ATLANTA - The E.P.A. (EPA) announced today that it projects to award 2 communities in South Carolina with brownfields grants for new investments to provide communities with backing necessary to clean and redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and create jobs while protecting human health.
"Not only are these funds protecting the environment and public health by helping communities clean up blighted toxic waste sites, there are new job growth opportunities for local economies to leverage through these investments," said Gina McCarthy, E.P.A. Administrator. "With cities looking at how to combat the impacts of climate change, it's more important than ever for communities to innovate new ways to retrofit formerly polluted, unused sites for renewable energy use."
The South Carolina brownfield grant recipients are:
· Town of Cheraw, Cheraw, South Carolina ($100,000 assessment grant for petroleum and $200,000 assessment grant for hazardous substances)
· City of Columbia, Columbia, South Carolina ($200,000 assessment grant for petroleum and$ 200,000 assessment grant for hazardous substances)
· City of Greenville, Greenville, South Carolina ($200,000 assessment grant for petroleum and $200,000 assessment grant for hazardous substances)
· City of Rock Hill, Rock Hill, South Carolina ($200,000 assessment grant for petroleum and $200,000 assessment grant for hazardous substances)
EPA's Brownfields Plan empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield location is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. In 2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act was passed to help states and communities around the country clean up and revitalize brownfields sites. Under this law, E.P.A. provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through 4 competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. Additionally, backing support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism.
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 HUD-DOT-EPA 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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