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Brownfields 2006
Grant Fact Sheet
Marianas Public
Lands Authority,
Northern Mariana
Islands
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 Marianas Public Lands Authority (MPLA) was
selected to receive two brownfields assessment grants.
The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
(CNMI) consists of 14 islands with a total land area of
183.5 square miles. Its largest island, Saipan, lies
3,300 miles west of Honolulu, Hawaii. Since becom-
ing a commonwealth of the U.S. in 1976, the CNMI
(population 69,221) experienced a population boom.
Today, more than 56 percent of CNMI residents are
Assessment Grants
$350,000 for hazardous substances
$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the Marianas Public Lands
Authority for two brownfields assessment grants.
Hazardous substances grant funds will be used to
perform Phase I and Phase II environmental site
assessments, conduct community outreach
activities in the respective languages of the
ethnically diverse population of the islands, and
develop cleanup plans for the 153-acre Marpi
Village Homestead site. Petroleum grant funds
will be used to perform ten Phase I and two Phase
II environmental site assessments, conduct
community outreach activities in the respective
languages of the ethnically diverse population of
the islands, and inventory brownfields sites with
potential petroleum contamination around the
Mariana Islands.
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 9 Brownfields Team
415-972-3092
http://www.epa.gov/region09/waste/brown/
index.html
Grant Recipient: Marianas Public Lands Authority,
MP
670-234-3751
The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
in this fact sheet are subject to change.
non-U.S. citizens. The per capita income is $9,151, and
46 percent of residents live below the poverty level. The
unemployment rate is nearly 16 percent. The MPLA
identified 15 potential brownfields sites under its
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA560-F-06-192
May 2006
www.epa.gov/brownfields
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control, ten of which are petroleum sites. A 2003
survey of the Marpi Village Homestead brownfield site
indicates that unexploded ordnance is scattered across
the 153-acre site. Assessment and eventual cleanup of
the islands' brownfields properties will help protect
groundwater, a highly valuable and limited resource on
the islands, and open up attractive opportunities for
investment and redevelopment. New businesses on
these sites are expected to create jobs and increase the
tax base. Assessment and eventual cleanup of the
currently underutilized Marpi Village Homestead site
will allow the islands to proceed with plans to grant
lands to over 500 indigenous individuals and families
for the construction of new homes.
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