E.P.A. Awards $150,000 to the Land-of-Sky Regional Council to Clean up and Redevelop Contaminated Brownfields Sites in North Carolina

ATLANTA - Today the E.P.A. (EPA) announced $150,000 in supplemental backing to help clean up contaminated Brownfields properties In North Carolina. The Revolving Loan Funds (RLF) will help the Land-of-Sky Regional Council carry out cleanup and redevelopment plans that are expected to create jobs while utilizing unique financing mechanisms and partnerships to protect people's health and the environment.

"These funds, awarded to grantees who have already achieved success in their work to clean up and redevelop brownfields, will help spur economic development, create local jobs and encourage public, private and non-profit collaboration in expediting Brownfield plans in distressed communities," said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. "The RLF supplemental recipients are some of the nation's top performers. Collectively, these grantees have already leveraged in excess of $340 million in cleanup and redevelopment investment - the RLF backing today will help sustain that incredible progress."

Revolving loan funds specifically supply backing for grant recipients to provide loans and sub-grants to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites. When these loans are repaid, the loan amount and any interest is then returned to the fund and subgranted or re-loaned to other borrowers, providing an ongoing source of capital for brownfields cleanup. The supplemental grants range in backing from about $200,000 to $500,000 with an average grant award of $350,000.

There are an estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated sites in the United States. EPA's Brownfields plan targets these sites to encourage redevelopment, and help to provide the opportunity for productive community use of contaminated properties. EPA's Brownfields investments overall have leveraged in excess of $21 billion in cleanup and redevelopment backing from public and private sources and on average, $17.79 is leveraged for every E.P.A. Brownfields grant dollar spent.

The funds have enabled the support of 97,500 jobs in cleanup, construction and redevelopment.
More information on EPA's Brownfields program: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/

More information on Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund grants: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/rlflst.htm

Connect with E.P.A. Region four on Facebook: www.facebook.com/eparegion4
And on Twitter: @EPASoutheast

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