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  • 02 Jan 2018 1:17 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    by Steve Dwyer

    You know the drill when it comes to accessing all the disparate elements of a complex redevelopment footprint. 

    Brown University officials in Rhode Island were recently sidetracked by discussions about the future of a massive, century-old power station that sat vacant on the Providence River along its campus.

    Questions abound: Leave it alone or dismantle it to pave the way for a new university structure?  Often times with legacy structures like a former power facility, razing it becomes a case of doing more harm than good. 

    Enter the spirit of historical preservation, and it happened as part of the university’s quest to establish a unified redevelopment plan—in this case built around academia and medical technology. 

    In the Brown University case, the plan was to create student housing in this city’s historic jewelry district. The developer, Richard A. Galvin, the president and chief executive of CV Properties in Boston, convinced Brown officials that the power plant could be parlayed into a property that would enhance Brown’s other investments in the district, including its medical school. Lined with 30-foot arched windows, the brick building provided vast views of the river and the city beyond.

    Brown recruited the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College, which were jointly looking for a site to build a nursing school, and then helped negotiations with the state to secure a long-term lease agreement. Currently, a public nursing school and the Brown administrative staff are housed together in a refurbished power station at the edge of an emerging innovation and design district.

    From a logistical standpoint, Brown administrative offices are now all in one place instead of scattered around its main campus. The nursing school, close to both the medical school and two hospitals, is also able to train students in state-of-the-art health care simulation labs. 

    Sometimes, when you want to create an innovation district it’s actual innovation that drives the process. What do we mean by that? Well, this redevelopment play was all made possible due to results-driven networking among not only public/government and private sectors, but you can also throw in the academia component as well.  Brown University’s initiative serves as one more shining example of the importance of a unified vision of a private-public partnership.   

    In fact, the trend toward vertical-driven innovation centers—academic in nature or otherwise—is an idea that has truly taken wing. Bruce J. Katz, a scholar with the Brookings Institution who was a co-author of a 2014 report on innovation districts, indicated at that time that any type of shift in the “geography of innovation” was still largely undefined. 

    By 2017, Katz had forged a new opinion. He said he was “hard-pressed to come up with a city that’s not thinking about” establishing innovation chubs, and often times it’s being done around civic waterfronts. 

    One can look to Chattanooga, TN, which in 2009 leveraged an ultra-high-speed broadband network installed by the city-owned utility to start a downtown innovation district. Expansion is likely to require strengthening the district’s partnerships with the University of Tennessee and the public school system, said Mayor Andy Berke, who noted that the United States Dept. of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory opened an office in the district last year. All total it encompassed more than 4,400 acres. 

    This undertaking was a yeoman’s effort but was well worth it. Do you have an innovation center redevelopment concept that’s poised for execution? 

  • 02 Jan 2018 12:47 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)
    BCONE members:
     
    The CVP/SRAG meeting was held 12/13/17 at NJDEP offices.  Below is a summary along with links to the handouts:
     
    Bob Martin has 38 days left as commissioner and provided the following key points/accomplishments of the Administration, with accolades to the SRRA and LSRPs.  The overall goal of Commissioner Martin was to maintain and/or improve quality of life for the citizens of NJ. This was accomplished from the following 4 key areas:
     
