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.
$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government for a
brownfields assessment grant. Petroleum grant funds will be used to conduct six
to eight Phase I, and three to five Phase II environmental site assessments.
Funds also will be used for community outreach and involvement activities.
$1,000,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government for a
brownfields revolving loan fund grant. The grant will be used to capitalize a
revolving loan fund from which the Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government
will provide loans and subgrants to support cleanup activities for sites
contaminated with hazardous substances, especially in the Park Hill Industrial
Corridor. Grant funds also will be used to conduct community outreach and
marketing activities.
The Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government was selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant and a brownfields revolving loan fund grant. Located in northwestern Kentucky, Louisville (population 556,429) includes the Park Hill Industrial Corridor, an older 2,100-acre manufacturing center in West Louisville. This area has experienced a decline in population as a result of economic restructuring and plant closures. The unemployment rate in the corridor is 16 percent. More than 80 percent of the area's residents are African-American, and 47.6 percent live below the poverty level. The industrial corridor contains abandoned, vacant, or underused brownfield sites. The threat of contamination, whether perceived or real, stifles redevelopment of the area. Assessment of brownfields will promote eventual cleanup and redevelopment, and stimulate private investment in the Park Hill Industrial Corridor. Redevelopment of these sites will help reverse the negative perceptions of the corridor, stimulate employment opportunities, and increase property values and local revenues in the area.
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
404-562-8792
http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/bf/index.htm
Grant Recipient: Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government, KY
502-574-4140
The information presented in this fact sheet comes from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. The cooperative agreement for the grant has not yet been negotiated. Therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.