Brownfields 2006 Grant Fact Sheet

Richmond, VA

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 hazardous substances
EPA has selected the City of Richmond for a brownfields assessment grant. Hazardous substances grant funds will be used to conduct community outreach activities and perform Phase I and II environmental site assessments in three of the city's more depressed communities and portions of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority's designated redevelopment, conservation and rehabilitation areas.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The City of Richmond was selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant. Richmond (population 197,790), like many other older industrial cities, has experienced decline in its once industrial and commercial centers. The city is currently experiencing a shift toward residential and mixed-use development in these older zones. The James River, once a source of power and means of transportation, has become a major focus because of the city's new waterfront redevelopment. Richmond has 16 large brownfields sites and nearly 100 smaller sites. Together these properties cover a total of 190 acres. Many of these vacant and underutilized properties are in the older sections of the city. The targeted communities (total population 114,515) in these older areas include neighborhoods where 50 percent of the households earn below 80 percent of the city's median income, 13 percent of the civilian residents are unemployed, and the poverty rate is 28 percent. Assessment and eventual cleanup of the brownfields properties will help address the environmental and health concerns related to these sites and help stem disinvestment. Richmond anticipates that the revitalization of its brownfields properties will add new housing, greenspace, and employment opportunities for area residents. The city expects the redevelopment to result in approximately $100 million in tax revenues and 1,000 new full-time jobs in the community.

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 3 Brownfields Team
215-814-3129
http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/bfs/index.htm

Grant Recipient: City of Richmond, VA
804-646-3792

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