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  Brownfields  2004

  Grant Fact Sheet

    Regional Planning

         Commission,

  Southeast Louisiana



EPA Brownfields Program

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, commu-
nities, and other stakeholders in economic development
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, the President
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. Additionally, funding
support is provided to state and tribal response pro-
grams through a separate mechanism.

Community Description

The Regional Planning Commmission in Southeast
Louisiana was selected to receive a brownfields
assessment grant. St. Bernard, St. Tammany, and
Plaquemine Parishes have a total population of
285,254, of whom from 7.6 percent to 23.4 percent are
African-American. The poverty rate in these parishes
ranges from 9.7 percent to 18 percent, and the per
capita income is lower than the national average. The
three parishes are vulnerable to pollution from under-
ground storage tanks because they are located at or
below sea level, and leaks are quickly absorbed into the
underlying water table. Brownfields assessment is
                        Assessment Grant
                        $200,000 for petroleum

                        EPA has selected the Regional Planning Commis-
                        sion to receive a brownfields assessment grant.
                        Petroleum grant funds will be used to identify and
                        assess petroleum-contaminated sites and under-
                        ground storage tanks in St. Bernard, St. Tammany,
                        and Plaquemine Parishes. Grant funds will also be
                        used to perform approximately four Phase I
                        assessments in each of the three parishes, and
                        construct redevelopment 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 6 Brownfields Team
                        214-665-2180
                        http://www.epa.gov/region6/brownfields

                        Grant Recipient: Regional Planning Commission, LA
                        504-568-6630

                        The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
                        yet been negotiated; therefore, the activities
                        described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
                     expected to create jobs, remove risks to the environ-
                     ment, improve the residents' health, and allow the
                     communities to make decisions about the redevelop-
                     ment of sites.
                        Solid Waste and
                        Emergency Response
                        (5105T)
                                                                    EPA560-F-04-183
                                                                    June 2004
                                                                    www.epa.gov/brownfields

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