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  Brownfields  2004

  Grant  Fact  Sheet

        Richmond,  VA




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 City of Richmond was selected to receive a
brownfields assessment grant. About 114,500 of
Richmond's 197,790 residents live in the zones targeted
for assessment. Unemployment in the target areas is
about 13 percent, compared to the city-wide rate of 5
percent. The poverty rate in the target areas is 28
percent, compared to a 21.4 percent rate in the city.
These areas include older commercial and industrial
neighborhoods with many vacant and underutilized
properties. Richmond, along with other long-standing
industrial municipalities, is experiencing a shift toward
residential and mixed-use development in the older
industrial zones. The James River, which once repre-
sented a source of power and means of transportation,
                         Assessment Grant
                         $200,000 for petroleum

                         EPA has selected the City of Richmond for a
                         brownfields assessment grant. Grant funds will be
                         used to conduct community involvement, perform
                         Phase I and Phase II site assessments, and
                         conduct special studies at sites contaminated with
                         petroleum in the city's three city- and state-
                         designated Enterprise Zones, and in portions of the
                         Richmond Redevelopment and Housing
                         Authority's (RRHA) designated redevelopment,
                         conservation, and rehabilitation areas outside the
                         zones.
                         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 3 Brownfields Team
                         215-814-3129
                         http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/bfs/index.htm

                         Grant Recipient: Richmond, VA
                         804-646-3792

                         The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
                         yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
                         in this fact sheet are subject to change.
                      now is a place for riverfront residential and mixed-use
                      development. Cleanup and redevelopment of
                      brownfields in these target areas is expected to
                      enhance the city's capability to attract and support
                      new, cleaner uses for these properties. This will help
                      the city's efforts to attract investment and level the
                      playing field between the city's brownfields and the
                      greenfields in the suburban counties.
                         Solid Waste and
                         Emergency Response
                         (5105T)
                                                                        EPA560-F-04-186
                                                                        June 2004
                                                                        www.epa.gov/brownfields

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