United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C. 20460 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5101) EPA500-F-97-162 October 1997 Regional Brownfields Assessment Pilot Pomona, CA Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101) 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, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. Since 1995, EPA has funded more than 120 National and Regional Brownfields Assessment Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of brownfields solutions. The Pilots 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 Region 9 has selected the City of Pomona for a Regional Brownfields Pilot. Pomonahas apopulation of 149,600 and is the fourth-largest city in Los Angeles County. The multi-cultural community is 54% Latino, 12% African American, and 8% Asian. Downtown Pomona is home to an arts colony, an antique row, a farmers market, and one of two mass transit train stations (MetroLink) located within the City. The City, once predominantly a manufacturing and industrial hub, has experienced a large decline in these industries as well as a decline in the defense industry. General Dynamics, once the City's largest private-sector employer, is now the site of one of the City's largest brownfields (200 acres). The site was built in 1952 to develop and build weapons for the U.S.Navy.Froma 1980s'peak of 10,000 employees, all site production and operations have now ceased. OBJECTIVES The Pilot's target locations include eleven Redevel- opment Project Areas and the portions of the City within the Los Angeles Revitalization Zone (LARZ), which offers various tax incentives for qualified businesses located in the zone. The LARZ program was enacted to help targeted communities recover PILOT SNAPSHOT Date of Award: September 1997 Amount: $100,000 Site Profile: The Pilot targets brownfields in eleven Redevelopment Project Areas and portions of the City within the Los Angeles Revitalization Zone. Pomona, California Contacts: Cruz Esparza Pomona Department of Economic Development (909) 620-2050 Steve Simanonok U.S. EPA-Region 9 (415)744-2358 simanonok.steve® epamail.epa.gov Visit the EPA Brownfields Website at: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields ------- from the area's Spring 1992 civil unrest by offering incentives to invest in and hire residents from these communities. The City will use Pilot funds to con- duct a detailed analysis of all vacant, underused. potentially contaminated sites in the City. The City will compile this information in a database, including information such as existing land use, prior land use, LARZ opportunities, and available financing assis- tance. The Pilot plans to make this information available to the public via the Internet. AND The Pilot will: * Assess the City's brownfields problem by perform- ing site analysis, including characterizing each site and providing cleanup recommendations; * Build on existing public/private partnerships that are specific to brownfields revitalization; * Initiate a Community Action Plan to involve and educate the community living and working in brownfields areas; • Provide brownfields assessment information to business owners, potential developers, and residents through the Regional Environmental Business Resource and Assistance Center (REBRAC), a not- for-profit economic development program of Fullerton College; and * Develop a readily accessible, on-line database system of brownfields site information. Regional Brownfields Assessment Pilot Pomona, California October 1997 EPA 500-F-97-162 ------- |