted to the appropriate U.S. EPA Regional Office, ATTN: 
Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Coordinator.

The Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund pilot proposals are selected 
on a competitive basis. To ensure a fair selection process, evaluation 
panels consisting of EPA Regional and Headquarters staff and other 
federal agency representatives will assess how well the proposals meet 
the selection criteria outlined in the newly revised guidelines, 
entitled The Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative: Proposal 
Guidelines for Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund (September 2000).

DATES: All proposals must be postmarked by USPS or sent to U.S. EPA 
Headquarters and a duplicate copy sent to the appropriate U.S. EPA 
Regional Office via registered or tracked mail no later than December 
18, 2000.

ADDRESSES: BCRLF guidelines can be obtained by calling the Superfund 
Hotline at the following numbers:

Washington, DC Metro Area at 703-412-9810 Outside Washington, DC Metro 
at 1-800-424-9346 TDD for the Hearing Impaired at 1-800-553-7672

Copies of the Proposal Guidelines for Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan 
Fund are available via the Internet:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/rlflst.htm#app

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The U.S. EPA's Office of Solid Waste 
and Emergency Response, Outreach and Special Projects Staff, Barbara 
Bassuener (202) 260-9347 or Jennifer Millett Wilbur (202) 260-6454.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 
Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower 
states, local governments, communities, and other stakeholders involved 
in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to 
prevent, assess, and safely cleanup brownfields in order to facilitate 
their sustainable reuse. As part of this Initiative, EPA has awarded 
cooperative agreements to States, political subdivisions (including 
cities, towns, counties), and Indian tribes to capitalize Brownfields 
Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund pilots. The purpose of these pilots is to 
test brownfields cleanup revolving loan fund models that direct special 
efforts toward facilitating coordinated public and private brownfields 
cleanup efforts.

In FY 2001, the EPA expects to select up to 35 new BCRLF pilots to be 
funded up to $1,000,000 per eligible entity by the end of March 2001.

Eligible entities for FY 2001 BCRLF pilots will be states, political 
subdivisions, or federally recognized Indian Tribes that have 
established and can demonstrate progress already made in the assessment, 
cleanup and revitalization of brownfields in their community, State or 
Tribe.

Coalitions of eligible entities are permitted to apply, but a single 
entity must be identified as the applicant. Additionally, a letter of 
support from each coalition member must be included as an attachment.

Applicants must demonstrate through their proposal: (1) an existing 
commitment to brownfields; (2) an ability to manage a revolving loan 
fund and environmental cleanups; (3) a need for cleanup funds; 
(4)commitment to making loans and to creative leveraging of EPA funds 
with public-private partnerships and in-kind services (matching funds 
are not required); and (5) a clear plan for sustaining the environmental 
protection and related economic development activities initiated through 
the BCRLF program. The eligible entities must meet EPA's threshold and 
evaluation criteria. There is no guarantee of an award. Also, the size 
of the awards may vary (for example, from $350,000 to $1,000,000 per 
eligible entity), depending on the proposal's responses to the 
evaluation criteria.

Funding for the Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund pilots is 
authorized under Section 104(d)(1) of the Comprehensive Environmental 
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended, (CERCLA 
or Superfund), 42 U.S.C. 9604(d)(1).

The Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally provides that 
before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating the rule must 
submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule, to each House 
of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the United States. EPA 
will submit a report containing this action and other required 
information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and 
the Comptroller General of the United States prior to publication of the 
rule in the Federal Register. A Major rule cannot take effect until 60 
days after it is published in the Federal Register. This action is not a 
"major rule" as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2). This rule will be effective 
on October 11, 2000.

Dated: October 3, 2000.
Linda Garczynski,
Director, Outreach and Special Projects
Staff, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.
[FR Doc. 00-26066 Filed 10-10-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


For further information about the Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan 
Fund Pilots, go to: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/rlflst.htm.

For general information on the U.S. EPA's Brownfields Program, visit: 
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/

~

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