1. SMARTe: Improving Revitalization Decisions
Chris Costopoulos, Empire State Development (NY)/ITRC Brownfields Team Lead
Ann Vega, U.S. EPA – Office of Research and Development
Kelly Black, Neptune and Company, Inc.
CluIn Training
19 October 2006

2. Introduction
Introduction of the presenters
Role of ITRC
Brownfields Team
Outreach/Raise Awareness

3. Outline Introduction – Chris Costopoulos SMARTe Overview – Ann Vega
SMARTe Demo – Kelly Black
SMARTe Future – Ann Vega
Contact Information - All

4. SMARTe 2007 is available at: www.smarte.org
SMARTe Overview
Sustainable Management Approaches and Revitalization Tools – electronic
Overcome Revitalization Obstacles
Guidance/Education: information, resources, best practices, links; identify what questions to ask
Analysis Tools: technical and non-technical
Search Engine: find specific info.
SMARTe 2007 is available at:

5. Obstacles to Revitalization
To remove obstacles to revitalization identified by the U.S.-German Bilateral Working Group.
Identifying market and non-market costs and benefits of revitalization options
Identifying private and public financing options
Evaluating and communicating environmental risks
Identifying and evaluating characterization, remediation, and long-term monitoring technologies
Identifying state-specific information
In order to encourage redevelopment, the bilateral working group decided that we would develop tools and approaches to help people overcome obstacles to revitalization. In 2001, workshops were held in both countries in order to identify the obstacles to redevelopment of brownfield sites. BMBF, EPA, and ITRC determined which obstacles could be addressed by the U.S.-German Bilateral WG within a 5 year period and what tools might be developed to help overcome those obstacles. SMARTe became the tool on the U.S. side.
Here are 5 obstacles just to give some examples. Handout tickler is for “obstacles list” if you choose to use it. If so, mention that the entire list of obstacles and how they were addressed within SMARTe (or will be addressed) is provided on a handout.

6. Smart Redevelopment/Revitalization Saves
For
Move through next few slides quickly to get across point that revitalization saves natural areas for future generations of humans/wildlife.

7. SMARTe 2007 “Table of Contents”
Revitalization Strategy
Future Land Use
Participants and Stakeholders
Community Involvement
Environmental Issues (Assessment and Management)
Economic Analysis
Sources of Money
Liability
Strategy/Vision
Social
Environmental
Economic

8. SMARTe is being developed by:
Office of Brownfields Cleanup and Redevelopment
&
Office of Research and Development
EPA and German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) have worked collaboratively since The Interstate Technology Regulatory Council was added in We call the partnership the U.S.-German Bilateral Working Group.
Working together toward common goals

9. Who can Benefit from SMARTe?
Community members
Brownfield grantees
Regulators and Redevelopment Agencies
Federal, State, and Local Government Officials
Financial and Legal Stakeholders
Developers
Property Owners
Private Consultants
SMARTe is intended to be used by both technical and non-technical stakeholders. Non-technical stakeholders will likely access SMARTe for information and some of the non-technical tools and templates while technical users will access the technical tools and use the presentation capabilities to help communicate technical information in a non-technical way. A LOT of information, and some of these tools are available now.
In October 2007, stakeholders will be able to use SMARTe to walk through the entire revitalization process – making sure they’ve addressed all of the different aspects of a revitalization effort and evaluate their potential options.
SMARTe is free to the public.

10. How are we Developing SMARTe?
Open Literature – EPA and Other Sources
Existing Databases
National and International Conferences
CABERNET, ConSoil, National Brownfield Conference
Discussions with Experts in the Field
Model Projects – Interviews and Presentations
Joint Workshops
Review Comments
User Feedback
Beta Test Sites
Over the last several years, we’ve used information from the literature/internet, national and international conferences, discussions with experts (bankers, insurance companies, environmental professionals, community advocates, etc.),
Model projects (these were projects selected in the U.S. and Germany that were successful in at least one aspect of revitalization),
Joint workshops (U.S. and Germany held 5 workshops on aspects of revitalization to help fill data gaps. Topics were: economic tools, project management and marketing, risk assessment and communication, social aspects, and sustainable reuse). Plug final conference!
Now, we’re receiving comments from reviewers, feedback from users/stakeholders, and we’re starting beta testing (more on this later).

