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                          Brownfields Cleanup
                          Revolving  Loan  Fund
                          Pilot
                          City of Santa Rosa,  CA
BACKGROUND

Santa Rosa's problems with toxic pollutants date back to
the mid-1800s when the city became an important stop on
the main rail line connecting San Francisco with Oregon
and Washington. Over the intervening years, the railroad,
lumber, and supporting industries located major industrial
facilities in the city. Changes in these industries lead to
disinvestment in many facilities located in the city. Santa
Rosa now is home to numerous former industrial sites that
are now abandoned or underused. The city's downtown
and other neighborhoods affected by brownfields have
deteriorated and  suffer  from economic distress. The
median household incomes in the affected areas are less
than half of the average median household income in the
Bay Area. In addition, affected neighborhoods are home
to ahighproportionof minority residents, primarily Hispanic.

Potential contamination remains a major stumbling block
to  attracting private developers to  numerous sites
throughout the city. The city is working to clean up and
redevelop brownfields in order to improve living conditions
and control urban sprawl in the area. In cooperation with
local businesses andcommunity-basedorganizations, Santa
Rosa has restored a number of abandoned and distressed
properties to productive commercial, residential, and public
uses.

BCRLF OBJECTIVES

The city's  goal is to clean  up and reuse vacant and
underused brownfields throughoutthecity, withafocus on
designated Redevelopment Areas. Five such areas have
been identified, including the Railroad Square district, the
Gateway Redevelopment Area, and three Redevelopment
Project Areas under the city's Redevelopment Agency.
All five areas suffer from disinvestment and deterioration
linked to actual or perceived contamination.
   PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Announcement:
May 2002

Amount: $1,000,000

BCRLF Target Area:
Food/Wine Center  in the
Railroad Square District
     City of Santa Rosa, CA
   Contacts:

     Santa Rosa Office of
    Economic Development
       (707)543-3010
 Region 9 Brownfields
    Coordinator
   (415)972-3188
       Visit the E PA Region 9 Brownfields web site at:
    http://www.epa.gov/region09/waste/brown/index.html

     Forfurther information, including specific Pilotcontacts,
   additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
   publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
            www.epa.gov/brownfields

The BCRLF Pilot initially will focus on the proposed site
for the Food/Wine Center in the historic Railroad Square
District in downtown Santa Rosa. The seven-acre site
currently is owned by Northwest Pacific Railroad and
Union Pacific Railroad. The railroad companies have
conducted extensive assessments of the site and plan to
construct a passenger terminal for new passenger rail

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services. Both the city and railroads would like to expand
the site's use to include mixed use development. The
proposed Santa Rosa Food/Wine Center would house the
Santa Rosa Junior College District's Culinary School and
provide a year-round  venue for selling fresh local farm
produce.

FUND STRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS

The City of Santa Rosa Office of Economic Development
is the cooperative agreement recipient and will serve as
the lead agency. The Santa Rosa Department of Housing
and Redevelopment will serve as the site manager. Pilot
fund manager responsibilities will be undertaken by SAFE/
BIDCO, a state agency that manages lending programs
for local governments throughout California's six  North
Coast counties. SAFE/BIDCO also is acertified nonprofit
corporation.

LEVERAGING OTHER RESOURCES

The city will leverage loan funds to the maximum extent
feasible. The city and Redevelopment Agency are donating
a significant amount  of staff resources to brownfields
revitalization. SantaRosa will pro vide in-kind contributions
to  the BCRLF Pilot.  The city will continue to use the
provisions of the state's Polanco Act to provide liability
immunity to the Redevelopment Agency and require
responsible parties to fulfill their cleanup obligations.
Use of BCRLF Pilot funds must be in accordance with CERCLA, and all
CERCLA restrictions on use of funding also apply to BCRLF funds.
                                                           Solid Waste
                                                           and Emergency
                                                           Response (5101)
EPA500-F-02-013
May 2002
www.epa.gov/brownfields/

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