The Health and Safety Code of the State of California has recognized that blighted communities exist. This situation constitutes physical and economic liabilities requiring redevelopment in the interest of the health, safety, and general welfare of the people and the state.
California redevelopment law was enacted to help facilitate economic growth and urban revitalization in blighted communities. The law provides redevelopment agencies with special land-use authority, powers for property acquisition, and the ability to collect and reinvest tax increment funds associated with redevelopment sites.
Brownfields are properties where the real or perceived presence of environmental contamination causes uncertainty regarding cleanup costs or liability, resulting in a significant barrier to the investment of time and finances for redevelopment. E2 provides full-service Brownfield redevelopment consulting to city redevelopment agencies. Some of these services are listed below.
The stakeholders to a redevelopment team, such as the redevelopment agency, legal counsel, property owners or responsible parties, prospective developers, and authorized environmental oversight agency, each rely on the technical information provided by an environmental consultant in their decision making processes to assess the feasibility of the project, purchase and appraise properties, estimate project budgets, and establish baseline schedules.
Considerations that depend on the quality of an environmental consultant’s work include the strength of environmental liability protections, the estimated costs associated with environmental cleanups, and the schedule of the project.
E2 ’s proven strategy is to provide a scope of work for each project that optimizes scientific data, unique site information, and the case-specific redevelopment laws that are available to redevelopment agencies. We understand that timely production of legally-defensible documentation is a critical factor in securing cost recovery and environmental liability protections that are available to redevelopment agencies under Brownfields laws and the Polanco Act. The legal powers afforded to redevelopment agencies by the Polanco Act allow them to achieve timely and cost-effective redevelopment of properties.
- Identifying and securing assessment and cleanup grant funds
- Administering grant programs
- Preparing Phase I Environmental Site Assessments to identify potential environmental liabilities at a property
- Conducting subsurface investigations to assess environmental contamination and evaluating management or cleanup options
- Estimating human health and ecological risks at contaminated sites
- Designing passive or active engineering controls (e.g., vapor barriers or venting systems) to provide post-construction mitigation for contaminants
- Implementing remedial actions for soil, soil gas, and groundwater
- Facilitating communication between property owners, developers, redevelopment agencies, community groups, and other stakeholders
- Providing community outreach including community forums and workshops, community profiles, fact sheets, and surveys
The stakeholders to a redevelopment team, such as the redevelopment agency, legal counsel, property owners or responsible parties, prospective developers, and authorized environmental oversight agency, each rely on the technical information provided by an environmental consultant in their decision making processes to assess the feasibility of the project, purchase and appraise properties, estimate project budgets, and establish baseline schedules.
Considerations that depend on the quality of an environmental consultant’s work include the strength of environmental liability protections, the estimated costs associated with environmental cleanups, and the schedule of the project.
E2 ’s proven strategy is to provide a scope of work for each project that optimizes scientific data, unique site information, and the case-specific redevelopment laws that are available to redevelopment agencies. We understand that timely production of legally-defensible documentation is a critical factor in securing cost recovery and environmental liability protections that are available to redevelopment agencies under Brownfields laws and the Polanco Act. The legal powers afforded to redevelopment agencies by the Polanco Act allow them to achieve timely and cost-effective redevelopment of properties.