Brownfields 2006 Grant Fact Sheet

Emeryville, CA

EPA BROWNFIELDS PROGRAM

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders 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 petroleum
EPA has selected the City of Emeryville for a brownfields assessment grant. Grant funds will be used to conduct community outreach activities and perform Phase II environmental site assessments and other necessary studies at the AC Transit site in Emeryville.

CLEANUP GRANT

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The City of Emeryville was selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant and a brownfields cleanup grant. Emeryville (population 9,500) is a 1.2-square-mile city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. The average household income in the city is 19 percent less than the county average, and the unemployment rate is 24 percent higher. In the more distressed neighborhoods, the average income is 36 percent lower than the county average, and up to 30 percent of residents are minorities. Portions of the target area are within the city's federally designated Enterprise Zone. Although the city has been actively addressing its brownfields properties, approximately 65 scattered acres of vacant and underutilized sites still remain in the target area. The city is concentrating its brownfields efforts on providing open space and community uses, and on supporting the revival of Emeryville's major thoroughfares. Assessment and cleanup of the brownfields will allow the city to proceed with the proposed Emeryville Center for Community Life. This center will help revitalize the surrounding neighborhood by providing modern teaching, recreational, and community facilities accessible to all ages and incomes. Redevelopment plans for the Ambassador Laundry site, currently a magnet for illegal activities, include 55 housing units, 40 percent of which will be sold at affordable prices to first-time, moderate-income buyers.

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
415-972-3092
http://www.epa.gov/region09/waste/brown/index.html

Grant Recipient: City of Emeryville, CA
510-596-4356

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