Brownfields 2006 Grant Fact Sheet

Robbins, IL

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 Village of Robbins for a brownfields assessment grant. Hazardous substances grant funds will be used to conduct six Phase I and four Phase II environmental site assessments throughout the village. Grant funds also will be used to perform community outreach activities.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The Village of Robbins was selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant. Robbins (population 6,635) is a 1.5-square-mile village approximately 20 miles south of the City of Chicago. Incorporated in 1917, it is one of the earliest communities in the United States founded by and for African-Americans. In recent decades, the village has been challenged to maintain its historic standard of living and sense of community. Since 1980, the village has lost 27 percent of its population. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, more than 95 percent of the population is African-American, and 35.5 percent of residents live below the poverty level. Forty-one percent of the households in Robbins are female-headed, and 48.8 percent of these households live below the poverty level. More than half of the parcels in Robbins are either owned by the village or are tax-delinquent and vacant. Through a county tax reactivation program, the village has acquired more than 1,300 properties, many of which are brownfields sites. Assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment of the village's brownfields properties will generate jobs in the area and help the community meet its objectives of creating and expanding business opportunities, and enhancing recreational and greenspace resources in Robbins.

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: Village of Robbins, IL
708-385-8940

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