SDSU - National City
Brownfields
Assessment Project
Update & Property Owner Outreach
Presentation to City Council | February 4, 2025
What is a brownfield?
•A brownfield is a piece of
land where its use or reuse
may be complicated by the
presence or potential
presence of contamination
due to past uses
•Often, environmental
assessment is necessary to
determine actual site
conditions
EPA 560F19006 handout
Do any of these reflect
vacant properties or
abandoned structures
in National City?
Why SDSU?
Collaborating with the National City community since
2013, through the Sage Project initiatives and
partnerships
sage.sdsu.edu
Grants + Funding
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA; 3-year)
Brownfield Grants Program, Community-Wide Assessment
Grant ($500,000)
CA Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC;
2-year) Equitable Communities Revitalization Grants
(ECRG) Program, Community-Wide Assessment Grant
($296,762)
Funding details
Both grants support the following:
• Identify brownfield sites
•Prioritize brownfield sites
•Environmental analysis of prioritized sites
•Planning for reuse and planning for cleanup of
brownfield sites
Funds do not support:
•Remediation and site cleanup activities
•Construction, development
Brownfield Site
Identification
Compile a list of
brownfields in National
City and identify past
uses using resident
expertise, existing
databases of
environmental
contamination, and
mapping software
(GIS)
Site Prioritization
Develop site
prioritization criteria.
These criteria may
include (but are not
limited to) community
planning priorities, site
location and size, past
use, neighborhood
context
Environmental
Assessments
Determine existing
environmental
contamination through
Phase 1 and Phase 2
Environmental Site
Assessments
Reuse Planning
Coordinate future site
plans based on
community priorities
and site conditions
Community Engagement
Planned Activities
Planned Activities
Brownfield Site
Identification Site Prioritization Environmental
Assessments Reuse Planning
Community Engagement
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
we are here!
Activities completed to
date
Community Kick-Off Event
March 23, 2023, at ARTS
• Overview to brownfields,
the project and the grants
• Site nomination activity
• Community members
contribute to development
of site inventory
View all our event handouts →
https://bit.ly/BFsEventHandouts
Community Identified Site Nomination
• Community Kick-Off Event with site-nomination activity • Online site nomination form
• Walking tour of the city’s west side
Incorporating Other Data Relevant to
Brownfields
US EPA ACRES
“Cleanups in my Community”
National City Amortization
List of properties with
nonconforming use
Brownfields Across Databases
Community
Identified
n=35
ACRES
n=53
Amortization
n=94
86 33
44 0
1 7 1
Completed inventory
Site Prioritization Criteria Event
August 2, 2023 at ARTS
Community workshop to develop
criteria for prioritization of
environmental site assessments
Top criteria included sites with
opportunity for housing and
community benefit.
Completed Site List
Address 140 W 18th Street
APN 56020201
Lot Area 11,325 ft2
Adjacencies 6 miles to hospital, 0.28
miles to library, 0.06
miles to transit, 0.04
miles to school
CalEnviroScreen
Score
97th percentile,
pollution burden
Inventory of opportunity sites
https://bit.ly/NCOpportunitySites
Update and Visioning Event
August 22, 2024 at ARTS
Community workshop to present the
inventory and solicit input about the
sites and visions for their future
- What do you know about
this site?
- What are your dreams/
visions for this place?
- Is there anything else
you would like to share
about this site?
Provide input about
opportunity sites →
bit.ly/BrownfieldSitesInput
Former Education Center
921 National City Blvd
Phase I ESA completed;
Phase II in progress
Steamed Bean
929 National City Blvd
Phase I ESA completed;
Phase II in progress
A Ave Parcel
1028 A Ave
Phase I ESA completed;
Phase II in progress
Welding Shop
140 W 18th St
Phase II ESA completed
Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs)
Pre-Selected Sites
These sites were selected prior to applying for
funding, as required by the funding agencies.
Completed inventory
Reuse Planning
• First Technical Assistance
Panel (TAP) led by Urban
Land Institute completed
in 2023 for Pre-Selected
Sites
• Second TAP will begin
March 2025 for Green
Corridor (a communitynominated site)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WZ
2m-nB8ElQnPwnN86uds1fPckF_g
Q-O/view?usp=drive_link
Next steps:
Phase I ESAs for eligible properties
Connect With Us
Website: brownfields.sdsu.edu
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: @SDSUBrownfields
Instagram: @brownfields.sdsu
Office
hours: bit.ly/NCBrownfieldsOHs
Thank you!
brownfields.sdsu.edu