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DIVISION INFORMATION |
Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division
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Upcoming Events Colorado Brownfields Conference 2009: Revitalization in the New Economy
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Abandoned gas stations, industrial facilities, and other potentially contaminated properties affect communities across Colorado. Because of perceived risk to human health and the environment and concerns over liability, these brownfield sites often remain blighted land, forgotten in plain view. Redevelopers fear that their involvement will become costly and time-consuming, so the sites languish, hindering economic and community development.
But it doesn't have to be that way.
Properties that sit untouched because of their real or perceived contamination can be rehabilitated using the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCUP). The program provides public and private property owners with the resources to facilitate cleanups as well as assurances against regulatory enforcement. It's a way to get both federal and state remedial plans approved in a one-stop shop.
Under the Voluntary Cleanup Program, property owners prepare and submit a cleanup plan to program staff. Within 45 days, a state voluntary cleanup specialist assesses whether the plan will adequately protect nearby human health and the environment, based on the site's contaminant levels and proposed land use. Cleanup begins once the state accepts the plan. It is up to the property owner, using an environmental professional, to self-certify that cleanup is complete and the plan's goals have been met.
"Banks are our best friends," says voluntary cleanup specialist Mark Walker. "They won't lend money without a letter from the state acknowledging clean property." Since banks are often involved in property transfers, their concerns of environmental liability send them in search of assurance that the state or EPA won't order a costly, conventional cleanup. A "No Further Action" letter from the Voluntary Cleanup Program does the trick.
In addition to cleanup plan reviews, the program offers assistance to brownfield properties in the form of environmental site assessments, tax credits, revolving loans and up to $250,000 a year in statewide project funding.
Usually given to public or non-profit groups, the programs' environmental site assessments provide better understanding of the environmental conditions affecting a property. Assessments help assuage community fears, showing that problematic sites often are easier to redevelop than originally thought.
Tax credits, revolving loans and funding grants all help property owners finance their cleanup. With these tools, property owners have the flexibility for innovative technological approaches.
Since its 1994 inception, the program has facilitated transformation of more than 500 sites, from gold tailings piles in Colorado Springs to a decaying Lakewood mall. Success stories give a peek into the wide variety of sites that undergo voluntary cleanup.
Treatment technologies and land use controls - overseen by Program staff - help owners shift perceptions of their environmentally impacted properties. Thus, the program enables the market to induce its own cleanup. For example, once the Central Platte Valley's property values shot up in the early 2000s, a stream of remediation applications inundated the voluntary cleanup staff. It's an accelerating cycle: cleaned land increases surrounding property values, in turn giving neighbors incentives to clean their land for redevelopment.
Streamlined use of state time and resources helps private owners turn contaminated sites into properties protecting human health and the environment.
The Voluntary Cleanup Program allows sites like old gas stations and abandoned landfills to quit festering as blighted property. Instead, they're hot real estate.
Brownfield: A brownfield site is 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.
Qualified Environmental Professional: After the state health department accepts a Voluntary Cleanup Plan, it becomes the owner's responsibility to perform the cleanup and verify its completion. The Voluntary Cleanup Program requires that the owner use a "qualified environmental professional" to verify that the remedial action has fulfilled the cleanup plan.
Brownfields sites - with or without contamination - are often ready for development, but people may view them as problems to avoid. By giving a more accurate picture of the extent (or lack thereof) of site contamination, the Brownfields Assessment Program helps communities revitalize land perceived to be a drain on the local economy. The program is available for public and non-profit groups who are interested in better understanding the environmental issues potentially hindering redevelopment of property.
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment personnel, with the assistance of qualified contractors, will conduct an environmental assessment using record research and collection and sample analysis. Preferential assistance is given to groups who already have redevelopment goals in place for a specific site and where those goals provide a clear public benefit (e.g., job creation, enhancement of the tax base, creation of a public amenity).
For further information, contact:
Mark Rudolph (303) 692-3311
Project Contact
Marilyn Null (303) 692-3304
Community Involvement Coordinator
(888) 569-1831 toll-free (extension is the last four digits of their direct number)
email comments.hmwmd@state.co.us.
