New Idaho program to refund cleanup costs
The state of Idaho has developed a unique pilot program that will refund 70 percent of cleanup costs to participating brownfields projects.
The Idaho Community Reinvestment Pilot Initiative will provide up to $1.5 million in state funds to 10 private and non-profit entities completing cleanups approved by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Through the program, upon cleanup completion, the state will issue a Community Reinvestment Rebate equaling 70 percent of cleanup costs incurred, with a maximum rebate of $150,000 per brownfield.
Keith Donahue, brownfields program manager for DEQ, doesn’t know of any similar program in the nation. “I think it’s an interesting, innovative tool, particularly for rural communities,” Donahue says. “It could be a template for other states.”
Strongly supported by the state Legislature and the Idaho Governor’s Office, the pilot program was created when state leaders started talking about how they could encourage brownfields redevelopment. Leaders first considered creating a tax credit, which many states already have established. Idaho leaders decided a rebate would be easier to carry out, Donahue says.
DEQ began taking applications for the pilot program last month. Applications will be taken until Jan. 17. Eligible participants include private landowners, partnerships, corporations and nonprofits that own a brownfield but did not cause or contribute to its contamination, or did not own the brownfield at the time of contamination.
After the application deadline, DEQ will rank the sites, selecting the top 10 priority projects. Six criteria will play a role in the ranking process, with the top priority going to rural communities–cities with a population of 20,000 or less.
This program may be a way to spark redevelopment in some of these rural towns that need a little help, says Idaho State Sen. Kate Kelly, a big supporter of the pilot program. “(It’s) a way to get some of these towns some action,” she says.
Sites also will be ranked according to:
- Identified social and economic benefits from the site’s reuse plan
- Whether contamination is complicating site redevelopment
- Whether the reuse plan meets local planning and reuse goals and is ready to proceed once the environmental issues are resolved
- Level of human health risk the cleanup will remedy
- Current site conditions, such as safety concerns, vacancy rates, visual impact, etc.
Donahue suspects many projects will be abandoned gas stations, dry cleaning facilities or old industrial properties holding up redevelopment in smaller communities. “I’m hoping we get a good variety,” he says. “I think we’ll get more than 10 people asking to participate this year.”
Because this is a pilot program, DEQ will track the participating brownfields projects, documenting such information as how much private money went into the cleanup and its economic impact on its community. At the end of four years, a report will be presented to the state Legislature. If the report shows the state seed money spurs redevelopment, the program may be permanently established, Donahue says.
And, if this pilot program proves to be successful, Donahue also suspects other states may follow Idaho’s lead. “It would be a good tool for others to bring to their legislators,” he says.
