Brownfields 101 and local financing options: free technical assistance and a Salt Lake County revolving loan fund

Kate Lucas (Kansas State University TAB) and Kristen Swinyard (Salt Lake County) presented brownfields resources and local financing mechanisms to the Wasatch Front Economic Development District on March 12.

Lucas described the EPA definition of a brownfield — real property whose expansion, reuse or redevelopment is complicated by the presence or perceived presence of a hazardous substance — and said brownfields range from former gas stations and dry cleaners to historic Main Street buildings and former mine sites. She emphasized that perceived contamination can be as much a redevelopment barrier as actual contamination and noted that KSU TAB provides free technical assistance including outreach, inventories, market analyses, reuse renderings and help preparing EPA brownfield grant applications.

Swinyard summarized Salt Lake County’s use of EPA assessment grants and a revolving loan fund (RLF) to move properties from investigation through remediation and redevelopment. She cited case studies: the Weir building in Roundup, Montana (a multi-decade-vacant historic building renovated with nearly $1 million in grants for structural repairs and hazardous material abatement and now marketed to developers), and Salt Lake City projects where RLF lending covered remediation work ahead of high-density housing development. Salt Lake County’s RLF has several million dollars available to capitalize remediation work and can make subgrants or loans to public entities and eligible nonprofits.

Both presenters encouraged early outreach, noted liability-protection tools (e.g., bona fide prospective purchaser protections with a completed Phase I environmental site assessment), and offered follow-up technical assistance for communities exploring brownfield remediation and reuse.