3 Arizona Cities awarded $1.2 million in Brownfields Grants

WASHINGTON- The E.P.A. (EPA) announced today that Mesa, South Tucson and Tucson will be 3 of 171 communities nationwide receiving brownfields Backing to clean and redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and leverage jobs while protecting public health and the environment.

The FY14 Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) grants will give communities and businesses a chance to return economic stability to under-served and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods through the assessment and clean-up of abandoned industrial and commercial properties, places where environmental cleanups and new jobs are most needed.

"Brownfields Backing allows communities to innovate new ways to retrofit formerly polluted, unused sites for sustainable new uses," Jared Blumenfeld, EPA's Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. "This Backing will not only protect the environment and public health, but foster new job growth opportunities from streetcars in Tucson to the Light Rail in Mesa."

In Mesa, 2 $200,000 grants will be used to assess properties along the 1.9 mile Gilbert Road Light Rail extension route that will travel down Main Street. South Tucson will also use 2 $200,000 grants to support the revitalization in 5 unique commercial corridors where infrastructure enhancements have already been made in this 1.2 square mile city. In Tucson, 2 grants totaling $400,000 will be focused along the City's Modern Streetcar route and within the Downtown Links Plan Area, supporting the revitalization efforts in the City's Central Business District.

A total of approximately $23.5 million is going to communities that have been impacted by plant closures. Other selected recipients include tribes and communities in 44 states across the country; and at least 50 of the grants are going to Housing and Urban Development - Department of Transportation - E.P.A. grant recipient communities.

Since the inception of the EPA's Brownfields plan in 1995, cumulative brownfield plan investments have leveraged in excess of $21 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 93,000 jobs nationwide. These plans demonstrate the positive impact a small investment of federal brownfields Backing can have on community revitalization through leveraging jobs, producing clean energy, and providing recreation opportunities for surrounding neighborhoods. EPA's Brownfields Plan empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields sites.

More information on brownfields grants by state: http://cfpub.epa.gov/bf_factsheets/


More information on EPA's brownfields:

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