Brownfields 2004 Grant Fact Sheet

Phoenix, 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, the President 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 Phoenix for a brownfields assessment grant. Hazardous substances and petroleum funds will be used to conduct separate Phase II environmental site assessments at selected properties among the 425 potentially contaminated sites within 100 feet of the 13-mile Light Rail Corridor. Once these sites are remediated, the light rail project will bring critical public transportation benefits to the city, as well as remove environmental and health hazards to the neighboring communities.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The City of Phoenix was selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant. While Phoenix is famous for its resorts and golf courses, current and historic industrial uses have left the city with a number of brownfields, including landfills, junkyards, and many industrial facilities just beyond the banks of the Salt River near downtown. One of the fastest growing cities in the United States, Phoenix is expected to grow from a current population of 1.3 million to more than 5 million by 2025. Sprawling over 485 square miles, Phoenix's most critical need is transportation to meet this anticipated growth. Residents living within one-half mile of the light-rail project corridor are disproportionately minorities (40.2 percent), and 22.8 percent of these residents live in poverty, compared with 15.8 percent of the city as a whole. More than eight percent of residents near the light-rail project use public transportation as their primary mode, compared to 3.3 percent of the city as a whole. Phoenix is a federally designated Enterprise Community.

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: Phoenix, AZ
602-256-5669

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