City of Sacramento
City Council - 5PM Report
915 I Street Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
File ID: 2023-01328 11/14/2023 Consent Item 5.
Ratify Acceptance of United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund First Amendment and Multipurpose Grant for Marysville Boulevard and Grand Avenue Project
File ID: 2023-01328
Location: District 2, Represented by Councilmember Loloee Recommendation: Adopt a Resolution: 1) ratifying acceptance of the First Amendment to City Contract No. 2023-1409, which extends the City’s USEPA Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund Cooperative Agreement expiration date from September 30, 2023, to September, 30 2024, and includes the USEPA’s 2022 Standard Terms and Conditions for the Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund Grant; 2) ratifying acceptance of an $800,000 USEPA Brownfields Multipurpose Cooperative Agreement; 3) authorizing the City Manager or the City Manager’s designee to execute amendments to the USEPA Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund Cooperative Agreement and the USEPA Brownfields Multipurpose Cooperative Agreement, subject to approval as to form by the City Attorney or the City Attorney’s designee, as long as no amendment increases the total grant amount under either agreement; 4) authorizing the City Manager or the City Manager’s desingee to establish the Marysville and Grand Multipurpose Grant Project (G02180110); and 5) authorizing the City Manager or the City Manager’s designee to establish revenue and expenditure budget of $800,000 for the Marysville and Grand Multipurpose Grant Project (G02180110) in the Operating Grant Fund (Fund 2702).
Contact: Amanda Wallace, Development Project Manager, [email protected], (916) 808-5453, City Manager’s Office of Innovation and Economic Development Presenter: None.
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-U.S. EPA Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund Cooperative Agreement 3-U.S. EPA Brownfields Revolving Loan Cooperative Agreement Amendment 4-U.S. EPA Brownfields Multipurpose Grant Cooperative Agreement 5-U.S. EPA Brownfields Multipurpose Grant Application
6-Resolution
File ID: 2023-01328 11/14/2023 Consent Item 5.
Additional Description/Analysis
Issue Detail:
The City of Sacramento’s Brownfields Program assists in the redevelopment of sites that may contain environmental contamination. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) defines a brownfield as a property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants. The USEPA has awarded the City more than $2.8 million from various grant programs for brownfield assessment and remediation since the City established its Brownfield Program in 1997. Some of the projects that benefited from the City’s Brownfields Program include the Museum of Science and Curiosity, the Warehouse Artists’ Lofts, and Crocker Village.
This report recommends that the City Council take actions to extend the performance period for the City’s existing USEPA Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund (BRLF) grant and accept a new USEPA Multipurpose grant and establish the grant budget. Acceptance of the First Amendment to the BRLF and the Multipurpose Cooperative Agreement must be ratified because the USEPA’s standard policy is that Cooperative Agreements, amendments, and Terms and Conditions are automatically accepted by a grantee unless the grantee files a notice of disagreement with the award terms and conditions within 21 days after the mailing date of the USEPA award or amendment. Staff was not able to seek City Council approval within the 21-day period because of the timeline for reviewing City Council agenda items; therefore, the City accepted the BRLF Cooperative Agreement amendment and Multipurpose Cooperative Agreement upon the expiration of the 21-day period. This report recommends that the City Council ratify acceptance of the BRLF Cooperative Agreement amendment and Multipurpose Cooperative Agreement.
Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund
On September 25, 2018, the City Council by Resolution 2018-0379 accepted a $750,000 USEPA BRLF grant to be used to provide loans and subgrants to qualified projects to assist with the cleanup of contaminated sites within the city. Since accepting the BRLF grant, the City provided one $200,000 subgrant to the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Authority (SHRA) for clean up of the Dos Rios Light Rail station as part of the Mirasol Village redevelopment project. The performance period for the BRLF grant is September 30, 2018, through September 30, 2023. The USEPA agreed to amend the BRLF Cooperative Agreement BF-99T6701 (City Agreement No. 2023- 1409) to extend the grant performance period through September 30, 2024, to allow the City additional time to solicit eligible projects and utilize the remaining funds. To extend the grant performance period, the USEPA requires the City to adopt its most recent Standard Terms and Conditions. The mailing date of the USEPA the BRLF Amendment was September 12, 2023.
