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 Brownfields  2006

  Grant  Fact  Sheet

           Mississippi

       Department of

       Environmental

   Quality,   Gulf Coast

          Region,  MS


EPA Brownfields Program

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, commu-
nities, and other stakeholders 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 Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
was selected to receive two brownfields assessment
grants. The targeted communities are in the state's
Gulf Coast Region, in Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson
Counties, and specifically the communities of Bay St.
Louis, Biloxi, D'Iberville, Gautier, Gulfport, Long
 Assessment Grants
 $200,000 for hazardous substances
 $200,000 for petroleum

 EPA has selected the Mississippi Department of
 Environmental Quality for two brownfields
 assessment grants. Hazardous substances and
 petroleum grant funds will be used to identify and
 inventory post-Hurricane Katrina brownfields in
 the state's Gulf Coast Region. Funds also will be
 used to perform environmental site assessments,
 community involvement activities, and cleanup
 planning.
 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 4 Brownfields Team
 404-562-8866
 http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/bf/index.htm

 Grant Recipient: Mississippi Department of
 Environmental Quality, MS
 601-961-5654

 The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
 yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
 in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Beach, Pascagoula, Pass Christian, Ocean Springs,
Moss Point, and Waveland (combined population
363,988). Prior to Hurricane Katrina, at least 163 sites
were identified in the three counties. The scale and
magnitude of long-term brownfield issues is unclear,
but it is clear that brownfields have been created by
Hurricane Katrina. The post-Katrina unemployment
rate in these counties ranges from 17.4 percent to 24.3
percent, and the poverty rates range from 12.7 percent
to 14.6 percent. When brownfields are revitalized, they
will be critical to the reconstruction of the Mississippi
                                              Solid Waste and
                                              Emergency Response
                                              (5105T)
                       EPA 560-F-06-077
                       May 2006
                       www.epa.gov/brownfields

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Gulf Coast. Brownfields redevelopment will help to
rebuild the state's Gulf Coast Region, support the
state's economy, and reduce threats to human health
and the environment.

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