Columbus, OH – April 24, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — Ohio EPA is offering a free workshop on May 8 in Marietta to inform small and rural communities about state and federal resources available to help redevelop brownfields or blighted properties. The training is ideal for economic development officials, planning commission members, municipal officials, real estate professionals, township and zoning commission members, developers, city council members and township trustees.
The workshop is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Buckeye Hills-Hocking Valley Regional Development District, 1400 Pike St.
Speakers will present strategies for identifying and prioritizing brownfield properties; grants, loans and services available to help communities with brownfield redevelopment; and computer programs for brownfield management and grant writing. Registration and the full agenda can be found here.
Speakers from Ohio EPA, Ohio Development Services Agency, JobsOhio, U.S. EPA, Great Lakes RCAP, USDA, and the Technical Assistance to Brownfields (TAB) program (which provides assistance to small communities through a U.S. EPA grant) will address the following topics:
- U.S. EPA Brownfield Grants and Technical Assistance to Brownfields (TAB) Program;
- Great Lakes Rural Community Assistance Program;
- Ohio Development Services Agency’s Brownfield Program;
- USDA Rural Development and Urban Agriculture Resources;
- JobsOhio Revitalization Program;
- BUSTR Revolving Loan Fund; and
- Ohio EPA’s Voluntary Action Program (VAP), Small and Rural Community Brownfield Assistance and Targeted Brownfield Assessments
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The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1972 to consolidate efforts to protect and improve air quality, water quality and waste management in Ohio. Since then, air pollutants dropped by as much as 90 percent; large rivers meeting standards improved from 21 percent to 89 percent; and hundreds of polluting, open dumps were replaced with engineered landfills and an increased emphasis on waste reduction and recycling.
