The term "brownfield site" refers to a real property that is not obtaining its economic potential, but the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of the property is complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Brownfield Site Grants are designed to stimulate redevelopment of areas that are blighted by contamination, including contamination that could stem from abandoned UST facilities. In many cases, the stigma of environmental contamination associated with these facilities is an obstacle to redevelopment. Through the Brownfield Cleanup and Redevelopment Program, EPA helps states, tribes, communities, and other organizations to:
For further information from the EPA's Brownsfield Homepage, click on the following link: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Of the estimated 450,000 brownfields sites in the United States, approximately one-half are thought to be impacted by underground storage tanks or by some type of petroleum contamination. As a result the USTfields Initiative was launched in November 2000 with the announcement that 10 states had been awarded USTfields Pilot grants of up to $100,000 each from the LUST Trust Fund to assess, clean up, and ready for reuse high priority petroleum-impacted brownfields sites. In August 2001 EPA announced that an additional 40 USTfields Pilots would be competitively selected to bring the total of USTfields Pilots to 50 in 2002. New USTfield Pilots will not be awarded in fiscal year 2003.
For further information regarding the EPA'S USTfield Pilots program, click on the following link: http://www.epa.gov/swerust1/ustfield/index.htm.
Montana's two grants are:
Billings 1st Avenue South, and the Crow Reservation. Both are grants of $100,000 provided as one-time grants to stimulate redevelopment of areas that are blighted by abandoned UST facilities. In many cases, the stigma of environmental contamination associated with these facilities is an obstacle to redevelopment. Grants awarded to the State of Montana and the Crow Tribe were announced in EPA press releases in June 2002. To view the announcements, click on the following links:
Billings 1st Avenue South was proposed as a pilot based on it fitting the criteria provided in EPA guidance for USTfields funding: the site contains a large number of abandoned UST facilities that are part of an existing redevelopment project recognized as a priority by the City of Billings. Thus, there is significant local support and interest from the City of Billings and the community to work jointly on different aspects of redevelopment. In addition, the majority of the abandoned UST sites in the area pre-date the State UST Program and are non-notified sites, and have unknown levels of contamination. This uncertainty contributes to the perceived stigma associated with property value and potential future real-estate transfer of these sites. The area is also adjacent to an economically depressed ethnic community, another criteria that ranked it higher in EPA's evaluation of the proposal.
Future grant funding may be available to the State from EPA as the State Brownsfield Program identifies other potential USTfields sites that qualify for Brownsfield Program Funding. Questions regarding future funding should be addressed to Aimee Reynolds in DEQ's Site Response Section.
There are significant obstacles to gaining support from owners of abandoned UST sites since the funds must meet the requirements of LUST Trust including provisions for cost recovery. Funds spent at any one site will typically not be sufficient to remove USTs and associated piping and also implement a site-wide soil/groundwater investigation and cleanup. Thus, property owners will be responsible for paying additional costs through other means. The PRS is currently working with the Billings Southside Neighborhood Task Force to communicate with property owners in the project area. PRS staff presented the project to the task force in January 2003 and are planning additional meetings with property owners and other interested parties in the pilot area in the coming months. Once interested owners are identified, the LUST Trust Program will initiate UST system removal and environmental assessment. We hope to implement work in the late spring or summer of 2003.
