Title
Application for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields Assessment Grant (Ordinance S-44069)
Description
Request approval for the City Manager, or his designee, for the City of Phoenix Office of Environmental Programs to submit a grant application to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a $400,000 Brownfields Assessment grant for the South Central Light Rail Extension corridor and areas within one-half mile of the corridor. Further authorization for the City Treasury to accept and for the City Controller to disburse grant funds in accordance with the terms of the aforementioned grant and agreement.
Report
Summary
The EPA Brownfields program provides grants to assess, safely clean up and sustainably reuse contaminated properties. The goal of the program is to put underused and abandoned properties with contamination or the perception of contamination back into productive use.
This assessment grant would provide $400,000 in funding for environmental assessments of light rail property acquisitions required for construction of the project and for redevelopment of properties located within one-half mile of the South Central Light Rail corridor. The assessments include Phase I environmental site assessments, which are searches of historical records and current databases for indicators of potential environmental contamination, and Phase II environmental site assessments, which usually involve conducting soil, soil vapor, or groundwater testing to investigate any environmental concerns identified during the Phase I assessment.
These environmental assessments must be conducted prior to property purchase in order for the purchase to qualify for Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) liability protections (a defense against Superfund claims). Often, purchasers of property, and especially small business owners, are unwilling to spend the costs of environmental investigation on a property perceived to be contaminated. These grant funds can be used to fund these assessments to define the actual environmental conditions, if any, at underutilized sites. This allows potential buyers to make informed decisions about redevelopment opportunities on these sites, and encourages the redevelopment of properties that may otherwise remain unused.
The City of Phoenix has successfully managed several EPA Assessment grants, including a $550,000 assessment grant for the original Light Rail alignment, and is currently administering a $400,000 Brownfields to Healthfields Assessment grant, which provides environmental assessments on properties within the City of Phoenix being developed as a food asset (community garden, food hub, grocery store, etc.) or health asset (clinic, urgent care, etc.). This grant would complement the existing grant to provide funding for assessments of properties for all transit oriented development uses appropriate to the zoning of the property around the South Central Light Rail corridor.
The grant application deadline is Nov. 16, 2017. Award of funds is anticipated in Spring 2018 with funds available for the period of Oct. 1, 2018, through Sept. 30, 2021.
Contract Term
The grant is awarded for a period of three years.
Financial Impact
No match or general fund monies are required for this grant.
Location
If awarded, this grant would complement the existing grant to provide funding for assessments of properties for all transit oriented development uses appropriate to the zoning of the property around the South Central Light Rail corridor.
Council Districts: 7 and 8
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Karen Peters and the Office of Environmental Programs.