Brownfields  2005
  Grant  Fact  Sheet
           Boston, MA
EPA Brownfields Program

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, commu-
nities, and other stakeholders in economic development
to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up,
and sustainably reuse brownfields. Abrownfield 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. Addi-
tionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal
response programs through a separate mechanism.

Community Description

The City of Boston was selected to receive a
brownfields assessment grant. Mainly through foreclo-
sure, Boston (population 589,141) has acquired about
2,000 parcels of land scattered throughout the city.
Many of these parcels are brownfields. All of the
parcels slated for assessment with this grant have been
sites used for unwanted dumping. The blight and
pollution created by these sites concern the disadvan-
taged Boston neighborhoods of Roxbury, Dorchester,
and Mattapan. Boston is a federal Enterprise Commu-
nity, and portions of Dorchester and Roxbury are in a
federal Empowerment Zone. In some of the targeted
neighborhoods with predominantly minority populations,
unemployment exceeds 11 percent and poverty rates
  Assessment Grant    (20051
  $200,000 for hazardous substances
  EPA has selected the City of Boston for a
  brownfields assessment grant. The city plans to
  conduct Phase I and Phase II site assessments
  for about 150 city-owned parcels scattered in
  residential areas throughout low-income, minority
  areas, principally in Roxbury, Dorchester, and
  Mattapan.
  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 1 Brownfields Team
  617-918-1221
  http://www.epa.gov/region01/brownfields/

  Grant Recipient: City of Boston, MA
  617-635-0353

  The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
  yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
  in this fact sheet are subject to change.
exceed 27 percent. These low-income neighborhoods
will benefit from the development of affordable
housing that Boston plans for city-owned brownfields
following their assessment and cleanup.
                                                 Solid Waste and
                                                 Emergency Response
                                                 (5105T)
                        EPA560-F-05-011
                        May 2005
                        www.epa.gov/brownfields

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