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Financial Assistance Ofiice of Brownfield Reuse HDSRF Innocent Party Grants

HDSRF "Innocent" Party Grants

NOTE: The current information can be found in the HDSRF Fact Sheet.

December 10, 2004

The Department has received inquiries about the approval process for" innocent" party grants from the Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund. The statute states that a person qualifies for an "innocent" party grant if:

    1. that person acquired the property prior to December 31, 1983, and
    2. the hazardous substance or waste that was discharged at the property was not used by the person at that site, and
    3. that person certifies that he/she did not discharge any hazardous substances or hazardous wastes at an area where a discharge is discovered.

During the review of an application the Department will determine if each of the three criteria listed above has been met. The Department will confirm the date of acquisition of the property via the Deed and require a certification from the applicant regarding any discharges on the property. This certification should indicate whether the applicant had ANY discharges of ANY hazardous substances or hazardous wastes at ANY area of the property.

The Department will determine that an applicant has met the second criteria if:

    1. the hazardous substances or hazardous wastes requiring remediation were never used by the applicant or anyone the applicant authorized to use the property; and
    2. the hazardous wastes or hazardous substances are not products used by the applicant or anyone the applicant authorized that have commingled or combined with other substances to create hazardous substances or hazardous wastes requiring remediation; and
    3. the hazardous substances or hazardous wastes are not breakdown products of substances used by the applicant or anyone the applicant authorized; and
    4. the remediation addresses only those hazardous substances or hazardous wastes that were never used by the applicant or anyone the applicant authorized.

The Department reserves the right to focus on less than an entire site in the review of "innocent" party grant status.

Performance of a PA/SI/RI will identify the discharges at a site. Therefore, no awards for an "innocent" party grant will be made by the Department until the completion of the RI. If an applicant wants to apply for an "innocent" party grant for the remainder of the remediation, the applicant would have to apply prior to the work being conducted. The Department would review requests for total remediation costs up to $1 million in financial assistance.

A prime example of an applicant who would qualify for an "innocent" party grant is a developer who acquired a piece of property in 1983 or before and during the ownership never operated or allowed others to operate at the site. The developer, who never used or allowed others to use any hazardous substances or hazardous wastes anywhere at the site, would be eligible, if money were available, for an "innocent" party grant.