United States
                      Environmental
                      Protection Agency
                      Washington, D.C. 20460
 Solid Waste
 and Emergency
 Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-00-267
December 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
    &EPA    Brownfields Assessment
                      Demonstration  Pilot
                                                                    Laredo,  TX
 Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
                   Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields  Economic Redevelopment  Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other
stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and
sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and
an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded
up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected
by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental
field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds
to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states,
tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods
to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup,  and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND

EPA selected the City of Laredo for a Brownfields
Pilot.  Laredo is the hub of international freight
movement between the United States and the Republic
of Mexico.  The area's predominantly Hispanic
population is ranked among the poorest in the nation.
The city's industries and land uses remained virtually
unregulated until the  1980s,  resulting in many
environmental abuses that the city has had limited
knowledge of and scant resources to  effectively
address.

The city's Pilot work plan originally planned to help
investigate, cleanup, and redevelop the Paso del Indio,
a 100-acre city-owned property that lies between
downtown Laredo and the Rio Grande River.  In
February 1996, the city, with the assistance of EPA
Region 6 and  the  Texas  Natural  Resource
Conservation Commission, investigated the Paso del
Indio property. This investigation indicated that the
property was not contaminated. Based on this finding,
the city has refocused the Pilot efforts to inventory
and assess potential brownfields sites, with special
emphasis on sites along the riverfront.
PILOTSNAPSHOT
                       Date of Announcement:
                       September 1995

                       Amount: $200,000

                       Profile:  The Pilot targets
                       properties within the City of
                       Laredo, with special em phasis
                       on waterfront sites.
  Laredo, Texas
Contacts:
City of Laredo
(210)791-7441
  U.S. EPA - Region 6
  (214)665-6780
     Visit the EPA Region 6 Brownfields web site at:
  http://www.epa.gov/earth1r6/6sf/bfpages/sfbfhome.htm

   For further information, including specific Pilot contacts,
 additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
 publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
         http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/

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OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the Pilot are to help create a green
corridor between the U.S. - Mexican border on the
Rio Grande and facilitate commercial development.
The reuse of selected brownfields is expected to spur
economic redevelopment on the riverfront and increase
interest in environmental cleanup, crime prevention,
and improvement of the Rio Grande's water quality.

The  involvement and active participation of area
stakeholders, including financial institutions, downtown
businesses, hospitality and tourism operations, adjacent
residential neighborhoods, the railroads, U. S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Texas Parks and Wildlife, U.S.
Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Customs
Service,  International  Boundary and Water
Commissions,  and the Texas Natural  Resource
Conservation Commission,  will be key to
accomplishing these objectives.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS ANDACTIVITIES

The Pilot has:

• Completed an inventory of 13 properties and targeted
  10 of these.

The Pilot is:

• Conducting outreach to current property owners,
 realtors, prospective buyers, and lending institutions
 to educate them about the city's brownfields effort,
 with  the objective of expediting environmental
 revitalization;

• Conducting further public meetings to disseminate
 information and gain public input for the brownfields
 process;

• Developing a Pilot-wide  comprehensive plan for
 adaptive reuse, emphasizing employment, long-term
 environmental education, and environmental justice
 to moderate- and low-income residents; and

• Planning site history documentation, cleanup plan
 development, and categorical listings of potential
 uses and users for the Los Altos del Rio site.
LEVERAGING OTHER ACTIVITIES

Experience with the Laredo Pilot has been a catalyst
for related activities, including the following:

• EPA and the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
 Commission support the city's program by conducting
 sampling and analysis activities.
 Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot
 December 2000
                                   Laredo, Texas
                               EPA 500-F-00-267

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