RE-Powering America’s Land:Siting Renewable Energy on Potentially Contaminated Land, Landfills and Mine Sites

Developing Solar on Landfills & BrownfieldsJune 12, 2017

WIND SOLAR

RE-Powering America’s Land

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Encourages the reuse of formerly contaminated lands, landfills and mine sites for renewable energy development, when such

development is aligned with the community's vision for the site.

Benefits -- Why Renewables on Potentially Contaminated Lands

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Gain community support

Leverage existinginfrastructure

Improve project economics through

reduced land costs & tax incentives

Protect open space

Build sustainable land development

strategy

Provide low-cost, clean power to communities

Reduce project cycle times with

streamlined zoning and permitting

Encouraging Reuse for Renewable Energy Development

• RE-Powering America’s Land

– Developing partnerships, creating connections and outreach

– Disseminating success stories and best practices

– Providing technical and programmatic assistance

– Articulating benefits – environmental, economic, community

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Exploring Sites

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• Is your “Brownfield” right for a Brightfield?

– Identifying and screening contaminated properties

– Clarifying cleanup related issues, status and liability

– Identifying and addressing barriers

– Exploring financing strategies and incentives

– Highlighting favorable policies

Identifying and Screening

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Google Earth Mapper

Electronic Decision Tree

RE-Powering MapperGoogle Earth Overlay

Mapped inventory of 80,000+ EPA and select state tracked sites (over 43 million acres of land)

Incorporates data from:• EPA Cleanup and Landfill Programs• National Renewable Energy Lab

• Wind, Solar, and Biomass Resources• Southern Methodist University and USGS

• Geothermal• Department of Homeland Security

• U.S. Highways• Railroads• Transmission Lines• Substations

• 11 State Agencies:CA, HI, IL, MA, NJ, NY, OR, PA, TX, VA, and WV

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RE-Powering’s Mapper

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Attributes in Mapper

Cleanup Progress Profile

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Sites Screened by Program and State

Program # of Sites

Abandoned Mine Land 466

Brownfield Program Sites 26,030

Superfund 2,009

Landfills - Landfill Methane Outreach Program 2,062

RCRA Corrective Action Sites 3,759

Sites Associated with Federal Programs 34,326

State Identified Sites # of Sites

California (7,622), Hawaii (1,180), Illinois (5,541), Massachusetts (1,495), New Jersey (10,362), New York (2,180), Oregon (4,743), Pennsylvania (5,543), Texas (1,150), Virginia (5,422), West Virginia (2,103)

47,341

Federal and State Sites Screened 81,667

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Illinois Sites – Select Counties and By Program

AML BF SF Landfill RCRA

STATEResponse

ActionSTATE VSRP Total

Cook 345 14 10 119 2,878 3,366

DuPage 7 2 16 343 368

Lake 12 8 3 13 256 292

Will 4 3 6 25 133 171

Kane 1 2 8 140 151

McHenry 1 13 98 112

Winnebago 16 6 1 17 102 142

Madison 1 38 3 3 12 65 122

Other Counties 5 711 30 61 151 270 1,033 2,110

Total 6 1,126 73 88 151 493 5,048 6,985

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Mapper’s Screening Criteria

Utility Solar PV

Large-Scale

Solar PVUtilityWind

Large-Scale Wind

1-2 Turbine

WindSolar Resource (kWh/m2/day)

≥ 5.0 ≥ 3.5

Wind Resource(m/s at 80 m)

5.5 5.5 5.5

Acreage: ≥ 40 ≥ 2 ≥100 ≥40 ≥2

Distance to Transmission (miles)

≤ 10 ≤ 1 ≤10 ≤10 ≤1

Distance to Graded Roads (miles)

