The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutPR 19943: APPROVE FILING AN APPLICATION FOR A BROWNFIELDS AREA-WIDE PLANNING GRANT INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM art rthu�- Texas INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DIVISION OF HOUSING & NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION DATE: OCTOBER 12, 2017 TO: BRIAN MCDOUGAL, CITY MANAGER FROM: MARY E. ESSEX, GRANTS PROGRAM ADMINISTRATOR RE: P.R. 19943 NATURE OF REQUEST: Grants Management recommends that the City Council adopt Proposed Resolution 19943 to approve filing an application with the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) for a Brownfields Area-Wide Planning grant. STAFF ANALYSIS CONSIDERATIONS: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Brownfields Program is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields*. EPA provides technical and financial assistance for brownfields activities through an approach based on four main goals: protecting human health and the environment, sustaining reuse, promoting partnerships, and strengthening the marketplace. Brownfields grants serve as the foundation of the Brownfields Program and support revitalization efforts by funding environmental assessment, cleanup, and job training activities. Thousands of properties have been assessed and cleaned up through the Brownfields Program, clearing the way for their reuse. Port Arthur's Brownfield Area-Wide grant will focus on the Hotel Sabine and the same target area as the Downtown Revitalization Plan: The study area is defined as Houston Avenue to the West, 7th Street to the North, Lake Charles Avenue to the East, and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway as the approximate southern boundary. *A brownfield is defined as:real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance,pollutant,or contaminant. The 2002 Brownfields Law further defines the term to include a site that is: "contaminated by a controlled substance; contaminated by petroleum or a petroleum product excluded from the definition of`hazardous substance';or mine-scarred land." L_ RECOMMENDATIONS: I recommend that the City Council adopt Proposed Resolution 19943 that approves filing an application with the EPA for a Brownfields Area-Wide Planning grant in the amount of $300,000. BUDGET CONSIDERATION: The Brownfields program grant will provide all budgetary funding. A P. R.# 19943 10/11/2017 ME-Grants Management Page 1 of 4 RESOLUTION NO A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING FILING AN APPLICATION WITH THE U. S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA) FOR A BROWNFIELDS AREA-WIDE PLANNING GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF $300,000. WHEREAS, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is requesting applications for Brownfields grants, as delineated in Exhibit "A"; and, WHEREAS, The City of Port Arthur does wish to apply for a Brownfields Area-Wide Planning grant; and, NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PORT ARTHUR: THAT the City Manager is hereby authorized to file a grant application in an amount of $300,000 for a Brownfields Area-Wide Planning grant. THAT a copy of the caption of this Resolution be spread upon the Minutes of the City Council. READ, ADOPTED AND APPROVED this day of October, A.D., 2017, at a Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Port Arthur, Texas, by the following vote: AYES: MAYOR COUNCILM EMBERS: NOES: Derrick Ford Freeman, Mayor P. R.#19943 10/11/2017 ME-Grants Management Page 2 of 4 ATTEST: Sherri Bellard, City Secretary APPROVED AS TO FORM: Val Tizeno, City AttV ey APPROVED FOR ADMINISTRATION: Brian McDougal, City Manager er g P. R.#19943 10/11/2017 ME-Grants Management Page 3 of 4 Exhibit "A" Brownfields are properties that may have hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants present. EPA's Brownfields Program provides grants and technical assistance to communities, states, tribes and others to assess, safely clean up and sustainably reuse these contaminated properties. Cleaning up and reinvesting in brownfields protects human health and the environment, reduces blight, and takes development pressures off greenspaces and working lands. To learn more about EPA's broader efforts to put previously contaminated properties back into productive use. EPA's Brownfields program provides direct funding for Brownfields assessment, cleanup, revolving loans, and environmental job training. To facilitate the leveraging of public resources, EPA's Brownfields Program collaborates with other EPA programs, other federal partners, and state agencies to identify and make available resources that can be used for Brownfields activities. In addition to direct Brownfields funding, EPA also provides technical information on Brownfields financing matters. • Assessment Grants: Assessment grants provide funding for a grant recipient to inventory, characterize, assess, and conduct planning and community involvement related to brownfields sites. • Revolving Loan Fund Grants: The purpose of revolving loan fund grants is to enable states, political subdivisions, and Indian tribes to make low interest loans to carryout cleanup activities at brownfields properties. • Cleanup Grants: Cleanup grants provide funding for a grant recipient to carry out cleanup activities at brownfields sites. • Area-Wide Planning Grants (AWP): Grant funding to communities to research, plan and develop implementation strategies for an area affected by one or more brownfields. Developing an area- wide plan will inform the assessment, cleanup and reuse of brownfields properties and promote area-wide revitalization. • Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Grants (EWDJT): Environmental workforce development and job training grants are designed to provide funding to eligible entities, including nonprofit organizations, to recruit, train, and place predominantly low-income and minority, unemployed and under-employed residents of solid and hazardous waste- impacted communities with the skills needed to secure full-time, sustainable employment in the environmental field and in the assessment and cleanup work taking place in their communities. • Multi-Purpose Pilot Grants: In FY2010, EPA piloted a new grant program that will provide a single grant to an eligible entity for both assessment and cleanup work at a specific brownfields site owned by the applicant. The assessment/cleanup multi-purpose grant pilots are currently being evaluated before the program offers them again. • Training, Research, and Technical Assistance Grants:Training, research, and technical assistance grants provide funding to eligible organizations to provide training, research, and technical assistance to facilitate brownfields revitalization. Port Arthur's Brownfield Area-Wide grant will focus on Hotel Sabine and the same target area as the Downtown Revitalization Plan: The study area is defined as Houston Avenue to the West, 7th Street to the North, Lake Charles Avenue to the East, and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway as the approximate southern boundary. P. R.#19943 10/11/2017 ME-Grants Management Page 4 of 4ri i I & I — IIo '1 I 0 ' 1 7 I 2 t 0,u2 ! I 1-11 -I 11 1 :1, ,... . 1 1 , i — r1 1 - i l I ice ,:--' I-- - , (1) 1 L. I .... I (1j 11 I (l3 ..... 1 i 0 co r 0 1 U . 1 . / it •.(° I — I I 1 L— I '''— ILI I (.5 i I I _____ I_ I n I I I- i II 7,3' 0 . () a Cr) — = ..' 12 ( r . . 2 CO \ , I i— — \ ! —I I —I I I II I 1 --, A