Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 197 / Wednesday, October 11, 2000 / Notices 60429

commenting on the draft license

application and the PDEA, must do so

on or before December 15, 2000.

j. With this notice, we are initiating

consultation with the STATE HISTORIC

PRESERVATION OFFICER (SHPO), as

required by Section 106, National

Historic Preservation Act, and the

regulations of the Advisory Council on

Historic Preservation, 36 CFR 800.4.

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–26063 Filed 10–10–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6884–1]

Comprehensive Environmental

Response, Compensation and Liability

Act (CERCLA) or Superfund, Section

104; ‘‘Announcement of Proposal

Deadline for the Competition for the FY

2001 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving

Loan Fund Pilots’’

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice of proposal deadlines,

revised guidelines.

SUMMARY: The United States

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

will begin to accept proposals for the FY

2001 Brownfields Cleanup Revolving

Loan Fund Pilots on October 11, 2000.

The Brownfields Cleanup Revolving

Loan Fund pilots (each may be funded

up to $1,000,000) to test cleanup and

redevelopment planning models, direct

special efforts toward removing

regulatory barriers without sacrificing

protectiveness, and facilitate

coordinated public and private

environmental cleanup and

redevelopment efforts. EPA expects to

select up to 35 additional Brownfields

Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund pilots by

March 2001. The deadline for new

proposals for the FY 2000 Brownfields

Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund pilots is

December 18, 2000. Proposals must be

postmarked by the U.S. Postal Service

(USPS) by December 18, 2000, and sent

to U.S. EPA Headquarters. In addition,

duplicate copies of the proposal must

also be submitted to the appropriate

U.S. EPA Regional Office, ATTN:

Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan

Fund Coordinator.

The Brownfields Cleanup Revolving

Loan Fund pilot proposals are selected

on a competitive basis. To ensure a fair

selection process, evaluation panels

consisting of EPA Regional and

Headquarters staff and other federal

agency representatives will assess how

well the proposals meet the selection

criteria outlined in the newly revised

guidelines, entitled The Brownfields

Economic Redevelopment Initiative:

Proposal Guidelines for Brownfields

Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund

(September 2000).

DATES: All proposals must be

postmarked by USPS or sent to U.S.

EPA Headquarters and a duplicate copy

sent to the appropriate U.S. EPA

Regional Office via registered or tracked

mail no later than December 18, 2000.

ADDRESSES: BCRLF guidelines can be

obtained by calling the Superfund

Hotline at the following numbers:

Washington, DC Metro Area at 703–

412–9810

Outside Washington, DC Metro at 1–

800–424–9346

TDD for the Hearing Impaired at 1–800–

553–7672

Copies of the Proposal Guidelines for

Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan

Fund are available via the Internet:

http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The

U.S. EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and

Emergency Response, Outreach and

Special Projects Staff, Barbara Bassuener

(202) 260–9347 or Jennifer Millett

Wilbur (202) 260–6454.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Environmental Protection Agency’s

(EPA) Brownfields Economic

Redevelopment Initiative is designed to

empower states, local governments,

communities, and other stakeholders

involved in economic redevelopment to

work together in a timely manner to

prevent, assess, and safely cleanup

brownfields in order to facilitate their

sustainable reuse. As part of this

Initiative, EPA has awarded cooperative

agreements to States, political

subdivisions (including cities, towns,

counties), and Indian tribes to capitalize

Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan

Fund pilots. The purpose of these pilots

is to test brownfields cleanup revolving

loan fund models that direct special

efforts toward facilitating coordinated

public and private brownfields cleanup

efforts.

In FY 2001, the EPA expects to select

up to 35 new BCRLF pilots to be funded

up to $1,000,000 per eligible entity by

the end of March 2001.

Eligible entities for FY 2001 BCRLF

pilots will be states, political

subdivisions, or federally recognized

Indian Tribes that have established and

can demonstrate progress already made

in the assessment, cleanup and

revitalization of brownfields in their

community, State or Tribe.

Coalitions of eligible entities are

permitted to apply, but a single entity

must be identified as the applicant.

Additionally, a letter of support from

each coalition member must be

included as an attachment.

Applicants must demonstrate through

their proposal: (1) an existing

commitment to brownfields; (2) an

ability to manage a revolving loan fund

and environmental cleanups; (3) a need

for cleanup funds; (4) commitment to

making loans and to creative leveraging

of EPA funds with public-private

partnerships and in-kind services

(matching funds are not required); and

(5) a clear plan for sustaining the

environmental protection and related

economic development activities

initiated through the BCRLF program.

The eligible entities must meet EPA’s

threshold and evaluation criteria. There

is no guarantee of an award. Also, the

size of the awards may vary (for

example, from $350,000 to $1,000,000

per eligible entity), depending on the

proposal’s responses to the evaluation

criteria.

Funding for the Brownfields Cleanup

Revolving Loan Fund pilots is

authorized under Section 104(d)(1) of

the Comprehensive Environmental

Response, Compensation, and Liability

Act of 1980, as amended, (CERCLA or

Superfund), 42 U.S.C. 9604(d)(1).

The Regulatory Enforcement Fairness

Act of 1996, generally provides that

before a rule may take effect, the agency

promulgating the rule must submit a

rule report, which includes a copy of

the rule, to each House of the Congress

and to the Comptroller General of the

United States. EPA will submit a report

containing this action and other

required information to the U.S. Senate,

the U.S. House of Representatives, and

the Comptroller General of the United

States prior to publication of the rule in

the Federal Register. A Major rule

cannot take effect until 60 days after it

is published in the Federal Register.

This action is not a ‘‘major rule’’ as

defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2). This rule

will be effective on October 11, 2000.

Dated: October 3, 2000.

Linda Garczynski,

Director, Outreach and Special Projects Staff,

Office of Solid Waste and Emergency

Response.

[FR Doc. 00–26066 Filed 10–10–00; 8:45 am]

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