Brownfields 2003 Grant Fact Sheet

Rockford, IL

EPA BROWNFIELDS PROGRAM

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic development 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
$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the City of Rockford for a brownfields assessment grant. The city will use the funds to perform Phase I and Phase II site assessments at properties that are contaminated with hazardous substances and petroleum within the Barber Colman Village and the Davis Park Corridor Enterprise Zone. Rockford also will use grant funds to conduct community outreach activities and coordinate brownfields reuse planning activities at sites along the Illinois 251 Corridor.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The City of Rockford was selected to receive an assessment grant. Rockford (population 150,114) is located in north-central Illinois, approximately 90 miles northwest of Chicago. The city was home to several manufacturing giants in the years following World War II, but many of these companies shut down their plants during the last 30 years, leaving behind abandoned factories and an unemployed workforce. Most of Rockford's targeted brownfields sites are located within tax increment finance districts that were created to combat the downtown business area's economic and physical decline. Nearly 30 percent of residents living in the targeted Barber Colman Village area have incomes below the poverty level. The unemployment rate in one of the target neighborhoods is more than three times the national average. The city intends to promote sustainable reuse of existing brownfields, improve the quality of life for impacted residents, protect and restore the natural environment, and prevent the creation of future brownfields.

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 5 Brownfields Team
312-886-7576
http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields/

Grant Recipient: City of Rockford, IL
815-987-5611

Prior to receipt of these funds in fiscal year 2003, the City of Rockford has received brownfields funding for assessment and revolving loan fund grants.

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