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  Brownfields  2006

  Grant  Fact  Sheet

         Columbia,  SC


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 City of Columbia was selected to receive two
brownfields assessment grants. Columbia (population
116,278) is the state capital and largest city in South
Carolina. In recent years, sections of the city with high
concentrations of historic buildings have experienced
a renaissance. However, this revitalization has not
reached the disadvantaged Empowerment Zone
communities or the East Central City and Eau Claire/
North Columbia communities. In these neighborhoods,
minority populations make up more than 80 percent of
residents as compared to 51 percent and 25 percent for
the city and state, respectively. Approximately 35
percent of target-area families live below the poverty
level, and the unemployment rate is twice the national
average. These neighborhoods are home to priority
brownfields sites, including an abandoned airplane
 Assessment  Grants
 $200,000 for hazardous substances
 $200,000 for petroleum

 EPA has selected the City of Columbia for two
 brownfields assessment grants. Hazardous
 substances grant funds will be used to conduct
 public involvement activities, inventory sites,
 perform environmental site assessments, monitor
 the health of citizens near selected sites, and
 develop cleanup and redevelopment plans for
 affected neighborhoods, focusing primarily on
 the city's Empowerment Zone. Petroleum grant
 funds will be used to perform the same tasks at
 sites with potential petroleum contamination,
 especially in the East Central City and Eau
 Claire/North Columbia communities.
 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: City of Columbia, SC
 803-545-3041

 The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
 yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
 in this fact sheet are subject to change.
hangar, former brass plating and laundry facilities,
blighted former service stations, vacant lots, and
boarded-up homes. These numerous brownfields,
scattered throughout the neighborhoods and lining
major arteries, have discouraged new investment and
business expansion in the area. Assessment and
eventual cleanup of the brownfields properties are
expected to help remove such impediments, create jobs
                                                  Solid Waste and
                                                  Emergency Response
                                                  (5105T)
                         EPA 560-F-06-086
                         May 2006
                         www.epa.gov/brownfields

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and opportunities for local residents, provide much
needed services to the neighborhoods, and spur
additional economic development in the surrounding
communities.

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