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 Brownfields  2005

  Grant Fact  Sheet

     Baton Rouge and

  Parish of East Baton


           Rouge, LA


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 Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton
Rouge was selected to receive  a brownfields assess-
ment grant. The city-parish is a consolidated govern-
ment that includes incorporated and unincorporated
Baton Rouge. The focus of this project is in the city
(population 227,818). As development moved to
outlying areas, the old neighborhoods within the city
limits experienced significant economic decline,
resulting in an increase of abandoned commercial and
industrial areas. These neighborhoods have the great-
est concentration of minorities,  and the highest poverty
and unemployment levels in the parish. In South Baton
                                                                  1
  Assessment Grant
  $200,000 for petroleum

  EPA has selected the City of Baton Rouge and
  Parish of East Baton Rouge for a brownfields
  assessment grant. Grant funds will be used to
  perform Phase I and II environmental site assess-
  ments, conduct community outreach, and initiate
  cleanup planning for sites with potential petroleum
  contamination in the South Baton Rouge neighbor-
  hood. A regulatory database search revealed that
  there are at least 28 properties with underground
  storage tanks.
  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 6 Brownfields Team
  214-665-6736
  http://www.epa.gov/earthlr6/6sf/bfpages/
  sfbfhome.htm

  Grant Recipient: City of Baton Rouge and Parish
  of East Baton Rouge, LA
  225-389-3144

  The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
  yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
  in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Rouge, targeted for assessment, 94 percent of resi-
dents are African-American, 43 percent are high
school dropouts, and 23.5 percent are unemployed.
Almost half of the area's residents live below the
poverty level. Assessment and eventual cleanup in this
neighborhood will improve public health and safety and
leverage funds for rebuilding and revitalizing the Old
South Baton Rouge neighborhood.
                                                Solid Waste and
                                                Emergency Response
                                                (5105T)
                        EPA 560-F-05-200
                        May 2005
                        www.epa.gov/brownfields

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