≤ 10 ≤ 1 ≤10 ≤10 ≤1

Positively ScreeningBrownfields Sites

318 5,306 275 636 3,255

Positively Screened Brownfields

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Utility Solar PV

Large-Scale

Solar PVUtilityWind

Large-Scale Wind

1-2 Turbine

WindPositively ScreenedBrownfields Sites

318 5,306 275 636 3,255

Region 1 -- 447 13 39 223Region 2 2 213 9 15 200Region 3 -- 318 2 14 37Region 4 8 817 5 18 104Region 5 -- 1,430 93 241 1,477Region 6 73 624 62 116 448Region 7 26 529 56 115 527Region 8 43 224 16 35 108Region 9 133 582 18 31 85Region 10 33 122 1 12 46

Positively Screened Landfills

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Utility Solar PV

Large-ScaleSolar PV

Positively Screened Landfill* Sites 272 666

Region 1 -- 29Region 2 -- 37Region 3 -- 57Region 4 3 116Region 5 -- 91Region 6 32 72Region 7 10 48Region 8 28 29Region 9 180 165Region 10 19 22

* Landfill sites as tracked by EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program

Potential Electricity Capacity

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SOLAR

WIND

RE-Powering Mapper – 2017 Upgrade

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Screening Potential Sites:Electronic Decision Tree tool

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Decision Tree Summary

- Explores solar (ground mount and/or rooftop) or wind (ground mount)

- Can be used for small to large sites to assess potential for distributed, large-scale or utility-scale systems

- Walks users through a series of Yes / No / Skip Questions

- Supplements questions with additional information, tips and linksto relevant resources

- Generates reports of the screening results and user comments that can be printed or imported into other documents

- Summary Site Screening Report- Data Entry Report- Site Comparison Report

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RE-Powering’s Electronic Decision Tree

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Electronic Decision Tree:Landfill Issues

• Closure status

• Other land use restrictions

• Settling

• Compatibility with – piping / collection systems– leachate and landfill gas system

• Erosion control, Stormwater Management

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Electronic Decision Tree:Load Assessment and Financial Phase

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Electronic Decision Tree:Project Arrangements

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Tool’s Initial Findings and Next Steps

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Feasibility Studies

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• Assess sites for renewable energy (RE) technologies

• Estimate the project size and expected generation

• Examine costs and competitiveness with purchased power

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Barriers Identified by External Stakeholders

Cleanup Related Information and Status

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https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/cleaning-brownfields-under-state-response-programs-getting-no-further-action

Liability

• EPA– Revitalization Handbook -- Revitalizing

Contaminated Lands: Addressing Liability Concerns (Updated 2014)https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/revitalization-handbook

– Revised Enforcement Guidance Regarding the Treatment of Tenants…and Model Comfort / Status Letters for Lessees…https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-08/documents/tenants-bfpp-2012-mem-note.pdf

• State Liability

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Liability Resources

• EPA– CERCLA Liability and Local Government Acquisitions and Other Activities

(http://www2.epa.gov/enforcement/fact-sheet-cercla-liability-and-local-government-acquisitions-and-other-activities)

• State Examples– IL – “Comprehensive” No Further Action Letter

http://www.epa.illinois.gov/topics/cleanup-programs/srp/overview/index

– IN – Comfort Letters and Site Status Lettershttp://www.in.gov/ifa/brownfields/files/cl-ssl-supplemental-info-request-form.docx

– MI – Baseline Environmental Assessmentshttp://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/deq-oea-tou-MECC_Presentation-BEA-DC_529860_7.pdf

– MN – No Association Determinations Et alhttps://www.pca.state.mn.us/sites/default/files/vic-gd4.pdf

– OH – No Further Action Letter and Covenant Not to Suehttp://epa.ohio.gov/Portals/30/rules/2014/3745-300-13.pdf

– WI – General Liability Clarification Letter(http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Brownfields/Liability.html)

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Financing

• Tools for remediation and redevelopment that could also be used for renewable energy (Federal, State, Local)

• Renewable energy financing tools

• Federal Tax Incentives

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Financing

• Tools for remediation and redevelopment that could also be used for renewable energy (Federal, State, Local)– EPA and State Brownfield Programs– Tax Abatement Programs– Tax Increment Financing– HUD Community Development Block Grants– Community Reinvestment Act

