Development projects (See Application Limits and Eligible Activities on the
Development Projects page) apply for a wide range of activities spanning across different stages of development; specific activities related to site investigation and clean up are expanded upon here.
Eligible
site investigation activities that are reimbursable under a Livable Communities grant include:
- Creating or updating environmental investigation documents including:
- Phase I environmental site assessment
- Phase II environmental site assessment
- Phase II environmental site assessment work plans
- Hazardous building materials, asbestos or lead based paint assessments that meet state standards established by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as well as federal standards including Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule
- Development of a Response Action Plan (RAP) for submission to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) or Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA)
- Abatement plans
- Asbestos emissions control plans (ECP)
- Limited demolition as necessary to assess contamination
- Environmental oversight
Eligible
cleanup activities that are reimbursable under a Livable Communities grant include:
- If completed since the last application due date, site investigation activities (see above)
- Contaminated soil remediation
- Groundwater remediation
- Soil vapor mitigation
- Hazardous building materials abatement or mitigation (asbestos and/or lead-based paint only), including :
- Abatement area containment
- Implementing asbestos emissions control plan
- Asbestos removal or encapsulation
- Lead-based paint removal or stabilization
- Loading, transport, and disposal of asbestos and/or lead-based paint wastes
- Limited demolition as necessary to access contamination
- Environmental oversight
- Incurred Cleanup Costs: The cost of cleanup activities that occurred prior to a grant award is not eligible for reimbursement unless the applicant has previously been awarded cleanup funding for the same redevelopment project in a prior funding cycle and the costs are expressly authorized by the Council. In order for contamination cleanup activities incurred prior to the funding award date to be considered eligible for funding, applicants must meet the following four conditions:
- The cleanup work for which funding is being requested must have been done no earlier than 6 months before the current application deadline (April 15 or October 15).
- For soil and ground water remediation work, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) must approve a Response Action Plan (RAP) for the project prior to commencing work; for asbestos abatement, a Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) licensed inspector/contractor must complete an asbestos evaluation and plan according to Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) standards; for lead-based paint abatement an MDH licensed inspector/contractor must complete a lead-based paint evaluation according to MDH standards and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
- The applicant must contact the Metropolitan Council Livable Communities staff prior to commencing any cleanup work.
- Before starting the cleanup work, the applicant must provide a letter to the Metropolitan Council’s Livable Communities staff with:
- a cost estimate for the complete scope of work
- explain why the cleanup work needs to start prior to the next LCA application deadline.
- The letter must also clearly state:
- The applicant is going to start project cleanup work before the next Livable Communities application deadline, and the applicant has the appropriate approvals (see second bullet above on soil and groundwater remediation projects).
- The applicant understands that while this notification process makes the work done after the Council receives the letter eligible for consideration in the next Livable Communities grant round, it DOES NOT commit the Council to funding the project.
For additional information on eligible site investigation and cleanup costs, view the grant administration guide on the
Current Grantees page.