Brownfields 2005 Grant Fact Sheet

Oregon Economic and Community Development Department

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 Oregon Economic and Community Development Department (OECDD) for a brownfields assessment grant. Grant funds will be used to perform Phase I and II site assessments at up to nine industrially zoned properties, prepare at least one Analysis of Brownfields Cleanup Alternatives feasibility study, and conduct community outreach activities.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The Oregon Economic and Community Development Department (OECDD) was selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant. The state has suffered from high unemployment rates, slow business growth, and a weak economy since 2001. Approximately 12.5 percent of the state's 3,541,500 residents live below the federally defined poverty level, and the state unemployment rate is 7.4 percent. The state's per capita income has been consistently below that of other states. OECDD's goal is to identify and prepare industrial sites, including brownfields, to take advantage of immediate development opportunities. Redevelopment will enable communities to build on the advantages of industrially zoned properties that are served by infrastructure and can increase local tax revenue by bringing underutilized, abandoned, or vacant properties back to taxable use. Brownfields assessment will not only quantify real or potential barriers to redevelopment, but also will foster interest in and momentum for bringing these properties closer to the communities' goals of new industrial development, sustainable family-wage jobs, and a safer, healthier environment.

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 10 Brownfields Team
206-553-2100
http://www.epa.gov/r10earth, click on "Superfund", scroll down and click on "Brownfields"

Grant Recipient: Oregon Economic and Community Development Department
503-986-0191

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