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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is a Brownfield?
What is a Brownfields Assessment Project?
What does the program offer property owners?
Why would property owners want to participate?
If I am a property owner and I participate what happens if environmental contamination is found?
If contamination is found who will pay for the remediation?
What is the EPA's involvement?
If contamination is found, and the remediation planning suggests a prohibitively expensive clean up, then what?
What if redevelopment opportunities are not identified?
I am an interested citizen, how can I participate?
What is a Brownfield?
EPA defines brownfields 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. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties takes development pressures
off of undeveloped, open land, and both improves and protects the environment.
What is a Brownfields Assessment Project?
There are hundreds of brownfields
assessment projects across the country with each funded initially at
$200,000 over a three-year period by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The funds are to be used to bring together
community groups, investors, lenders, developers, and other affected parties to
address site assessment and cleanup planning issues.
What does the program offer property owners?
Participation in
the Greenville Brownfield Program by the private sector is voluntary. The
program helps move properties towards redevelopment by conducting site
assessments and removing the risk/uncertainty associated with the property. The
City may now be able to pay for site assessment activities on properties where
the current owner or prospective purchaser is unwilling and/or unable. Program
participation is particularly helpful where a property is perceived to have an
environmental problem, but one may not actually exist. If the City
identifies your property as a potential Brownfield site you do NOT have to
participate. In addition, not all properties are eligible for participation under the program, and funding is
limited for cleaning up and redeveloping these properties.
Why would property owners want to participate?
Participation in a Brownfields project brings resources to the property
owners and developers that facilitate re-development. The project can help
clarify environmental concerns and plan redevelopment to address real or
perceived environmental issues. If your site is selected, project-provided
services might include (1) Phase I and Phase II Environmental Assessments and
(2) Clean-up/redevelopment Planning.
If I am a property owner and I participate what happens if environmental contamination is found?
If your site has environmental
contamination, being selected by the Brownfield project provides you one of the
best possible working scenarios with the EPA. Brownfields Assessment Projects are NOT a
regulatory action. The project may assist in identifying favorable
remediation alternatives. If environmental contamination is found, the project
may assist with development of remediation and redevelopment plans.
If contamination is found who will pay for the remediation?
If
cleanup is required in order to sell the property, other funds are available to assist property owners, including
grants or low interest loans. The existing Brownfields project cannot pay for remediation.
In all scenarios, the private sector typically has the lead for site clean up
unless the public sector already owns the property.
What is the EPA's involvement?
The Brownfield
Assessment Project is NOT a regulatory action. These projects ARE a mechanism/tool to
promote economic development. EPA involvement is typically limited to review of
work plans and general program oversight.
If contamination is found, and the remediation planning suggests a
prohibitively expensive clean up, then what?
The program does not
require a potential buyer to commit to performing prohibitively expensive
cleanup. One of the primary goals of the program is to assist in determining if
a problem exists and what level of cleanup is needed. If significant
contamination is found and there is a threat to human health and the environment
(most all of these sites have already been identified) and the responsible party
is unable to perform the cleanup, the EPA or the State environmental agency can perform the cleanup. Also,
if the contamination happened before the current owner owned the site, then
other options to pay for the cleanup exist.
What if redevelopment opportunities are not identified?
Although
specific redevelop opportunities do not necessarily need to be spelled out in
detail before some work is performed, a general plan for generating
redevelopment opportunities is typically needed to obtain EPA approval to spend
grant funds on assessment work.
I am an interested citizen, how can I participate?
Interested
individuals and community groups can participate in site reuse planning activities. Throughout
the grant period, the City will host public meetings and other forums to receive community
input. Announcements of future community meetings will be posted on this site's Meetings page and
circulated through the local media. Attend one of these meetings to learn more about
the project and provide your input on the future reuse of the assessed properties.
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