§ 43-1416 Definitions.
RCNY § 43-1416
a. "Affordable housing development" means a development that will be built by a developer on a qualifying brownfield property where at least twenty percent of the housing units are affordable to families that earn no more than eighty percent of the average median income of an area, as determined by the United States department of housing and urban development, and that has been issued a letter of interest from a federal, state, or local housing subsidy program. b. "Brownfield opportunity area" means an area in the city of New York with a concentration of brownfields for which the New York state department of state has awarded a brownfield opportunity area grant to a recipient pursuant to general municipal law § 970-r or that has otherwise been identified by the Office as a place-based community brownfield planning area. c. "Community based organization" means a community based organization as defined in § 970-r(1)(c) of the general municipal law. d. "Community facility development" means a development that will be built by a developer on a qualifying brownfield property where the development provides specific benefits to the local community, including, but not limited to, a community facility use pursuant to the zoning resolution. e. "Designated Coastal Flood Zone" means coastal flood zones designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or other coastal flood zones designated or recognized by the City. f. "E-designation hazardous material site" means a property that has been designated with an (E) on a zoning map, pursuant to § 11-15 of the zoning resolution, because of potential hazardous material contamination. g. "Grant administration contractor" means an entity under contract with the New York city economic development corporation, the department of environmental protection or the Office for administration of the New York city brownfield incentive grant program. The grant administration contractor shall provide oversight of the grant process, including, but not limited to, review of grant applications including evaluation of eligibility for grants; review of statements of work; establishment and maintenance of a list of qualified vendors; communication with grantees and qualified vendors; and performance of quality control of work products. h. "Grant payment percentage limit" means the seventy-five percent maximum payment by the Office for eligible costs for approved services and activities performed under a pre-development grant or an environmental investigation grant. The grant payment percentage limit is intended to ensure that the grantee bears some of the costs for pre-development and environmental investigation services and activities. The grant payment percentage limit shall not apply to City pre-enrollment grants awarded to City-funded affordable and/or supportive housing sites or to industrial and manufacturing sites supported by the New York City economic development corporation. i. "Grantee" means an owner or developer of a qualifying brownfield property, including all parties with an ownership interest in the property, or a recipient of, or an applicant for, a brownfield opportunity area grant in New York city who has been accepted into the New York city brownfield incentive grant program. j. "Office" means the office of environmental remediation. k. "Person" means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, limited liability company, corporation, joint venture, partnership, association, a local development corporation, or a community development corporation. l. "Preferred community development project" means a development proposed for a qualifying brownfield property that is: (1) an affordable housing development; (2) consistent with the strategic brownfield goals established in a brownfield opportunity area plan pursuant to § 970-r of the general municipal law, as evidenced by a letter from the recipient of a brownfield opportunity area grant pursuant to 43 RCNY § 43-1418(d)(4)(B)(i); (3) consistent with the strategic brownfield goals established by a place-based community brownfield planning organization recognized by the Office and as evidenced by a letter from the place-based community brownfield planning organization pursuant to 43 RCNY § 43-1418(d)(4)(B)(ii); or (4) a community facility development. m. "Qualified vendor" or "vendor" means: (1) an environmental professional or consultant or firm thereof; (2) an architect, engineer, attorney, or other professional or firm thereof; (3) a community based organization preparing an application for a brownfield opportunity grant from the New York state department of state; (4) a community development corporation, local development corporation, community development financial institution, or another similar entity, that is qualified by the grant administration contractor to perform, subcontract, and/or supervise work eligible for reimbursement under the New York city brownfield incentive grant program; (5) a workforce development organization; or (6) a vendor under contract with the New York city economic development corporation, the department of environmental protection or the Office for eligible activities and services pursuant to 43 RCNY § 43-1419. n. "Qualifying brownfield property" means: (1) for a pre-enrollment grant, a property that contains a recognized environmental condition; (2) for an enrollment grant, a track one bonus cleanup grant, a green property certification grant, and a property admitted to the City voluntary cleanup program; (3) for a climate change resilience bonus cleanup grant, a property admitted to the City voluntary cleanup program that is located in a designated coastal flood zone; (4) for an e-designation hazardous material remediation grant or a restrictive declaration hazardous material remediation grant, an e-designation hazardous material site or a restrictive declaration hazardous material site respectively; (5) for a technical assistance grant, a preferred community development project where the developer is a not-for-profit corporation, or a community based organization that seeks to apply for a brownfield opportunity grant from the New York state department of state or perform brownfield planning analyses for place-based community brownfield planning; (6) for a brownfield opportunity area strategic property bonus cleanup grant, a property that has been designated a strategic brownfield property within the New York state brownfield opportunity area program; (7) for a brownfield green job training grant, a property admitted to the City voluntary cleanup program or an environmental project recognized by the Office; (8) for a City pre-enrollment grant, a property to be used for affordable housing and/or supportive housing funded by the New York city department of housing preservation and development, an industrial or manufacturing development supported by the New York city economic development corporation or other project receiving substantial support from the City, or an environmental tax lien site designated by the New York city office of management and budget; and (9) for a City enrollment grant, a property that is enrolled in the City voluntary cleanup program or the New York State brownfield cleanup program. o. "Restrictive declaration hazardous material site" means a property with an institutional control, arising from a City environmental quality review and recorded by the property owner, which requires a potential hazardous material condition to be addressed to the office's satisfaction before the property can be developed or an action involving soil disturbance can be undertaken. p. "Recognized environmental condition" means the presence or likely presence of any hazardous substances on a property under conditions that indicate an existing release, a past release, or a material threat of a release of any hazardous substances into structures on the property or into the ground, ground water, or surface water of the property. The term includes hazardous substances even under conditions in compliance with laws. The term does not include de minimis conditions that generally do not present material risk of harm to public health or the environment. q. "Strategic brownfield property" means a property within a brownfield opportunity area or place-based brownfield community planning area that has been determined by the community brownfield planning organization to be a strategic site within the brownfield opportunity area program or the place-based brownfield community planning area. (Amended City Record 12/28/2015, eff. 1/27/2016; amended City Record 5/4/2017, eff. 6/3/2017)
