Brownfields 2006 Grant Fact Sheet

Flagstaff, AZ

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 Flagstaff for a brownfields assessment grant. Petroleum grant funds will be used to conduct community outreach, inventory sites in the Route 66 Central Corridor, perform from 12 to 18 Phase I and four Phase II environmental site assessments, and develop a comprehensive redevelopment plan.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The City of Flagstaff was selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant. Located in north central Arizona, Flagstaff (population 61,270) was incorporated in 1928. Its economy was based on timber, railroads, and tourism. Enhancing Flagstaff as a tourist destination is the fact that it is also the gateway city to the Grand Canyon and other nature attractions. Route 66 runs through the city, and includes the Route 66 Central Corridor, the target area. This corridor contains a disproportionate number of brownfields, and is an underserved area with lower wage jobs, a lack of affordable housing, and blight. The residents of two of these neighborhoods are among the most elderly in the city, and earn about half the median household income of the city as a whole. A third area is entirely commercial/industrial with about 75 properties, 30 of which are blighted and either abandoned or underutilized. When brownfields are revitalized, they will be used for greenspace and retail services. Brownfields redevelopment will help preserve a sustainable community, provide new jobs for the city's minority and disadvantaged citizens, and create affordable housing.

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 Flagstaff, AZ
928-213-3603

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