The wait is over! The premier awards program for brownfields redevelopment is coming to Detroit at the 2023 National Brownfields Training Conference. This year's awards will once again celebrate exemplary projects in brownfields redevelopment from across the country and recognize the people that make them happen. Click this link to review the categories and make your nomination. Nominations are due on April 17, 2023. All winners will be notified in June 2023 and recognized at Brownfields 2023 in Detroit, MI August 8-11, 2023.
On December 15, 2022, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published a final rule amending the Standards and Practices for All Appropriate Inquiries (“AAI”) to incorporate and adopt the American Society for Testing and Materials (“ASTM”) International’s recent E1527-21 “Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process.” AAI is the process of evaluating a property's environmental conditions and assessing potential liability for any contamination. Every Phase I environmental site assessment conducted with EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant funds must be conducted in compliance with the AAI Final Rule at 40 CFR Part 312. The AAI Final Rule provides that ASTM International Standard E1527-21 (“Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process”) and E2247-16 (“Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process for Forestland or Rural Property”) and E1527-21 (“Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process”) are consistent with the requirements of the final rule and can be used to satisfy the statutory requirements for conducting AAI. AAI may be conducted in compliance with either of these standards to obtain protection from potential liability under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) as an innocent landowner, a contiguous property owner, or a bona fide prospective purchaser.
The updated "AAI Checklist" for EPA Brownfield Grantees can be found HERE.
Wrapping up the third and final year of their EPA Brownfield Assessment Grant, the City of Monroe and their Brownfield Coalition partners, the City of West Monroe, and the Ouachita Parish Police Jury recently submitted their Final Technical Report to the Environmental Protection Agency. Among their highlights, the cities of Monroe and West Monroe prioritized brownfield sites along the Ouachita River and created the Ouachita Parish Brownfields Revitalization Plan that re-envisions riverfront redevelopment with an emphasis on six catalytic sites. The Brownfield Revitalization Plan offers strategic recommendations for community driven and market-supported reuse concepts and included a funding resource roadmap of curated resources for both clean-up and subsequent redevelopment costs. For more information about the brownfield redevelopment opportunities in Ouachita Parish, check out the Coalition's brownfield website at www.ouachitacoalition.com.
