WASHINGTON - The E.P.A. (EPA) announced today the selection of 243 new grant investments totaling $54.3 million to 147 communities across the U.S. This investment will provide communities with backing necessary to assess, clean up and redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and leverage jobs while protecting public health and the environment. Recipients will each gain approximately $200,000 - $600,000 in backing toward E.P.A. cooperative agreements.
EPA's Brownfields grants provide resources early which is critical for the success of communities' ability to leverage additional partnerships and resources. The community leaders - represented by local governments, states, tribes, quasi-governmental organizations, and non-profit entities have demonstrated strong partnerships and project to leverage the E.P.A. grants with other public-private investments. They use an inclusive process to help spur the redevelopment of vacant, former manufacturing and commercial sites for broader revitalization in their downtowns. This results in a transformed economy and environment while addressing poverty and economic distress.
"Brownfield sites - because of their locations and associated infrastructure advantages - are community assets and a key component of the Obama Administration's efforts to provide tools to sustainably revitalize communities and foster economic development," said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. "These communities have demonstrated a project to leverage their grants and partnerships to achieve economic and environmental revitalization to meet their needs for jobs. These critical E.P.A. resources are going into communities with populations ranging from 89 to 1.4 million, and in excess of half under 100,000. The grants will help transform brownfield sites, such as former manufacturing and mill sites, into productive end uses which directly benefit community residents and create opportunities including increased housing options, recreational spaces, and jobs."
Among the communities selected for funding, in excess of thirty percent have been affected by plant closures, forty percent by significant economic disruptions, and forty-two percent by adverse natural disasters. The small City of Palatka, Florida for example, was declared an emergency area following the devastation of 2 tropical storms, and has also suffered economically from the closing of Georgia-Pacific paper towel manufacturing line and the lay-off of 130 employees from the regional water management company. Being selected for a $400,000 assessment grant will allow this town of just over 10,000 residents to support their downtown and riverfront redevelopment projects and help restore the local economy.
This latest backing advances EPA's broader commitment to making a visible difference in communities that focuses on better coordinating federal investments to help environmentally overburdened, underserved, and economically distressed communities address local priorities. Communities selected this year demonstrate a high level of preparedness to undertake specific plans as they have firm commitments of leveraged funds to move plans forward. An impressive forty-five percent of the recipients have secured public and private resources which directly align and further the efforts of suggested projects.
San Antonio, Texas, selected for a $400,000 assessment grant, will focus on 3 priority areas to restore urban waterways, attract commercial development, construct new multifamily housing, and sustainably reuse existing buildings. By creatively combining accessible resources, the city secured in excess of $470 million to advance community goals which will help ensure success of revitalizing the priority areas.
E.P.A. continues to help new communities to address Brownfields sites plaguing their neighborhoods. First-time recipient Columbus, Indiana projects to use a $400,000 assessment grant award to perform assessments that align with and promote the city's strategic project to expand residential and educational opportunities for its residents, enhance greenspace and boost the economy with new retail stores and services.
EPA's grant awards support both urban and rural communities in their efforts to address their brownfields concerns. In excess of fifty-five percent of the communities selected are cities and towns with populations of 100,000 or less, of which forty-four percent are very small rural communities with populations of 10,000 or less. The Lower Brule Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, population 1,664, will use its $200,000 cleanup grant to remove contamination from the Former Housing Authority Building located in the middle of town and directly adjacent to an elementary school. Addressing contamination of the deteriorating building will enhance the environmental and public welfare of the resident and provide other direct community benefits by allowing the tribe to relocate their local Boys & Girls Club.
Approximately $17 million of the assessment and cleanup backing will go to applicants who are also Brownfields Area-Wide Planning grant recipients and HUD-DOT-EPA partnership communities. This backing will help communities clean up and reuse brownfield sites to produce community assets such as housing, recreation and open space, health facilities, create employment, education, social services, transportation options, infrastructure and business opportunities. For example, the Camden Redevelopment Agency in New Jersey will gain 3 $200,000 cleanup grant awards, and a $200,000 assess grant which will lead to the redevelopment of a 3.6-acre mercury and lead contaminated Camden Labs location into mixed residential and commercial use. Clark Co. in Nevada will gain a $500,000 assessment coalition grant award to address the Maryland Parkway High Capacity Corridor in the heart of the Las Vegas' urban core. As the region's 1st multi-modal corridor, over the next 20 years, the development will generate much needed jobs and will spur additional development and investments in the area.
Since the inception of the EPA's Brownfields Plan in 1995, cumulative brownfield Plan investments have leveraged In excess of $22 billion from a variety of public and private sources for cleanup and redevelopment activities. This equates to an average of $17.79 leveraged per E.P.A. brownfield dollar expended. These investments have resulted in approximately 105,942 jobs nationwide. EPA's Brownfields Plan empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields sites.
For more information on the grants: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/pdfs/2015-AC-grant-fact-sheets.pdf
More information on EPA's brownfields program: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
More information on brownfields success stories: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/success/index.htm
