Assessment Grants Funds to inventory, characterize, assess, and conduct cleanup planning and community involvement related to brownfield sites. |
Brownfields Law The Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act requires the EPA to publish guidance to assist applicants in preparing proposals for grants to assess and clean up brownfield sites. |
Brownfields Program EPA funding and support provided to states, communities, tribes, and nonprofits to prevent, inventory, assess, clean up, and reuse brownfield sites. |
Brownfields site Real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of hazardous substances, pollutants, contaminants, controlled substances, petroleum or petroleum products, or is mine-scarred land. Includes all “real property,” including residential, as well as commercial and industrial properties. |
Cleanup Grants Funds to carry out cleanup activities at a specific brownfield site owned by the applicant. |
Construction & Demolition An EPA initiative to recycle building materials. Resources and information available at http://www.epa.gov/CDmaterials/recycle.htm. |
Continuing Obligations Applicants that own contaminated land should be aware that some CERCLA liability protections require that the site owner meet certain continuing obligations. For example, grantees must comply with land-use restrictions and institutional controls; take reasonable steps with respect to the hazardous substances on the property; cooperate with, assist, and allow access to authorized representatives; and comply with CERCLA information requests and subpoenas and provide legally required notices. For more information on the obligations of owners of contaminated property, see EPA’s Common Elements Reference Sheet at http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/policies/cleanup/superfund/common-elem-ref.pdf. |
Cost share A contribution of money, labor, material or services that support eligible project activities and originate from a source other than EPA. |
Eminent domain In public law, the right or power to take private property for public use. |
Environmental authority A government agency or office empowered to make decisions regarding environmental policies and protections. |
Environmental buffers Land left in its natural state or revegetated to provide a buffer between human activities and wildlife habitat. |
Environmental insurance Insurance products that allow economic risks associated with brownfields to be quantified. This makes investment decision-making easier for developers and other investors and provides lenders confidence to make loans. Environmental insurance is one tool used in a larger risk management strategy. |
Environmental oversight Usually, the U.S. EPA or the appropriate state agency provides oversight and approval of brownfields cleanup plans. |
Greenspace Areas redeveloped for uses such as parks, recreation areas, greenways, or environmental buffers. |
Hazardous substance A substance that is explosive, flammable, poisonous, corrosive and oxidizing. |
Indirect costs Expenses of doing business that are not readily identified with a particular grant, contract, project function or activity, but are necessary for the general operation of the organization and the conduct of activities it performs related to a grant, project function or activity. |
Institutional control Legal controls intended to influence human activities to prevent or reduce exposure to hazardous wastes left on a site following active cleanup work. |
Land Clearance Authority A quasi-governmental entity that operates under the supervision and control of, or as an agent of, a general purpose unit of local government. Generally, the Land Clearance Authority may, with City Council approval, prepare, recommend, and carry out redevelopment and/or urban renewal plans in blighted or unsanitary areas or where development or redevelopment is needed. |
OMB Cost Circulars Office of Management and Budget spending guidelines and instructions. |
Outcomes The result, effect, or consequence that will occur from carrying out the activities under the grant. |
Outputs An environmental activity, effort, and/or associated work products related to an environmental goal or objective, that will be produced or provided over a period of time or by a specified date. |
Phase I environmental assessment Researches past uses of the site and determines whether hazardous substance contamination is likely to exist. |
Phase II environmental assessment Site research to determine the extent and composition of hazardous substance contamination. |
Reasonable Steps Reasonable steps may include actions such as limiting access to the property, monitoring known contaminants, and complying with state and/or local requirements. The steps taken to prevent or limit exposure to previously released hazardous substance may depend, for example, on such things as the location of the site in relation to the public and whether the public has been known to use (or even trespass on) the site. |
Site assessments Evaluation of a site for the existence of hazardous waste. Site assessments are conducted in phases. A phase I assessment researches past uses of the site and determines whether hazardous substance contamination is likely to exist. If phase I results suggest a problem, a phase II assessment is conducted to determine the extent of the problem. |
Stakeholders A person, group, organization, or system who effects or can be affected by an organization's actions. |
State Intergovernmental Review Office An agency that manages the proposal and contracting review for grant submission and administration. |
Superfund Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act |
Sustainable practices A broad area of practices that may improve the long-term sustainability of the environment. Examples include rain gardens to reduce water pollution and energy efficient buildings to reduce air pollution from power plants. |
Sustainable redevelopment Redevelopment that is ecologically, economically and socially sustainable. |
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