ARRA

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ("Stimulus") Funding for the Leaking Underground Storage (LUST) Program

I.    What is the overall goal of this program?

The goal of this effort is to close out as many abandoned or orphaned LUST sites as possible and issue a No Further Remediation Letter to facilitate the redevelopment of the site for productive re-use as quickly as possible.

II.   How will the money be spent from this program?

Illinois EPA will use remediation consultants and contractors to investigate and perform clean-up at sites that have been identified by a municipality as potential for redevelopment where there is a known or suspected release and there is no responsible party available to conduct the clean-up.

III.   Where is the list of sites?

Although there is an initial list in the application to U.S. EPA, those sites are currently undergoing review to ensure that they clearly meet all Illinois EPA criteria.  Project managers are contacting local officials and reviewing all data available to ensure that money is appropriated and spent in a manner that is clearly within the guidelines that U.S. EPA develops.  Those guidelines are also still under construction and approved sites will be identified when they have been fully qualified.  Also, if some unknown obstacle to moving forward quickly on any site exists, such as access issues, determining that there is no tank release, or there is a responsible party, Illinois EPA will move on to the next project.  The selection of sites will continue until corrective action has been completed on as many sites as possible with the money available, in the shortest possible timeframe. 

The names of sites to be cleaned up will be posted on this webpage as they become available.  The list will be updated weekly.

IV.   How did projects get on the proposed list?

Illinois EPA started with the list of sites that had been included in the Municipal Brownfields Redevelopment Grant Program.  This initial list of sites, sent to the U.S. EPA as part of the application, was developed from sites previously presented to the Illinois EPA's Office of Brownfields Assistance.  These sites all have known or assumed tank releases, but did not have funds available under the existing brownfield programs to complete the work.  It is assumed that these sites are shovel ready.  Illinois EPA's first priority will be to get contractors on these sites.  The Agency will then be able to move forward and find the next set of shovel ready projects based on a review of the data for the sites.

V.   How do I know if my site is under consideration?

If a city has never contacted our Office of Brownfields Assistance, see below for contact information.  If you have, contact your project manager from the Office of Brownfields Assistance to ensure that they know that you might have an eligible site

VI.   How will additional sites be identified?

Illinois EPA started with the list of abandoned or orphaned sites compiled by the Office of State Fire Marshall.  That list was compared with a database in the Illinois Leaking UST program listing sites that are owned by governmental entities.  Also, other communities have come forward due to the existence of the stimulus money and Illinois EPA anticipates there are other sites that have not yet been identified.  Illinois EPA does not expect to run out of sites that meet criteria for ownership and liability that have a tank release.  Projects not currently identified in a brownfields grant can still be potentially considered, within the limitations of funding.

VII.   Can I get a site on the list for consideration?

Questions concerning eligibility and type of funding available should be directed to Steve Colantino, Office of Brownfields Assistance at 217/785-3497.  Mr. Colantino can assist you in understanding eligibility criteria for funding for both stimulus funding under ARRA and/or existing state and federal brownfields grants and loans.  The Office of Brownfields Assistance manages the Brownfields grants and loan programs and offers technical support to communities through the services of its Brownfields representatives.  Brownfields representatives work directly with communities to explain cleanup options, regulatory programs and requirements and guide municipalities through the Brownfields cleanup and redevelopment process.  The Municipal Brownfields Redevelopment Grant Program provides funding to local municipalities to investigate and clean up brownfields properties.  The Illinois Brownfields Redevelopment Loan Program is a revolving low-interest loan program that provides funds to municipalities and the private sector for the environmental cleanup of Brownfields sites.