Brownfields 2006 Grant Fact Sheet

Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Gulf Coast Region, MS

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 GRANTS

$200,000 for hazardous substances
$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality for two brownfields assessment grants. Hazardous substances and petroleum grant funds will be used to identify and inventory post-Hurricane Katrina brownfields in the state's Gulf Coast Region. Funds also will be used to perform environmental site assessments, community involvement activities, and cleanup planning.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality was selected to receive two brownfields assessment grants. The targeted communities are in the state's Gulf Coast Region, in Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson Counties, and specifically the communities of Bay St. Louis, Biloxi, D'Iberville, Gautier, Gulfport, Long Beach, Pascagoula, Pass Christian, Ocean Springs, Moss Point, and Waveland (combined population 363,988). Prior to Hurricane Katrina, at least 163 sites were identified in the three counties. The scale and magnitude of long-term brownfield issues is unclear, but it is clear that brownfields have been created by Hurricane Katrina. The post-Katrina unemployment rate in these counties ranges from 17.4 percent to 24.3 percent, and the poverty rates range from 12.7 percent to 14.6 percent. When brownfields are revitalized, they will be critical to the reconstruction of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Brownfields redevelopment will help to rebuild the state's Gulf Coast Region, support the state's economy, and reduce threats to human health and the 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 4 Brownfields Team
404-562-8866
http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/bf/index.htm

Grant Recipient: Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, MS
601-961-5654

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