Multipurpose Grant
On October 15, 2022, the City Council authorized the City Manager or the City Manager’s designee to apply for a USEPA Fiscal Year 2023 Brownfields Multipurpose Grant (MPG) in the amount of $800,000. The purpose of the grant is to 1) fund environmental assessment to characterize and
File ID: 2023-01328 11/14/2023 Consent Item 5.
identify the source of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) impacting two City owned properties at 3739 and 3801 Marysville Boulevard; 2) remediate the environmental conditions of the two Cityowned properties as necessary; and 3) develop a community-informed site reuse plan that identifies existing conditions, specific actions, and funding sources for addressing development constraints within the four-block area of the Marysville Boulevard and Grand Avenue intersection. The USEPA notified the City in April 2023 that the grant application was successful; the mailing date of the notice of award of the Brownfields Multipurpose Grant Cooperative Agreement BF-98T69101 was September 1, 2023.
Policy Considerations: The actions in this report related to the BRLF grant are consistent with General Plan Economic Development Policy 3.1.3 Key Infill Opportunity Areas as it facilitates and promotes economic development projects in key infill and opportunity areas. The actions in this report related to the MPG are consistent with the 2009-2014 Del Paso Heights implementation Plan, the Marysville Boulevard Investment Initiative (MBI), the American Institute of Architects (AIA) California Sustainable Design Action (SDAT) report, the Project Prosper Initiative, and the current initiative, Marysville and Del Paso Boulevard Forward Together.
Economic Impacts: None.
Environmental Considerations: This report does not relate to a project requiring review under the California Environmental Quality Act, consistent with CEQA Guidelines sections 15060(c)(3) and 15378(b)(4), because it relates to government fiscal activities of the City that do not involve any commitment to any specific project which may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment; furthermore, this report relates to activities that are exempt from the National Environmental Policy Act (24 C.F.R. §58.34 (a)(1)).
Sustainability: The BRLF grant and the Multipurpose grant promote sustainability by eliminating property contamination and supporting infill development.
Commission/Committee Action: None.
Rationale for Recommendation: The remediation of contaminated properties can be costly. The USEPA grant funds are a critical tool to offset those costs and facilitate clean-up and redevelopment of properties, particularly within vulnerable and underinvested communities which have been disproportionately impacted by economic disinvestment, health disparities, and environmental contaminants.
Extending the City’s existing USEPA BRLF grant and accepting the updated Terms and Conditions allows the City additional time to solicit eligible brownfield projects throughout the city to utilize the remaining grant funds. Accepting the USEPA Multipurpose Cooperative Agreement and taking the necessary budgetary actions facilitates environmental remediation of two City-owned properties at
File ID: 2023-01328 11/14/2023 Consent Item 5.
3739 and 3801 Marysville Boulevard and supports redevelopment of the mostly vacant and blighted four-corner-blocks of Marysville Boulevard and Grand Avenue. Del Paso Heights residents have long desired development of the Marysville Boulevard and Grand Avenue intersection as a mixed-use Town Center that would provide much needed affordable housing, retail, community space, and entrepreneurial opportunity. Remediating the known brownfield sites at Marysville Boulevard and Grand Avenue and planning for future redevelopment is critical to attracting investment and realizing the community’s vision for the Town Cetner.
Financial Considerations: On September 25, 2018, Council adopted Resolution 2018-0379 accepting a $750,000 USEPA BRLF grant and established the Brownfield Revolving Loan Grant Project (G02180100). In 2023, the City and SHRA entered into City Agreement No. 2023-0571, which sub-granted $200,000 from the BRLF to complete remediation of the Dos Rios Light Rail Station site as part of the Mirasol Village redevelopment project. After accounting for administrative, marketing, and travel expenses, $538,000 in grant funds remain unspent.
On September 1, 2023, the City received an award of $800,000 from the USEPA MPG program.
The recommended actions in this report will extend the USEPA BRLF expiration date through September 30, 2024, and establish the Marysville and Grand Multipurpose Grant Project (G02180110) along with revenue and expenditure budgets in the amount of $800,000 in the Operating Grant Fund (Fund 2702).
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Not applicable.