• Renewable energy financing tools– USDA Rural Energy for America Program– State Green Banks– Green Bonds

• Federal Tax Incentives29

Highlighting Supportive Policies

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• Policies that Encourage Renewable Energy on Brownfields and/or Landfills

• Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, Maryland, Illinois

• Land Use Policies that Target Areas for Renewable Energy Development

• BLM, DRECP

• Policies that Promote Renewable Energy•

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Policies that Encourage Integration of Community and Energy Planning- SolSmart

- NYSERDA – Clean Energy Communities

Other Policy Motivators- Emissions reduction, community resiliency, critical infrastructure, infill investment, etc.- Low Income Solar Programs- California Green Tariff Program

Highlighting Supportive Policies (cont’d)

Highlighting Supportive Policies-- Net Metering

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Highlighting Supportive Policies –Community Solar

RE-Powering (RE on CLs)- Usually needs customers / off-

taker (Limited on-site load)- 210+ installations to date / 1.2

GW- Large number of CLs in US- Such lands are in and among

communities

Community Solar- Customers needing sites- 100’s of installations to date /

343 MW- Increasing trend and projects

in 26 states to date

Low and Moderate Income / EJ Communities- CLs often located in LMI and

EJ communities- Higher proportion of LMI

individuals and families live in rental and multifamily housing

- Community solar provides access to renewable energy

Highlighting Supportive Policies –Community Choice Aggregation

• Bulk electricity purchasing arrangements through which municipalities are empowered to negotiate electric supply rates with power providers on behalf of the residents and business owners within their jurisdiction.

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A COMMUNITY authorizes its municipal government to procure electric supply services on its behalf;

The municipality then makes its CHOICE of electric providers, based on the rates it is able to negotiate with these suppliers and how the electricity is generated

Cost savings are achieved through the AGGREGATION of customer demand, allowing the municipality to negotiate bulk purchasing rates.

Source, Community Choice Aggregation Fact Sheet, The Solar Foundation, January 2013

Highlighting Supportive Policies --Utility Green Tariff Programs

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Specific program structures vary

Source: O’Shaughnessy, Eric, State of the Voluntary Green Power Market (2015 Data) - NREL

RE-Powering Resources

36Tracking Matrix

Success StoriesBest Practices

Benefits Matrix

Advantages

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Tracking Matrix -- Projects Identified To Date

Tracking Matrix: Trends

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0

25

50

75

100

125

150

175

200

225

October-12 April-13 October-13 April-14 October-14 April-15 October-15 April-16 October-16 April-17

Brownfields Landfills All RE on CL Installations

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Tracking Matrix - Excerpt

Tracking Matrix -- Landfills

• 122 Installations on landfills / landfill buffers– 102 solar and 5 wind projects on MSW landfills– 12 solar projects on Superfund, RCRA or BF sites– 2 solar and 1 wind project on landfill buffer

• Landfill Installations in 28 states– 64 in New England (MA(54); CT(4); ME(1); NH(1); RI(1); VT(3))– 18 in NY/NJ (NJ(8); NY(10))– 10 in CO, TX and Southwest (CO(3); TX(3); NM(1); NV(2); UT(1))– 8 in Mid-Atlantic (PA(3); DE(2); MD(3))– 8 in Southeast (NC(2); TN(2); FL(2); GA(1); KY(1))– 7 in CA, HI and Northwest (CA(5); AZ(1); OR(1))– 7 in Midwest (MN(2); WI(3); MI(1); OH(1))

• Uses of Electricity from Landfills– 98 Landfills Provide Wholesale Electricity (1 Community Owned)– 24 Local or On-Site Use (6 for green remediation)

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Benefits

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Benefits Matrix

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Success StoriesCase Study: Solar on Landfill

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Success StoriesCase Study: Solar on Superfund Site

