Brownfields 2003 Grant Fact Sheet

Bayonne, NJ

EPA BROWNFIELDS PROGRAM

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic development to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site 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. On January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields Law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through four competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. Additionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism.

ASSESSMENT GRANT

$200,000 for hazardous substances
$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the City of Bayonne for a brownfields assessment grant. Grant funds will be used to perform assessments in the Route 440 Gateway Redevelopment Area, where heavy industrial and petrochemical activities have been conducted since the 1800s. Two sites will be investigated for suspected hazardous substance contamination; two will be investigated for potential petroleum contamination. Hazardous substance and petroleum grant funds also will be used for community outreach activities and smart growth planning.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The City of Bayonne was selected to receive an assessment grant. The city, located in northern New Jersey within the New York City metropolitan region, is focusing its redevelopment activities on the east side of its Route 440 Corridor and the Constable Hook industrial area in the city's East Side neighborhood. This is an area with high concentrations of brownfields and is the cornerstone of the city's comprehensive brownfields redevelopment strategy. Bayonne has a population of 61,800. Approximately 23 percent of the 3,068 residents of the East Side neighborhood target area are Hispanic. Twenty-two percent of residents are children and 17 percent are senior citizens. The city will solicit community input on conceptual plans and draft reports and will work closely with an advisory committee of neighborhood organizations, businesses, citizen activist groups, church groups, and schools. The city will hold city-wide public meetings, neighborhood meetings, write a project newsletter, maintain a city web site with project updates, and form a developer focus group to discuss potential redevelopment options.

CONTACTS

For further information, including specific grant contacts, additional grant information, brownfields news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at: www.epa.gov/brownfields.

EPA Region 2 Brownfields Team
212-637-4314
http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/brownfields/

Grant Recipient: City of Bayonne, NJ
201-339-0052

Prior to receipt of these funds in fiscal year 2003, the City of Bayonne has not received brownfields grant funding.

The cooperative agreement for this grant has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.