Brownfields 2003 Grant Fact Sheet

Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Maricopa County, AZ

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 Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community for a brownfields assessment grant. The Indian Community has identified a 200-acre abandoned landfill site as its target area. Grant funds will be used for assessment planning, site characterization and analysis, community outreach, and redevelopment planning as part of the Indian Community's Economic Redevelopment and Greenspace Creation Project.

CLEANUP GRANT

$200,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community for a brownfields cleanup grant. Grant funds will be used to conduct cleanup activities at an abandoned municipal landfill site. The site previously was mined for sand and gravel and then backfilled using solid waste from the City of Phoenix.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community was selected to receive assessment and cleanup grants. The community (6,000 tribal members) is in Maricopa County near Phoenix and covers 52,600 acres, mostly agricultural. Nearly 42 percent of the residents live below the poverty level. Unemployment is about 20 percent among the two tribes. The Indian Community has targeted an abandoned municipal landfill that for decades received waste from the Phoenix metropolitan area. Redevelopment efforts will focus on increasing economic activity and creating jobs while maintaining a balance between economic and traditional practices.

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 9 Brownfields Team
415-972-3188
http://www.epa.gov/region09/waste/brown/

Grant Recipient: Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, AZ
480-850-8000

Prior to receipt of these funds in fiscal year 2003, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community 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.