Dec 08, 2022
Louisiana Brownfield Grant Presentation and Brownfield Conference 2022!
The Louisiana Brownfield Grant Presentation and Celebration was held on Tuesday, October 4, 2022, at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center in Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Reserve.
Jennifer Schatzle, LDEQ Brownfields Program Technical Liaison; Rebecca Otte, LDEQ Brownfields Program Coordinator; Roger Gingles, LDEQ Assistant Secretary, Office of Environmental Assessment; Demetric Mercadel, Congressman Troy Carter’s District Director; Dr. Chuck Carr Brown, LDEQ Secretary; Dr. Earthea Nance, EPA Region 6 Administrator; Chonya Davis Johnson, Congressman Troy Carter’s Chief of Staff; and Ashlyn Holmes, LDEQ Brownfields Program Project Manager celebrate LDEQ’s $2 million Brownfield Community-Wide Assessment Grant for States and Tribes award.
EPA presented Brownfield grant awards to LDEQ, South Central Planning and Development Commission (SCPDC), Baton Rouge City/Parish Planning Commission (BRCPPC), and the Regional Planning Commission (RPC) totaling $5 million to address environmental conditions at vacant and underutilized properties throughout Louisiana to facilitate their reuse and community revitalization. The funding comes from EPA’s Brownfields and Land Revitalization Program and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, with a special focus on reaching environmental equity communities. Grantees have already begun utilizing funds to help communities across the state. It was a beautiful day to celebrate the hard work that has been done and will continue to revive our lands and economies.
Following the Check Presentation was the 2022 Louisiana Brownfields Conference held on October 5th and 6th in Houma, Louisiana. Attendees connected with local, state, and federal Brownfield resources including representatives from SCPDC who co-hosted the conference along with LDEQ, KSU TAB and EPA. They also heard from speakers on addressing asbestos at Brownfield sites, redevelopment resources, revitalizing Main Street corridors, addressing underground storage tanks, and partnering with USDA. Local governmental entities from across the state were able to connect with each other and state, federal, and consulting partners to share stories and resources, and develop ideas to bring back to their communities. The two-day conference showed that with the extensive financial resources of Brownfield programs throughout the state, the knowledge we share with each other, and visionary project leaders, community revitalization is achievable now more than ever.
Special thanks to our sponsor, the Louisiana Brownfields Association, for providing lunch for both days, to the Louisiana Municipal Association’s Technical Services Bureau who helped us get the word out to municipalities throughout the state, and to South Central Planning and Development Commission who not only co-hosted the event but provided an impromptu crab and shrimp boil reception on Wednesday evening!
LA Brownfield Conference attendees hear from Dr. John Sutherlin during Day 2 of the conference at the North Branch Terrebonne Parish Library.
If you missed the conference, presentation are posted at the link below under “Resources”: https://www.ksutab.org/events/workshops/details?id=547
If you’d like to like to learn more about the Louisiana Brownfields Program you can visit our website https://deq.louisiana.gov/page/brownfields or reach out to our team at Brownfields@la.gov.
USDA Wholesale Market Design Architectural Services
Do you have a Brownfield site whose future reuse plans include a local farmer’s market, wholesale food market, public market, incubator kitchen, food hub, or other food-related activity?
The USDA may be able to facilitate the redevelopment through their Wholesale Market and Facility Design program. The program offers free technical assistance and architectural services to entities who are looking to establish or remodel food-related structures. Anyone is eligible to apply for assistance and typical applicants include municipal or local governments, non-profit organizations, farmers’ co-ops, or community economic development corporations. Qualifying sites may be indoors or outdoors, a single building, or an industrial complex. The program helps stakeholders form a long-term vision for the site, while guiding them through the process of redevelopment from initial concept through the construction process. The program team also assists with ensuring design plans comply with building codes, zoning laws, fire regulations, and other local and state ordinances.
Once your site has graduated from the Brownfield’s program and is ready for reuse, redevelopment is the next big obstacle to overcome in order to make the site a success. Stakeholders may not have the financial resources to advance these types of community-driven food markets. This program can lead the way to reuse by creating strong redevelopment objectives, with financial support from the program coupled with actively engaged project leaders.
To learn more about the program, visit https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/local-regional/facility-design for planning resources to get you started and a technical assistance request form to complete if you have a specific site in mind, or contact Ronald Batcher, the architect that oversees the program, at Ronald.batcher@usda.gov.
You can read about some of the projects across the country that Ronald and his team have worked on in this USDA article: https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2018/04/04/ams-wholesale-market-design-architectural-services-help-usda-provide-full.
Additonal USDA Resources for Rural Communities
New Resource Guide from USDA and EPA for Rural Communities Out Now!
USDA and EPA recently launched a resource guide to boost economic development in rural communities. The resource guide outlines programs and services including planning and technical assisstance. infrastructure and broadband expansion, entrepreneurship and business assissance, and workforce development and livability.
Visit https://eda.gov/files/integration/JointPlanningResourcesGuide/508F_RD_EDA_JointPlanningResourceGuide.pdf for the resource guide.
Upcoming Webinars
- FY2023 Brownfields Grant Preparation Online Assemblies hosted by EPA Region 6 open to all communities intersted in applying for a FY2023 Brownfields Grant. There is no charge, but please register in advance by e-mailing Paul Johnson at johnson.paul@epa.gov
- November 3 at 11:00AM CT - Programmatic Capability/Federal Forms
- November 10 at 11:00AM CT - Last Minute Tips, Tricks & Submission Requirements
- November 15 at 11:00AM CT - General Q & A
- Brightfields Workshop hosted by Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and KSU TAB to educate participants on brightfields funding and financing strategies and practical ways to incorporate clean energy and brightfields reuse options into funding applications for complex, multi-phase projects, including considering brightfields additions in EPA Brownfields grants and will also outline key brightfields incentives from the recently-passed Inflation Reduction Act. Register at: https://rmi-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEkdO6urjktEt1WewqSmv3UeR2r7HI639ui
- November 16 at 10:00AM MT