What is a Brownfield?

Georgia EPD defines a brownfield as “real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of land which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant".

Are you a prospective purchaser of old industrial property?

MCE is Georgia’s resource to assess the liability of a potential property that once was a brownfield site and has/can been cleaned up for reuse. There are both monetary and emotional benefits in reclaiming such contaminated properties. Many of these polluted sites are in prime locations and have the potential to be worth many times the investment!

Did you know you can be approved for clean-up funding, tax incentives, and establish limited liability before you purchase an eligible property? There are many steps involved, but MCE can help with each of the following:

• Search for eligible contaminated properties
• Apply for state and federal grants
• Establish a Prospective Purchaser Corrective Action Plan (PPCAP) or Prospective Purchaser Compliance Status Report (PPCSR)
• Manage property clean-up
• Performing environmental work to meet property clean-up standards
• Obtain Georgia EPD approval

MCE personnel, our Georgia registered Professional Geologist, and our Professional Engineers assist our clients in navigating through multiple channels to help establish the best options for those interested in re-purposing a brownfield site.

Have you considered being part of the Georgia Brownfield program?

The Georgia EPD wants you to redevelop brownfield property! The Georgia Brownfield Program is funded by federal grants from the US EPA to help voluntary clean-up of contaminated sites. The Georgia Hazardous Site Reuse and Redevelopment Act as well as the Brownfields Tax Incentive Law were passed in early 2000 to support this initiative. The Georgia Brownfield Program also limits liability for prospective purchasers for previous contamination.

Brownfield Program Summary

If the prospective purchaser would like to proceed with the purchase of the property, then it is our recommendation to take advantage of the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfield Revitalization Act (The Georgia Brownfield’s Program). This program allows for the redevelopment or use of contaminated properties while protecting the purchaser from future liability. For inclusion in this program, the application must meet all requirements, and the prospective purchaser and property must qualify. Acceptance into the Brownfield Program has several benefits, which are as follows:

1. Parcels classified as Brownfield property are assessed at 40% of fair market value for a period of 10-years, resulting in significant property tax savings
2. With approved properties, the purchaser receives protection and relief from:
   a) remediation of groundwater contamination
   b) third party liability claims
   c) future regulatory changes.

The relief from groundwater remediation would be very beneficial to a Brownfield property, as the clean-up costs for groundwater are typically much higher than for soil. The relief from third-party liability and future regulatory changes also provides the purchaser with additional assurance that unforeseen liabilities will not be encountered in the future. These benefits, combined with the location of a potential property, may provide the prospective purchaser with an incentive to pursue this option. Although a prospective purchaser is relieved from liability to remediate groundwater, they are not relieved of that liability for soil. The purchaser’s responsibilities are to define the full extent of contamination in the soil and groundwater and complete the remediation of soil to the applicable clean-up standards. Application into the program also requires a non-refundable application fee and submittal of a Compliance Status Report (CSR) and Prospective Purchaser Corrective Action Plan (if required).