(New York, N.Y.) The E.P.A. is providing $400,000 to the City of New York to supplement the city's plan to clean up contaminated Brownfields properties throughout the city. This grant, which will be added to New York City's Revolving Loan Fund, will help fund hazardous substance cleanups in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, creating jobs while protecting public health and the environment.
"This E.P.A. backing will support New York City's work to protect public health and the environment by cleaning up contaminated properties in some of the City's poorest communities," said E.P.A. Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck.
The $400,000 in backing provided by the E.P.A. will allow the New York City Office of Environmental Remediation to address cleanup needs, such as community facilities, affordable housing, and open space, with special consideration to be given to plans in distressed areas impacted by Superstorm Sandy. Many neighborhoods impacted by Sandy continue to struggle to rebuild and develop beneficial reuses on their brownfield sites.
Brownfields revolving loan funds provide backing for loans and grants to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites. When these loans are repaid, the loan amount is then returned to the fund and re-loaned to other borrowers, providing an ongoing source of capital within a community for additional cleanup of brownfield sites.
There are an estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated sites in the United States. The EPA's Brownfields plan targets these sites to encourage redevelopment, and help to provide the opportunity for productive community use of contaminated properties. Since the inception of the EPA's Brownfields Plan in 1995, cumulative brownfield Plan investments have leveraged in excess of $23.3 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 109,787 jobs nationwide.
Additional information on E.P.A. Brownfields activities is accessible at
http://epa.gov/brownfields.
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http://twitter.com/eparegion2 and Facebook at
http://facebook.com/eparegion2.
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