    1. Transformation of DEP
    •  Fix process
    • Leverage technology
    • Transparency
    • Focus on Compliance vs. Enforcement
    2. Regulatory Reform
    • Transparency - more on-line permitting and submissions
    • Focus on Science-Data-Facts
    • Did not relax standards through the process
    • Focused on legacy landfill rules - Closure, Post Closure & Financial Responsibility
    3. Super Storm Sandy Recovery
    • 2nd largest petroleum spill occurred during the storm - DEP handled
    • ~$2.7B damage to eater supply and wastewater infrastructure
    • ~8.3M cubic yards of debris handled - opened over 300 temporary staging areas
    • ~$1B spent on coastal protection, flooding and rivers
    • ~$375M on Blue Acre Program
    4. Passaic River Cleanup
    • State Litigation on RPs
    • Settlement Received - “have Occidental's” credit card for additional costs, if needed
    • Removing over 3.5M sediment from lower 8 mile Passaic river - MUST be disposed out-of-state
    • Bank to Bank capping after sediment removal
    Other key Accomplishments:
    • SRRA - LSRP Program was critical program. In 2010, had over 26,000 sites. Less than 14,000 sites today.
    • Community Collaborative Initiative: Camden (first), Trenton, Perth Amboy & Bayonne (most recent)
    • An example of a CCI - Harrison Landfill - Kroc Center - soon to be officially announced the remaining 61 acres of the Harrison Landfill to be redeveloped into a park.
    Measurements of success:
    • Land Cleaner - yes,  through the closing of over 12,000 historical SRP cases and thousands opened since SRRA
    • Air Cleaner - yes, ranked 45th lowest State emissions CO2, NOX, SOX - went after PA to close a high-polluting coal power plant. Ranked 5th among States largest solar installations
    • Water - yes - 99.9% of all beaches were open, reduced CSOs in key areas, cleaned up key water bodies such as Shark River that discharge to the Ocean (beaches).
    Announcements:
    • David Haymes and Sana Qureshi both being promoted within NJDEP.
    LSRPA Board Update - Janine MacGregor
    • Annual LSRP fees due by Jan 15, 2018 - make sure you received, especially if you changed addresses.
    • License renewals - application submissions due 120 to 90 days prior to license expiration - all courses must be completed before 90 days prior to license renewal
    • Changes in Audit program - Selection from:
      • Random (can’t be within 2 years of last audit or if LSRP is under investigation by Licensing Board for a filed complaint)- no change here
      • New -“NJDEP Non-public List” identifying LSRPs with a high number of deficiencies - neither LSRP or Auditing Board will know that the audited LSRP was selected from this list. This is a new 6-month pilot program. 2 LSRPs selected from this list per month to be audited.
    SRP Matrix - Click to Download
     
    Technical Guidance Update - Sana Qureshi
    • Up to 16 Guidance documents looking to be updated - anything from minor editing to major modifications.
    • Perimeter Air Monitoring & Field Sampling Manual committees started this month.  Air Perimeter anticipate a year to compile.  Field Sampling Manual started with separate groups tackling Chapters 2, 5 & 6.
    Direct Oversight- Kathy Katz & Kevin Katrina:
    • Pre-Purchaser Administrative Consent Order (Click Here for Handout) - “If a Buyer purchases a property in the SRP- those timeframes stay with the Property”  unless…a Pre-Purchaser Administrative Consent Order is executed with NJDEP PRIOR TO THE TRANSACTION.  
    • Earning Adjustment to the Direct Oversight Requirements Administrative Requirements for the Remediation of Contaminated Sites (ARRCS) NJAC 7:26C-14.  (Click Here for Handout)
      • 7:26C 14.2(b)- all conditions must be satisfied 30, 60 & 90 day timeframes
      • 7:26C 14.4 “allows adjusted Requirements” in the Direct Oversight provisions
      • Earned Adjusted ACO requirements- PPP (30 Days), RFS Cost (60 days), RFS & 1% Surcharge paid (90 days)- these get the RP- New Timeframes. Once RIR is submitted then additional earned adjustments:  
    §  Proceed w/o DEP approvals
    §  Annual fees not DO fees
    §  Continue in “normal” DEP submissions
    §  Feasibility Study not required
    §  RP can select remedy
    Confirmed Discharge Notification- Kirstin Pointin-Hahn
    • CDN required when new AOC is discovered based upon
      • Analytical Data*
      • Olfactory or field observation*
      • Exceptions on ISRA cases- only one CDN required
    *In next section below - examples were discussed where CDN’s were not being issued for all of these circumstances.
     
    Multiple LSRP’s on a Site - Panel Moderated by Mark Pedersen  
    A couple of mock scenarios were presented and the panel of NJDEP, Stakeholders, Attorneys and LSRP’s explored when and how should the LSRP’s work together.  In summary, it was agreed that it is beneficial for the LSRPs to work together and share information….
     
    ...until “Due Diligence” for a potential sales transaction was involved.  This discussion revealed where legal contracts and clauses could prohibit information being shared not just among LSRP’s, but between all parties, including the DEP. Mr. Pedersen was not in favor of these types of “contracts” and thought it was circumventing the spirit of SRRA. The attorney’s presented arguments explaining that if this wasn’t “permitted” then Brownfield sites with “potential” contamination would never be investigated and put on the marketplace for redevelopment.  As an LSRP these scenarios can be unsettling.  We will have to see how SRRA 2.0 addresses some of these issues. 
     
