[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 52 (Thursday, March 16, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14273-14275]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-6391]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6560-7]


Brownfields Showcase Communities

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice; solicitation of statements of interest from communities 
interested in being designated as Brownfields Showcase Communities.

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SUMMARY: Programs within the following Federal agencies are 
participating in the selection of Brownfields Showcase Communities: 
Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of 
Defense, Department of Education, Department of Energy, Department of 
Health and Human Services, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 
Department of the Interior, Department of Justice, Department of Labor, 
Department of Transportation, Department of the Treasury, Department of 
Veterans Affairs, Appalachian Regional Commission, Federal Housing 
Finance Board, General Services Administration, and Small Business 
Administration.

DATES: Submit Statements of Interest on or before April 17, 2000. All 
proposals must be postmarked or sent to EPA via registered or tracked 
mail by the deadline cited above.

ADDRESSES: Address Statements of Interest to Gayle Rice or Sven-Erik 
Kaiser, U.S. EPA (5105), 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gayle Rice, 202-260-8431 or Sven-Erik 
Kaiser, 202-260-5138. Additional information, if any, will be updated 
on the Internet Worldwide Web at the

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Universal Resource Location address of ``http://www.epa.gov/
brownfields.'' Persons lacking Internet access can communicate with the 
contact persons listed above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Brownfields are abandoned, idled or underused industrial and 
commercial properties where expansion or redevelopment is complicated 
by real or perceived contamination. The Brownfields Initiative was 
launched to empower States, communities, Tribes, and other stakeholders 
in economic redevelopment to work together to prevent, assess, clean 
up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. Communities have asked for more 
interaction among all levels of government, the private sector, and 
non-governmental organizations. In response, Federal agencies have 
joined together to strengthen and improve their collaborative efforts 
to clean up and reuse contaminated property.
    A partnership of Federal agencies with interests in brownfields 
redevelopment has been formed to offer special technical, financial and 
other assistance to selected communities. These communities are called 
Brownfields Showcases Communities and are models demonstrating the 
benefits of focused attention on brownfields. To date, the Federal 
partners have designated 16 Brownfields Showcase Communities. The 
Federal partners plan to designate ten additional Brownfields Showcase 
Communities, distributed across the country, varying by size, resources 
and community background.

Goals

    The goals of the Brownfields Showcase Communities project are to:
     Promote environmental protection, restoration to the land, 
air and water, economic redevelopment, job creation, community 
revitalization, greenspace development, energy efficiency and public 
health protection, through the assessment, cleanup, and sustainable 
reuse of brownfields;
     Link Federal, State, tribal, and local public, private and 
non-governmental action supporting community efforts to restore and 
reuse brownfields; and
     Develop national models demonstrating the positive results 
of public, private and non-governmental collaboration in addressing 
brownfields challenges.
    The Federal partners intend to select a broad array of Showcase 
Communities that will serve as models for other communities across the 
nation. The Federal partners seek proposals that link brownfields 
activities with other community empowerment, sustainable development 
and community livability efforts. Special consideration will be given 
to Federal Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities (EZ/ECs), 
communities with populations of under 100,000, Federally recognized 
Indian tribes and Base Realignment and Closure communities seeking 
early transfer of property. The Federal partners will also look for 
opportunities to link brownfields cleanup with related air and water 
quality efforts.

Benefits

    A community will receive the following benefits from being 
designated as a Brownfields Showcase Community:
     National visibility for a community's brownfields efforts;
     Coordinated delivery of technical and financial support 
from participating Federal agencies. Participating agencies and 
programs will vary for each Showcase Community depending upon the 
particular Showcase's needs and plans. For example, an urban Showcase 
Community might be served by different programs and resources than a 
rural community;
     Financial assistance, grants and cooperative agreements 
from participating agency programs subject to the requirements of those 
programs and the availability of funds; and
     Staff support in the form of a Federal employee assigned 
to each Showcase Community to assist with coordination and 
implementation activities.

