Brownfields 2003 Grant Fact Sheet

Concord, NC

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
EPA has selected the City of Concord for a brownfields assessment grant. The city will focus on high-priority sites within the economically distressed and deteriorating center of the city. Grant funds will be used to complete an inventory of brownfields within the center city target area, prioritize sites, and conduct environmental assessments on high-priority properties. Grant funds also will be used to create a community involvement forum to help set priorities for the brownfields program.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The City of Concord was selected to receive an assessment grant. The city (population 58,700) once was home to a thriving textile industry. The almost complete disappearance of this industry, combined with urban sprawl in the Charlotte metropolitan region, has left the heart of Concord scarred with many vacant and potentially contaminated buildings and properties. The city has identified more than 275 sites within the 5,500-acre center city target area. The center of the city includes the city's oldest neighborhoods and the city's highest concentrations of minorities and residents living in poverty. While the western portions of the city are prospering, the target area continues to decline. The grant will focus on assessments that will lead to redevelopment of city-owned properties and create a sustainable brownfields redevelopment program involving the city, community groups, and developers.

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 4 Brownfields Team
404-562-8661
http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/bf/

Grant Recipient: City of Concord, NC
704-920-5137

Prior to receipt of these funds in fiscal year 2003, the City of Concord has received brownfields funding for an assessment grant.

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