News Items

NC Brownfields Program now Brownfields Redevelopment Section - January 1, 2023

As of January 1, 2023, the Brownfields Program has been elevated administratively to Section status, and is now named the Brownfields Redevelopment Section.  Correspondingly, the Brownfields Property Management Unit, within the Section, has been renamed the Brownfields Property Management Branch.  

NC DEQ Brownfields Call for 2023 Summer Interns

DEQ Brownfields is excited to announce we have applications posted for two internships for the Summer of 2023!

  • Brownfields GIS/Programmer:  This intern will utilize ArcGIS to develop app interface of DEQ Sites in select areas (i.e. along Charlotte Light Rail) including beta testing tours; work with EPA further define resiliency matrices as part of an on-going Brownfields project; and work with Department of Information Technology on options for interfacing Equis with Brownfields applications.
  • Vapor Intrusion Researcher: This intern will review vapor intrusion requirements for surrounding state agencies for comparison; evaluate risk using the DWM Risk Calculator; review historical vapor intrusion data for existing Brownfields Properties. 

For additional information on these internships, or to apply, go to the following link and enter "Brownfields" in the search bar.

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/northcarolina?keywords= 

NC DEQ Brownfields Program Awarded a $2MM MARC Grant - August 30, 2022

Map of NC with highlighted target areas

EPA recently awarded DEQ Brownfields with a $2 million community-wide assessment grant for three target areas across the State. These grant funds will be used for environmental assessments, reuse planning, community engagement, and grant management. Throughout the five year grant cycle, DEQ Brownfields will work with its partner communities and contractors to complete these tasks and encourage productive reuse within disadvantaged communities. 

The Program will be contracting up to three firms to conduct the assessments associated with this Grant. The official request for qualifications (RFQ) closed September 26. Grant work will officially kick off October 1, 2022, so stay tuned for more details! 

*Thanks to RTI International for this map of the target areas!

EPA New Grantee Workshop Scheduled - August 30, 2022

The EPA Region 4 Brownfields New Grantee Workshop has been scheduled for September 22 and 23, 2022 in Charlotte, NC! Representatives from all new grantee organizations are required to attend; however, with any remaining space any community members are invited to attend! 

Program details are still being developed; however, a preliminary schedule is available at the New Grantee Workshop flyer under the "Files" section below. No cost registration is available through ICMA: https://icma.org/programs-and-projects/icma-technical-assistance-brownfield-communities-tab-epa-region-4 

Kale-Bindex Brownfields Site in Charlotte – March 16, 2021 

The Brownfields' Property Management Unit held a meeting with homeowners in Buildings 4 and 5 of the Helix South End Townhomes, located on the Kale-Bindex brownfields site in Charlotte, on Oct. 13, 2020. The presentation provided to homeowners on Oct. 13, 2020, is also available. More information about this site can be found on the site's factsheet (updated March 16, 2021).

Brownfields Program Stakeholder Discussion Session – October 8, 2020 
The next Brownfields Program quarterly stakeholder meeting will be held virtually October 8, 2020, from 10 a.m. to 12 Noon via Microsoft Teams. The topic of this meeting is a follow-up on methane issues with program guidance documents -- Threshold Criteria for Methane Site Redevelopment and technical guidance on Methane Assessment Protocols.  Both of these documents will assist stakeholders/decision-makers in understanding the process of establishing suitability for various levels of use at methane generating sites. Afterward, program staff will be available to answer questions on these or other topics of stakeholder interest. If you plan on attending this session, please RSVP with the subject line “Stakeholder RSVP” to Shirley.Liggins@ncdenr.gov.  This list will be used to send out a Microsoft Teams Meeting link.
2021 EPA Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training (EWDJT) Grants

The 2021 EPA Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training (EWDJT) Request for Applications deadline is September 22, 2020. For more information, go to: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/fy-2021-environmental-workforce-development-and-job-training-ewdjt-grants-0.  To assist potential applicants, there will be a webinar on August 6, 2020 starting at 3p.m. where EPA will be discussing the Request for Applications in detail and how to submit an application. The webinar will be recorded and posted online afterward.

Brownfields Program Stakeholder Discussion Session - June 11, 2020

The Brownfields stakeholder meeting was held virtually on June 11. During the meeting the Brownfields program presented on the following topics:   

  1. Update on Townhome Minimum Requirements and the Townhome Minimum Requirements Checklist. 
  2. Methane concerns for Brownfields Properties. There have been an increasing number of projects that have subsurface methane generation as a vapor infiltration concern. Brownfields staff are currently researching best management practices for assessing the risk of developing on these sites. An update on concerns and research was presented.

The meeting was recorded and can be accessed here. The next stakeholder meeting will be in September 2020.

Brownfields Basics 101 Webinar

The Piedmont Triad Regional Council (https://www.ptrc.org/) will be hosting a Brownfields 101 Webinar geared for communities to learn about resources available for Brownfields Redevelopment on May 13, 2020. Registration is free and will include discussions from PTRC, the New Jersey Institute of Technology Technical Assistance for Brownfields, EPA Region 4, and NC DEQ.  A link for Registration is provided in the flyer (Brownfields Basics 101 Flyer) or at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/brownfield-101-webinar-tickets-102305691076

N.C. DEQ Brownfields Program Commencing Stakeholder Discussion Sessions

The Brownfields Program staff will be available for discussions on various brownfields topics in a new series of quarterly meetings with interested stakeholders. The first meeting will be held March 5, 2020, from 10 a.m. to 12 Noon in the Ground Floor Training Room at the Green Square building, located at 217 W. Jones Street in Raleigh.

During each meeting, Program staff will introduce one or two current brownfields topics for discussion, and will reserve considerable time for a question and answer session to hear from stakeholders.

At this first meeting, the program will bring its perspectives on two topics:

  1. Contaminated Soil Management - the latest information on the decision-making process used by the Program under the current beneficial fill rules and the benefits that will come after new beneficial fill rules are proposed by the Solid Waste Section.
  2. Townhome Redevelopments - the latest information on the approval for, monitoring of, and land-use restrictions about townhomes redevelopments; why the program must gatekeep projects for townhome suitability; and the Program’s effort to develop guidance on standard requirements/procedures for townhome projects.

Afterwards, Program staff will be available to answer questions on these or other topics of stakeholder interest. If you plan on attending this first session, please RSVP with the subject line “Stakeholder RSVP” to: Shirley.Liggins@ncdenr.gov.

Check out the TWO posters presented at the 2019 National Brownfields Conference!
 

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