    In conclusion, it was an interesting discussion, and in my opinion, the definition of “a discharge” and when to “report” was still up for personal interpretation and/or project contractual stipulations.
     
    Rick Shoyer
  • 29 Dec 2017 11:05 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    by Natasha Windstorm, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (PA) 

    Gov. Tom Wolf announced Wednesday that the state will pitch in $15 million in tax credits to expedite construction at Hazelwood Green — the site of a massive abandoned steel mill that a group of nonprofits hopes to transform into a bustling corporate hub for research and technology.

    The Commonwealth Cornerstone Group's New Markets Tax Credit funding ensures that the first of three office buildings planned at Pittsburgh's last big brownfield can begin construction early next year and be ready for occupants by spring 2019, said Donald Smith, president of Regional Industrial Development Corp., the Downtown Pittsburgh-based nonprofit real estate developer awarded the tax credits. 

    "It's huge. Literally the project couldn't happen without it," said Smith, whose organization owns the ionic Mill 19 building, a portion of the Hazelwood Green development.

    For the entire article, see

    http://triblive.com/state/pennsylvania/13116847-74/gov-wolf-announces-15m-tax-boost-to-transform-former-steel-mill-into

  • 27 Dec 2017 3:52 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    by Jeff Mill, Middletown Press (CT)

    The town is proposing to buy a 5.5-acre parcel of land along the Connecticut River that could be used to house a visitor’s center, a museum detailing the quarrying of brownstone and, possibly, a riverfront restaurant.

    The town has been working for years to acquire the property, the site of the former Connecticut Tar & Asphalt Co.

    The property, which is actually the combination of three parcels of land, was formerly an oil-tank farm. It is owned by the estate of John Balletti, officials said.

    The town has already used a $200,000 state grant to determine the presence and level of petroleum oil lubricant contamination on the site, First Selectwoman Susan S. Bransfield said following the selectmen’s meeting.

    “That property has been reviewed and tested — thoroughly tested — and we have developed a solid plan for cleanup,” Bransfield said. The town has secured money to pay for it, too, she said.

    For the entire article, see

    http://www.middletownpress.com/news/article/Portland-seeking-to-buy-land-along-Connecticut-12439245.php

  • 18 Dec 2017 5:50 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    by Steve Dwyer 

    With CT Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s signing a bipartisan state budget to stop Connecticut’s lengthy fiscal stalemate, it appears a new program to support remediation and reuse of brownfields is going forward minus any tweaking.  

    Within the master budget, the Connecticut General Assembly in late October passed a new program called “7/7”  Brownfields Program: that creates new incentives that the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) can use to reward new investors for cleaning up contaminated sites and reusing them while creating local jobs in the process. It also appears that the law would greatly remove the specter of third-party liability, which scares away many would-be stakeholders from pursuing such projects.  

    On Oct. 31, Gov. Malloy used his limited line-item veto power to focus only on eradicating portions of the General Assembly’s language related to a problematic tax on state’s hospitals.

    The Connecticut budget impasse required Malloy to run the state using his limited executive spending authority, which in turn prompted cuts to social service programs and schools. Many municipalities also faced potential crediting rating downgrades because of the doubt over state grants.

    Within 7/7 Brownfields, qualifying investors can apply a credit for the expenditures against their Connecticut state income tax liability for seven years and use the credit to offset sales and use taxes.

    The 7/7 Brownfield Program is not available if the party is responsible for the contamination or pollution issues.  Eligible participants must be bona fide “prospective purchasers” or innocent landowner.

    To qualify as eligible under the new program, investors in brownfields will be required to apply to DECD with the following stipulations as conditions: 

    Description of the real property to be acquired and the proposed use; 

    A certification from the eligible owner that the site qualifies as a brownfield or from the municipality that the site has been underutilized or abandoned for at least 10 years;

    A jobs plan that the eligible owner will submit to area high schools and regional-community technical colleges that includes the anticipated workforce needs for the proposed reuse of the property and proposed workforce training needs in order to enable such high schools and regional-community technical colleges to meet such needs; 

    A commitment from the eligible owner to hire not less than 30% of its workforce from students enrolled in such programs; 

    A written certification from the municipality supporting the application as a qualifying 7/7 site; and 

    Any other information required by DECD in regulations to be adopted soon.

