(Lenexa, Kan., Sept. 23, 2015) - The cities of Kansas City and Saint Louis, Mo., and the State of Missouri, will gain a total of $1,375,000 in E.P.A. supplemental backing to help carry out environmental cleanups and aid in the redevelopment of brownfields properties, E.P.A. officials announced today.
The City of Kansas City, Mo., will gain $475,000, the Saint Louis Development Corporation will gain $400,000, and the State of Missouri's Environmental Improvement & Energy Resources Authority (EIERA) will gain $500,000, all part of a $13.2 million package of supplemental Revolving Loan Backing (RLF) from EPA's Brownfields plan announced today by Mathy Stanislaus, Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.
Kansas City, Saint Louis and the State of Missouri will use the supplemental Backing to provide loans and sub-grants to continue brownfields redevelopment plans in the 2 metropolitan areas and elsewhere around the state. When the loans are repaid, the loan amount is then returned to the fund and re-loaned to other borrowers, providing an ongoing sustainable source of capital for communities to use.
"These funds - granted to communities who have already achieved success in their work to clean up and redevelop brownfields - will help boost local economies, create local jobs and protect people from harmful pollution by expediting brownfield projects," Stanislaus said today in Kansas City, Mo., as he stood on the location of the former Horace Mann Elementary School, a brownfields property whose redevelopment into the Ivanhoe Gateway at 39
th Plan is being spurred by previous E.P.A. brownfields funding.
Brownfields RLF grantees provide a level of Backing for cleanups that isn't accessible through traditional financing or through other brownfield grants, serving as the critical gap financing needed to jump-start the redevelopment process. RLF Backing is often the last key piece of Backing needed to make the cleanup and reuse of properties happen.
There are an estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated sites in the United States. EPA's Brownfields Plan targets these sites to encourage redevelopment, and to help provide the opportunity for productive community use of contaminated properties. Since the inception of EPA's Brownfields Plan in 1995, cumulative brownfield Plan investments have leveraged in excess of $23.3 billion from a variety of public and private sources for cleanup and redevelopment. This equates to an average of $17.79 leveraged per E.P.A. brownfield dollar expended, and the investments nationwide have resulted in approximately 109,787 jobs.