11. To Access SMARTe 2007 www.smarte.org
Requires Internet Explorer 6.0 or Mozilla/Firefox 1.1 & higher
Can also access from ITRC website and EPA’s brownfields office website.
This is where the presenter switches over to live internet and choose parts of SMARTe to show that are relevant to the audience. First, make sure to discuss the disclaimer. Then teach people how to navigate via “table of contents” on left, the icons at the top (tools, tutorial), and the search function. Click on best practices and show people how they can search for best practices or enter a best practice (encourage them to enter them). Point out that each page can generate a pdf file. Show how someone would submit feedback and talk about the feedback database. Then begin on examples. Try to make it as interactive as possible.

12. SMARTe 2008 park speedway housing
In other words, by October 2007 (we’re still in development), it will allow you to look at a site/area and help you decide which reuse option(s) make(s) the most sense from an ecological, social, and economic standpoint.
Discuss an example of an audience-relevant BF site and talk about what pieces of information go into the decision regarding what that site will be.
SMARTe uses a “decision analysis” framework to help bring together the wide variety, and large amount, of information needed for revitalization to help stakeholders make trade-offs depending on the situation, the science, and also stakeholders’ (especially the affected community) needs and wants.
housing

13. Additional SMARTe Focus Areas
Rural areas
Mine-scarred lands
Methamphetamine sites
Railfields
Underground Storage Tank Sites
Landfills
Regional and local land use planning
Flexible project management and long-term stewardship
Brownscape Design (Visioning/Design Charrettes)
Additional analysis tools
After the demo, return to the presentation and finish up.
Additional information and tools are needed in the following areas: …
The ones highlighted in purple will be addressed by the U.S.-German Bilateral Working Group over the next several years.

14. Schedule Annual updates to add tools and address comments
SMARTe 2007: currently at:
SMARTe 2008 (Complete decision support capability): Available October 2007
Development of sustainable revitalization tools:
Final SMARTe: 2010 (updates as needed)
Continuous beta testing and user feedback
Additional tools will be added to SMARTe each year, and each year a new version will be released in October with full decision support capability available in October As SMARTe is used and users submit feedback via the feedback buttons, the comments go into a database. The SMARTe Technical Development Team attempts to address these comments within a month of submission. If you submit feedback, you’ll receive a “bugzilla” that provides a link to the comment so you can monitor the status.
In January 2006, we will also begin “beta testing” SMARTe. We put a call out for sites that were “stuck” and weren’t moving forward. The idea is to see if SMARTe can help the site become “unstuck” and start moving forward again. Nine beta test sites will be selected by December A SMARTe liaison will be assigned to each site to assist the stakeholders in using SMARTe and to obtain targeted feedback from the beta test site regarding the impact of SMARTe on the site.

15. Christine Costopoulos
ITRC Brownfields Team Lead
Empire State Development
Ann Vega
U.S. EPA – Office of Research and Development
For questions, etc. regarding ???, contact Paul Connor
For questions, etc., regarding SMARTe – contact Ann Vega.
For questions, etc., regarding??? Contact Doug MacCourt.

16. To Order Workshop CDs: http://www.epa.gov/nscep/ordering.htm Workshop
Order Number
Economic Tools
600C03001a
Project Management and Market Strategies
600C05002
Risk Assessment/Communication Tools
600C04099
Social Aspects
600C05009
Sustainable Reuse
625C06001
If you’re interested in ordering CDs, go to this website and type in the EPA order number associated with the CD you would like to order.

17. Web Sites Office of Brownfields Cleanup and Redevelopment (OBCR)
US-German Bilateral Working Group
Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council
SMARTe
Here is a list of websites that might be useful. You can access SMARTe from all of these sites.

18. Links to Additional Resources
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