Structure of the Statement of Interest

    To be considered for selection as a Brownfields Showcase Community, 
interested communities should submit a Statement of Interest that 
includes the following information:
     Project title;
     Location: city, county, and state or reservation, 
tribally-owned lands, etc., of the Showcase area;
     Project contact, organization, phone, fax and e-mail 
address;
     Name and contact information of the representative of the 
appropriate governmental subdivision (Mayor, County Executive, Tribal 
President) if different from the project director;
     Date submitted: the date when the proposal is postmarked 
or sent to EPA via registered or tracked mail;
     Project Summary: explain how designation as a Brownfields 
Showcase Community will help the community meet its objectives and the 
goals of the Brownfields Showcase Community project; and
     Related Designations: identify whether the applicant or 
the area for the proposed Showcase Community project is designated as a 
Federal or State Brownfields pilot, Federal or State Empowerment Zone, 
Enterprise Community, Economic Development Administration designated 
Economic Development District or other special economic area.
    Statements of Interest are limited to two pages. Supplemental 
materials such as appendices, maps, records, etc., will not be 
considered during the initial screening phase of the selection process. 
All communities, or regional groupings of communities, are eligible for 
consideration as a Brownfields Showcase Community. Previous designation 
as an EPA brownfields pilot is not a requirement for consideration, nor 
are such communities precluded from applying. Statements of Interest 
will be accepted from any party, but must be submitted in partnership 
with a governmental entity to be eligible for consideration.

Selection Process

    Selection of the Brownfields Showcase Communities will be done in 
two phases. During Phase I, interested communities are invited to 
submit two-page Statements of Interest which describe how the 
community's designation as a Showcase Community will advance the goals 
of the Showcase Communities project as described above. For example:
     A community with well-defined brownfields problems that 
can be addressed effectively through environmental cleanup and 
sustainable reuse is more likely to be considered as a candidate 
community than a community that suspects that there are brownfields 
problems in their jurisdiction that may require attention.
     A community with an established network of working 
relationships among Federal, State, and local governments, and other 
public and private stakeholders is more likely to be considered as a 
candidate community than a community which is just beginning to create 
these types of relationships;
     A community that has begun preliminary work such as 
cleanup and redevelopment planning, securing private investors, and 
exploring public financial opportunities is more likely to be 
considered as a candidate community than a community that has just 
started to address its brownfields issues. Within two years after 
designation, a Brownfields Showcase

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Community should be able to demonstrate success in dealing with cleanup 
and reuse issues.
    The Showcase Communities Selection Board, which represents the 
participating Federal agencies, will evaluate the Statements of 
Interest. It will screen the applications to create a list of about 25 
candidate communities which will then be invited to move into Phase II 
of the selection process.
    During Phase II, the candidate communities will be invited to 
submit more detailed proposals which more fully describe their 
brownfields efforts. At that stage, communities will be encouraged to 
submit supporting materials which demonstrate the breadth of support 
for their application within the community. The Showcase Communities 
Selection Board will then evaluate and select the ten Brownfields 
Showcase Communities, using the detailed criteria listed below.
    1. BROWNFIELDS POTENTIAL: Describe the brownfields that exist, or 
are perceived to exist, in the community. Discuss the potential for 
environmental restoration and the type of reuse anticipated in the 
near-term.
    2. COMMUNITY NEED: Describe how this is an area with social and 
economic conditions that would benefit from Federal assistance for 
brownfields cleanup and redevelopment.
    3. LOCAL COMMITMENT: Describe the degree of local commitment to 
brownfields cleanup and redevelopment including existing community 
efforts and investment of community resources.
    4. FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS: Describe the Federal, 
State, and local agencies and organizations participating in the 
community's brownfields activities, including other programs and funds 
available for brownfields activities.
    5. STRATEGIC PLANNING: Describe the community's brownfields plan 
and how the brownfields plan is linked to broader strategies of 
economic redevelopment, job creation, increased environmental 
protection including improved air and water quality, green development, 
livability and sustainability.
    6. MANAGEMENT CAPABILITY: Describe prior experience or knowledge in 
managing similar redevelopment, cleanup, and community participation 
activities. Also describe what specific planning and programmatic 
requirements have been met for Federal financing programs anticipated 
for use.
    7. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: Describe the extent to which low-income, 
minority, and other disadvantaged communities will participate in the 
development of community brownfields redevelopment activities, 
including this application and the proposed Showcase Community project.
    8. NATIONAL REPLICABILITY: Describe how the community will serve as 
a model for other similarly situated communities in addressing 
brownfields redevelopment.
    Communities that are invited to submit Phase II proposals should 
respond directly to these criteria in their proposals. Further 
application requirements and guidelines will be provided to the 
candidate communities to assist them in preparing their application. 
Note that in Phase I (the initial Statement of Interest) of the 
selection process, interested communities should consider the detailed 
criteria, but do not have to respond to each criterion.

    Dated: March 3, 2000.
Timothy Fields, Jr.,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.
[FR Doc. 00-6391 Filed 3-15-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P