OER Launches NYC Affordable Housing Cleanup Fund

The New York City Office of Environmental Remediation (OER) recently announced the creation of the NYC Affordable Housing Cleanup Fund (AHCF) to help remediate and support affordable housing projects in disadvantaged communities. Unlike the OER Brownfield Incentive Grants (BIG) program which are funded from appropriations, OER will be using $1.8MM in EPA Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) to support the AHCF. Thus, the AHCF should not experienced the funding flucuations that have plagued the BIG program.

The creation of the AHCF was made possible after EPA announced a change in its RLF eligibility earlier this year. The policy change allowed OER to award RLF money to a more spectrum of affordable housing projects that were not previously ineligible because of a  financing structure commonly used in New York. We discussed the policy change earlier this year.

The AHCF will award grants of $80K to affordable housing projects that enroll in the OER Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCP) that can be used to cover engineering costs at sites that do not pay prevailing wage. Loans of $150k will also be available for supportive and affordable projects in the VCP that comply with Davis Bacon. The RLF loans can be used at Davis-Bacon sites for asbestos abatement, demolition and any element of an approved remedy. The loan terms will be zero percent interest but repayment can be delayed for 15 years with full repayment by year 30.

In addition to the new funding, OER launched its New York City Clean Soil Bank in December 19, 2013 for sites enrolled in the VCP. The Clean Soil Bank can reduce development costs since VCP applicants can reuse clean native soil excavated at other brownfield properties in the or donate qualified soil to the Clean Soil Bank. OER estimates that brownfield developers could save up to $5 million in soil purchase and disposal costs each year. The clean soil can be used to elevate properties and build protective barriers to protect against storm surges.Affordan

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