Brownfields 2006 Grant Fact Sheet

Metro, Portland, OR

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 Metro for a brownfields assessment grant. Petroleum grant funds will be used to inventory and prioritize sites, and to conduct a minimum of 20 Phase I and two Phase II environmental site assessments in the smaller cities of the Portland Metro area.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

Metro was selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant. Located in northwest Oregon in the City of Portland, Metro is a regional government that has a jurisdiction encompassing 296,196 acres of land with 25 cities and three counties, the largest being the City of Portland. The Portland metropolitan area (population 1,374,500) includes portions that are Enterprise Communities and Empowerment Zones. Metro will use the assessment grant to assist smaller cities with insufficient employment and greater concentrations of minority populations. The communities chosen have poverty rates ranging from 15 to 32 percent, with substantial portions of their residents falling within 50 to 80 percent of the median income for the region. Metro hopes to provide an economic stimulus through job creation and increases in the communities' tax base, while increasing the quality of life for area residents by addressing blighted properties.

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://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/CLEANUP.NSF/sites/bf

Grant Recipient: Metro, OR
503-797-1830

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