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  Brownfields  2006

  Grant  Fact Sheet

           Chicago,  IL


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 Chicago was selected to receive a brown-
fields assessment grant. Located in northern Illinois on
Lake Michigan, Chicago (population 2,895,964)
includes federally designated Empowerment Zones
and Renewal Communities. There are more than 1,000
brownfield sites in Chicago, many of which are
located in or near communities with high rates of
unemployment, poverty, and crime. The sites, ranging
in size from a tenth of an acre to 50 acres, are causing
millions of dollars in lost annual tax revenues. The
majority of sites targeted for assessment are located in
environmental justice areas. Approximately 26 percent
of the city's residents are Hispanic or Latino, and 37
percent are African-American. The city's average
unemployment rate is 6.2 percent. When brownfields
are assessed and eventually cleaned up, they will be
 Assessment Grant
 $200,000 for petroleum

 EPA has selected the City of Chicago for a
 brownfields assessment grant. Petroleum grant
 funds will be used to perform ten Phase I and
 three Phase II environmental site assessments,
 participate in the State of Illinois' Voluntary
 Cleanup Program assessment and cleanup
 evaluations, and provide technical review of
 reports and plans.
 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 5 Brownfields Team
 312-886-7576
 http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields/

 Grant Recipient: City of Chicago, IL
 312-744-9139

 The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
 yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
 in this fact sheet are subject to change.
used for new residential developments and open space.
Brownfields redevelopment will promote economic
growth, create jobs, improve the tax base by generating
tax revenues, decrease crime, create new open space,
and remove threats to human health.
                                                 Solid Waste and
                                                 Emergency Response
                                                 (5105T)
                         EPA 560-F-06-092
                         May 2006
                         www.epa.gov/brownfields

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