United States
                        Environmental
                        Protection Agency
                        Washington, D.C. 20460
 Solid Waste
 and Emergency
 Response (5105)
   EPA 500-F-01-320
   April 2001
   www.epa.gov/brownfields/
  &EPA
                        Supplemental
                        Assistance
                                 Rio  Grande Council of Governments, TX/NM
 Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
                    Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other
stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, and safely clean up
brownfields to promote their sustainable reuse.  Brownfields are abandoned,  idled, or under-used industrial  and
commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated  by real or perceived environmental
contamination. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years,
with additional funding provided for greenspace) to test assessment models  and facilitate coordinated assessment
and cleanup efforts at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels; and job training pilot programs (each funded up to
$200,000 over two years) to provide training for residents of communities affected by brownfields to facilitate cleanup
of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental field; and, cleanup revolving loan
fund program (each funded up to $1,000,000 over five years) to provide financial assistance for the environmental
cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide  EPA, states, tribes, municipalities,  and
communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new  methods to promote a unified
approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND

EPA has  selected the Rio Grande Council of
Governments to receive supplemental assistance for
itsBrownfieldsAssessmentDemonstrationPilot.
The Council covers six counties in western Texas
and southern New Mexico, including the City of El
Paso. The Pilot targets two of those counties: El Paso
County, Texas; andDonaAnaCounty,New Mexico.
The areas in these counties where brownfields are
concentrated have high (over75 percent) minority
populations, low incomes, and high unemployment
rates. Selection of sites forredevelopmentis driven
by a combination of environmentaljustice concerns,
economic development potential, and community
support.

The supplemental assistance will be used to target
three sites in El Paso: a three-acre former S outhern
Pacific freight terminal, the closed 144-acre Zaragosa
landfill, and a 10-acre site in central El Paso. The
freight terminal is a protected and highly visible
historic structure  within El  Paso's  federal
Empowerment Zone. The freight terminal is slated
for mixed-use redevelopment, including commercial
and governmental functions, and currently is for sale.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
 Date of Announcement:
 April 2001

 Amount: $150,000

 Profile: The Pilot targets three
 brownfields in distressed El Paso
 neighborhoods:theformer Southern
 Pacific FreightTerminal, the
 Zaragosa Landfill, and a site in
 central El Paso.
Rio Grande Council of Governments,
Texas/New Mexico
Contacts:
Rio Grande Council of
Governments
(915)533-0998
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 6
(214)665-6736
     Visit the E PA Region 6 Brownfields web site at:
 http://www.epa.gov/earth1r6/6sf/bfpages/sfbfhome.htm

   Forfurtherinformation,includingspecific Pilot contacts,
 additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
 publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
         http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/


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Two parties are interested in redeveloping the site.
The Zaragosa landfill originally was located in a
remote desert location but is now bordered on three
sides by new residential development. The landfill
owners are willing to donate 100 acres of the site for
redevelopment. The 10-acre site in central El Paso
has ahistory of heavy industrial use,includingrailroad
refueling, metals recycling, andrustproofing. Either
the landfill or the 10-acre site will be selected for
redevelopment as an animal shelter.

OBJECTIVES AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES

Supplemental assistance will be used to conduct
Phase  I  and Phase II assessments at the three
identified properties and prepare redevelopment
plans at two of the three properties. Supplemental
assistance also will be used to conduct site-specific
community involvement. These efforts will build on
community support and capacity developed during
the originalPilotproject.

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Conducting public involvement and outreach,
  includingholdingneighborhoodmeetings;

• Conducting Phase I and Phase II assessments at
  the former Southern Pacific freight terminal, the
  Zaragosa landfill, and the 10-acre site in central El
  Paso;and

• Preparing redevelopment plans for two sites (the
  freight terminal and the site selected for the animal
  shelter).

The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
 Brownfields SupplementalAssistance                                Rio Grande Council of Governments, Texas/New Mexico
 April 2001                                                                          EPA500-F-01-320

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