United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA500-F-97-015
May 1997
National Brownfields
Assessment Pilot
Houston, TX
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
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. Between 1995 and 1996, EPA funded 76 National and Regional Brownfields
Assessment Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of brownfields
solutions. EPAis funding morethan 27 Pilots in 1997. The Pilots 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 Houston for a Brownfields
Pilot. Houston's economic boom during the 1970s
and 1980s contributed to rapid expansion in outlying
"greenfields," pulling businesses and residents from
the city core and leaving behind a population with
relatively low skills as well as large tracts of land that
may be environmentally affected. Suspicion of
environmental problems encourages industry to locate
elsewhere, leaving few incentives for revitalization
and delaying numerous redevelopment efforts
adjacent to the core area.
OBJECTIVES
Houston's overall brownfields revitalization plans
are to increase jobs, establish a permanent
organizational infrastructure for future brownfields
redevelopment, reuse inner-city property, and bring
tax-delinquent properties back to the City's tax rolls.
Houston proposes to select a pilot brownfield
redevelopment project and evaluate its long-term
effect on the economic vitality of the inner city. The
EPA grant is being used to identify candidate sites,
conduct environmental assessments of selected sites,
coordinate and educate stakeholders, develop
educational materials, establish a land redevelopment
committee, and evaluate financial incentives for the
Pilot.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Houston, Texas
Date of Award:
March 1996
Amount: $200,000
Site Profile: The Pilot
targets eight sites in a 20-
square mile area in
Houston's inner city for
redevelopment activities.
Contacts:
Jimmie Schindewolf
Houston Department of
Public Works and
Engineering
(713)247-2200
Stan Hitt
U.S. EPA-Region 6
(214)665-6736
hitt.stan@epamail.epa.gov
Visit the EPA Brownfields Website at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields
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ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
The Pilot has:
• Established the Land Development Committee
(LDC) comprised of multiple stakeholders, including
community, local business, and environmental and
City representatives to advise the pilot project;
• Developed a set of site criteria for selecting potential
brownfields sites for targeted assessment;
• Conducted tours of potential Pilot sites and met with
community leaders regarding the identification and
selection process; and
• Established abrownfields information phone line, is
developing a local brownfields newsletter, and has
conducted several pre sentations throughout the year
to establish communication and education among
real estate, financial, technical, governmental, and
community groups.
The Pilot is:
• Collecting environmental and well water reports on
seven properties to determine which additional sites
are good candidates for redevelopment and which
require additional site characterization; and
• Focusing on four sites in the brownfields inventory;
will conduct and evaluate environmental assessments
of these sites.
LEVERAGING OTHER ACTIVITIES
Experience with the Houston Pilothas been acatalyst
for related activities including the following.
• Developing and implementing a model redevelop-
ment process, involving financial incentives, com-
munity outreach and education, targeted job oppor-
tunities, and the new Texas Voluntary Cleanup Act
to help developers and purchasers limit their liabil-
ity.
• Using the Pilot to leverage other support, including
$175 million in economic development loan
resources.
National Brownfields Assessment Pilot Houston, Texas
May 1997 EPA 500-F-97-015
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