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1. EPA REQUESTS PROPOSALS FOR BROWNFIELDS GRANT AWARDS IN FY 2003, 2. EPA ADDS HAZARDOUS WASTE SITE IN LIBBY, MONTANA, TO SUPERFUND NATIONAL PRIORITIES LIST, 3. NEW PROJECT LAUNCHED TO ASSESS ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH ISSUES OF AMERICAN INDIANS, ALASKAN NATIVES, 4. FORMER LAB OWNER SENTENCED FOR FRAUD, FALSE STATEMENTS UNDER THE CLEAN WATER ACT

Release Date: 10/24/2002
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Press Advisory

Following are some Agency developments which may interest you. If you need more
information on any of these subjects, call the appropriate contact.

EPA is accepting proposals for national brownfields assessment, revolving loan fund and cleanup grants. These grants are part of the new Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act signed by President Bush in January 2002 to help states and communities around the country clean up and revitalize Brownfield sites. As part of his FY 2003 budget request, the President has called for a doubling of money for the Brownfields program to $200 million. (Brownfields are abandoned, idled or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination.) EPA estimates that funds will be available to make up to 200 grant awards, almost double last year’s awards, contingent upon availability of funds in the agency’s 2003 budget. These grants may be used to address sites contaminated by petroleum and hazardous substances (including substances mixed with petroleum.)

The brownfields assessment grants (each funded up to $200,000 over two years) provide funding for a grant recipient to inventory, characterize, assess and conduct planning and community involvement related to Brownfield sites.

The brownfields revolving loan fund grants (each funded up to $1 million over five years) provide funding for a grant recipient to capitalize a revolving loan fund and to provide subgrants to carry out cleanup activities at Brownfield sites that are owned by the subgrant recipient.

The brownfields cleanup grants (each funded up to $200,000 over two years) provide funding for a grant recipient to carry out cleanup activities at Brownfield sites that are owned by the grant recipient.

These grants will be awarded on a competitive basis. Initial proposals, due Dec. 16, will be evaluated and ranked by EPA regional evaluation panels. EPA will then determine those initial proposals that have the highest rankings, and invite those applicants to prepare and submit final proposals. Final proposals, which are due March 5, 2003, will be evaluated and ranked by National Evaluation Panels composed of EPA and other federal officials. Final selections will be made based upon the ranking of final proposals by the National Evaluation Panels, as well as other statutory and policy considerations. All initial proposals must be postmarked by USPS or delivered to the appropriate EPA regional office by other means, no later than Dec. 16, and a duplicate copy sent to EPA Headquarters. For more detailed information and assistance regarding the application process, contact the EPA Call Center at 703-412-9810 or 1-800-424-9346. The proposal guidelines are also available at: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/. EPA will be cosponsoring a Brownfields conference Nov. 13-15 in Charlotte, NC, to help introduce the new and enlarged program inspired by the federal legislation signed by President Bush. The conference website is: http://www.brownfields2002.org/.

EPA is listing this site on the final National Priorities List (NPL). The state of Montana designated this site as its highest priority for Superfund cleanup. With the addition of this site, the NPL now contains 1,234 final sites, with an additional 61 proposed sites. EPA has already begun cleanups at the Libby site to address immediate health risks posed by the site. In May, EPA Administrator Christie Whitman approved an expanded clean-up plan for Libby, including removal of asbestos-containing soil in yards, school grounds and parks as well as the targeted removal of contamination from Libby homes and businesses. This action was due to the uniqueness of the widespread and pervasive asbestos contamination in the former mining town of 6,000 residents. For further information, see: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/current.htm.

A cooperative agreement has been reached with the National Indian Council on Aging (NICOA) to conduct a national assessment of environmental and health risks among American Indians and Alaskan Natives. The Agency awarded NICOA $85,000 to complete the project. The objective of the project is to improve the understanding of the relationship between the environment and health and the factors that can be detrimental to the health of all American Indians and Native Alaskans. A previous study indicated that American Indian elders experience 44 percent more asthma attacks than the general aging population. The circumstances which trigger asthmatic attacks will be assessed in one in a series of publications intended to increase awareness of environmental hazards common among American Indians and Alaskan Natives. Recommendations will be made on ways to address those hazards. NICOA, the nation’s foremost non-profit advocate for the elders among American Indians and Alaskan Natives, promotes a better understanding of the traditional close links of these citizens to the earth and the environment. NICOA will partner with the University of New Mexico on the overall project.
On Oct. 16, Terian Koester, former owner of QWAL Laboratories in Pittsburgh, Kan., was sentenced to 18 months incarceration and fined $2,000 after previously pleading guilty to mail fraud and making false statements in violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The defendant had admitted that his laboratory deliberately falsified tests performed on water samples performed for clients who had CWA discharge permits. Koester received an 18 month sentence for each violation, to be served concurrently. The sentence will be followed by two years of supervised release. False results can cause water to be discharged into the environment with higher than permitted levels of pollutants. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigations Division with the support of EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center and was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Kansas City.


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