See also Voluntary Cleanup Program
As a public-private partnership, the Colorado Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund (CBRLF), encourages the cleanup of unused or underused contaminated properties. The Fund offers financing with reduced interest rates, flexible loan terms, and flexibility in acceptable forms of collateral. All cleanups financed through the Revolving Loan Fund must have previous approval under the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's Voluntary Cleanup Program.
The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority serves as financial manager for the Revolving Loan Fund, but does not vote on where to allot the fund.
Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund Application Form
For further information, contact:
Dan Scheppers 303-692-3398
Project Contact
Marilyn Null (303) 692-3304
Community Involvement Coordinator
(888) 569-1831 toll-free (extension is the last four digits of their direct number)
email comments.hmwmd@state.co.us
Or
Colorado Housing and Finance Authority at 303-297-7329 or visit their website at http://www.colohfa.org.
The state of Colorado offers financial incentives for cleaning up contaminated land, in the form of tax credits and grants.
A maximum of $100,000 credit per property is available, broken down as 50 percent of the first $100,000 spent on cleanup, 30 percent of the next $100,000 and 20 percent of the third $100,000. To be eligible, the property must be located in a municipality with a population of 10,000 or more persons. Review for the cleanup plan and the associated costs must be done through the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's Voluntary Cleanup Program, which provides the certification required to obtain the tax credit from the Colorado Department of Revenue. The income tax credit for companies that redevelop contaminated property is provided for in House Bill 00-1306.
The bill also provides for limited state authority to clean up sites where there is no other federal or state program that can accomplish the cleanup. It provides $250,000 for such cleanup, which is designed first to protect human health and the environment, and also to enhance the redevelopment potential of these properties. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has drafted criteria for use in prioritizing sites for the available cleanup funding.
How to Apply for the Colorado Brownfields Tax Credit
Site Prioritization Criteria and Worksheets
Colorado Contaminated Land Redevelopment Credit - FYI for Income Tax #42 (Exit to Dept of Revenue)
For further information, contact:
Dan Scheppers 303-692-3398
Project Contact
Marilyn Null (303) 692-3304
Community Involvement Coordinator
(888) 569-1831 toll-free (extension is the last four digits of their direct number)
email comments.hmwmd@state.co.us.
The federal government also offers a tax credit for redeveloping brownfields. Under the program, environmental cleanup costs are fully deductible business expenses in the year in which costs are incurred or paid. The taxpayer must receive a statement from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for properties located in Colorado.
EPA Initiative: Renewable Energy on Contaminated Lands and Mining Sites
The Colorado Brownfields Foundation's (CBF) nonprofit mission is to remove environmental obstacles to community and economic development. The nonprofit organization also serves as a forum for discussing potentially contaminated properties before bringing in governmental regulators.
A common question that Colorado Brownfields Foundation receives is: "I know this building that might have contamination . . . Where do I start?"
To help sort out a property's environmental concerns and facilitate redevelopment, Colorado Brownfields Foundation can:
The EPA selected Colorado Brownfields Foundation in 2008 to provide Technical Assistance to Brownfields Communities ($100,000 annual funding grant, for up to five years) beyond Colorado's borders, into the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains regions.
In addition, Colorado Brownfields Foundation partnered with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Colorado Division of Oil and Public Safety to execute the Historic Byways Revitalization Initiative. Through the initiative, Colorado Brownfields Foundation and partners have provided assistance to communities pursuing heritage tourism and related economic development.
Colorado Brownfields Foundation is constantly seeking public, private, and nonprofit partners to advance infill and redevelopment in Colorado.
www.ColoradoBrownfieldsFoundation.org
Phone: 303-962-0940
Email:
info@ColoradoBrownfieldsFoundation.org
Colorado Brownfields Foundation is a Colorado Enterprise Zone contribution project approved by the Colorado Economic Development Commission.
Colorado Brownfields Foundation