    The 7/7 Brownfields Program indicates that any 7/7 participant that seeks to redevelop and reuse a brownfield shall be able to claim the tax credit and offset sales and use tax expenditures once the brownfield remediation has been completed and verified, and the participant notifies the DECD and municipality that the cleanup work is completed.

  • 15 Dec 2017 2:53 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    by Eli Freund, UConn Today (CT)

    Connecticut’s municipalities are dotted by hundreds of brownfield sites with remnants of toxic chemicals and industrial waste from years of unregulated activity. Federal and state assistance is available for cleanup, but the expertise and resources for the intensive process to secure those funds are not.

    UConn’s new Connecticut Brownfields Initiative aims to bring much-needed assistance to the redevelopment of these sites.

    “Different municipalities have different levels of readiness and resources,” says Maria Chrysochoou, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of the new initiative. “Cities like Stamford and Bridgeport have built up the staff and expertise to successfully go through the process. But smaller towns sometimes don’t have the resources to put together winning proposals, which impedes their economic development opportunities.”



    For the entire article, see
    https://today.uconn.edu/2017/12/brownfield-remediation-gets-groundswell-support-uconn/

  • 05 Dec 2017 9:38 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)
    by Devin Henry, The Hill The House passed a bill Thursday reauthorizing an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) contaminated site clean-up program.

    The bill extends the EPA’s brownfields program through 2022 and authorizes new funding for it. The brownfields program provides grants to cities and states to help them clean up and redevelop contaminated industrial sites.

    The EPA’s program and the House’s bill are both popular: Members passed the bill on a 409-8 vote.



    The House bill reauthorizes the program until 2022 at $200 million level annually. It authorizes $50 million in annual grants for states and Native American Tribes and it tweaks several aspects of the program, including multipurpose grants and the law's funding caps.



    For the entire article, see
    http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/362664-house-passes-epa-contaminated-site-clean-up-bill
  • 27 Nov 2017 6:38 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    by Mario Hillarie, WJAR NBC 10 News

    A company that specializes in brownfield properties is buying the 307-acre site of the former Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset with plans to redevelop it.
    Commercial Development Company Inc. said it is hoping to finalize the purchase of the site along Mount Hope Bay by mid-December.

    "Immediately following the ownership transfer, activity is expected to include asbestos abatement, environmental remediation and restoration, and demolition of most of the coal-related infrastructure on site," Commercial Development Company said in a news release.

    Dynegy Inc. owned the coal-fueled plant for 2-and-a-half years before shutting it down in May. Commercial Development Company will assume all environmental responsibilities for the site.



    For the entire article, see
    http://turnto10.com/news/local/developer-eyes-brayton-point-power-station

  • 27 Nov 2017 6:36 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    by Jonathan D. Epstein, Buffalo News (NY)

    Construction is expected to begin next spring on a new five-story mixed-use apartment building at the corner of Hertel and Parkside avenues in North Buffalo, after the city Planning Board gave its stamp of approval Monday night.

    John and Ruth Ann Daly, owners of O'Dalaigh Real Estate, want to build a 34-unit apartment complex with underground parking on the site of a longtime former gas station at 1585 Hertel Ave. The site is adjacent to an M&T Bank parking lot.

    Plans by Trautman Associates – where John Daly is a managing principal – call for six storefronts on the first floor, with the apartments above on the second, third and fifth floors.

    ...

    For the entire article, see
    http://buffalonews.com/2017/11/21/five-story-apartment-building-at-hertel-parkside-wins-city-approval/

  • 20 Nov 2017 1:33 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    by Jack Dodson, Ellsworth American (ME)

    Right now it’s a health hazard, sitting empty on a small hill overlooking Route 1. But the former Hancock Ellsworth Tannery could eventually be filled with businesses and housing if two grant applications submitted by the town of Hancock are approved.

    ...

    Right now, the former tannery site is “a dilapidated, graffiti-ridden eyesore that kids hang out in,” said Rich Campbell, who runs the Falmouth-based Campbell Environmental Group. His company specializes in brownfields grants, according to its website.

    Campbell’s company wrote the grant for the town of Hancock, after an assessment by the Hancock County Planning Commission identified the site as a possible brownfields site. Hancock officials applied for the grants last year, but didn’t receive funding to clean up the tannery.

    For the entire article, see

    https://www.ellsworthamerican.com/maine-news/environment/hancock-sees-revitalized-business-economy-around-former-tannery/


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