• Case Study (http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/recycle/pdf/reilly-chem-2014.pdf)• Old industrial property (distilled coal tar and treated wood) – 120 acres• Treatment, containment and cover of contaminated areas;

on-going groundwater management and monitoring• Innovative soil management plan to minimize disturbance of impaired soil• EPA “comfort letter” to clarify liability issues• 10.8 MW solar PV installation on 43 acres; Over 36,000 panels• Project developer sub-leases site property and sells power to local utility under 15 year PPA• Qualified for utility sponsored renewable energy program (voluntary “feed in tariff” type program)• Utility retains ownership of project renewable energy credits

MAYWOOD SOLAR FARM

Best Practices for Siting Solar on Landfills

• Discusses

• Technical / Physical Characteristics

• Solar Installations

• Serving Electrical Load

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• Settlement– Weight of solar installation– Settlement can damage or adversely impact efficiency

• Side slope stability

• Stormwater / runoff– Change in potential for erosion, flooding

• Cap / Cover– Affecting cover during installation– Compatible or even part of cap– Landfills must be closed in accordance with state approved– closure plans or modifications to existing closure plans

• Changes in post-closure maintenance45

Best Practices:Technical / Physical Characteristics

• Ownership and Procurement Arrangements– Owner develops– Third party develops (land lease)– Community solar– CCA– Competitive solicitation (design and/or build)

• Serving Electricity Load– Interconnection– Serving on-site and/or off-site loads

• Power purchase agreements • Net metering / virtual net metering• Sell to utility or other energy provider

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Best Practices:Electricity Generated

Solar on Landfill Additional Resources

• Case Studies include– Scituate Landfill (MA); Fort Carson (CO)– Nellis Air Force Base (NV); Operating Industries Landfill (CA)

• Feasibility Studies include– Vincent Mullins Landfill (AZ); Crazy Horse Sanitary Landfill (CA)– Price’s Pit Landfill (NJ); Kolthoff Landfill (OH)– Cathcart Landfill (WA); Sky Park Landfill (WI)– Refuse Hideaway Landfill (WI)

• State Guidance– The Guide to Developing Solar Photovoltaics at Massachusetts Landfills– Guidance for Installation of Solar Renewable Energy Systems on Landfills

in New Jersey

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RE-Powering America’s Land

• Building greater awareness of opportunities

• Sharing experiences in developing RE-Powering projects by– Increasing familiarity of reuse and the renewable energy

development process; – Identifying challenges and strategies to address such

challenges; and– Providing programmatic and technical assistance

• Making our own efforts more helpful and impactful

• Supporting your efforts to champion such projects

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RE-Powering America’s LandRegional Response Team

Regions

Region 1 – New EnglandJulieanne Sammut (sammut.julieanne@epa.gov) (617) 918-1426Katherine Woodward (woodward.katherine@epa.gov) (617) 918-1353

Region 2 – New York / New Jersey / PR / USVIFernando Rosado (rosado.fernando@epa.gov) (212) 637-4346

Region 3 – Mid-AtlanticCharles B. Howland (howland.charles@epa.gov) (215) 814-2645

Region 4 -- SoutheastDonna Seadler (seadler.donna@epa.gov) (404) 562-8870

Region 5 -- MidwestTom Bloom (bloom.thomas@epa.gov) (312) 886-1967

Region 6 – South CentralCasey Luckett (luckett.casey@epa.gov) (214) 665-7393Karen Peycke (peycke.karen@epa.gov) (214) 665-7273

Region 7 - Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, & NebraskaBrad Eaton (eaton.brad@epa.gov) (913) 551-7265

Region 8 - Mountain and PlainsTimothy Rehder (rehder.timothy@epa.gov) (303) 312-6293

Region 9 – Pacific SouthwestKaren Irwin (Irwin.karen@epa.gov) (415) 947-4116Andria Benner (benner.andria@epa.gov) (415) 972-3189

Region 10 Pacific NorthwestMargaret Olson (olson.margaret@epa.gov) (503) 326-5874

HeadquartersAdam Klinger (klinger.adam@epa.gov) (202) 566-0546 Marc Thomas (thomas.marc@epa.gov) (202) 566-0791

Liability QuestionsPhil Page (page.phillip@epa.gov) (202) 564-4211

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