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Brownfields 2005
Grant Fact Sheet
Tucson, AZ
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, President George
W. Bush 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. Addi-
tionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal
response programs through a separate mechanism.
Community Description
The City of Tucson was selected to receive two
brownfields assessment grants. Tucson (population
486,699) contains an approximately 15.6-square mile
federally designated Empowerment Zone (EZ) with
nearly 48,000 residents. When compared to the rest of
the city, the EZ has twice the concentration of minority
residents and more than twice the city's unemployment
rate. Seventy percent of households in the zone are
low-income, and the median household income is 40
percent lower than that of surrounding areas. The EZ
contains several brownfields sites, including former gas
stations, dry cleaners, auto repair facilities, abandoned
warehouses, railroad facilities and various spurs, and
vacant/abandoned inner-city structures, businesses, and
Assessment Grants (20051
$200,000 for hazardous substances
$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the City of Tucson for two
brownfields assessment grants. Grant funds will
be used to develop an inventory and prioritize
properties, conduct approximately 1,000 environ-
mental transaction screens, and perform Phase I
and II environmental site assessments at sites
throughout the city's Empowerment Zone (EZ).
Funds also will be used to track and manage the
data gathered using a geographic information
system database. Petroleum funds will be used to
perform the same tasks at sites in the EZ with
potential petroleum contamination.
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 9 Brownfields Team
415-972-3188
http://www.epa.gov/region09/waste/brown/
index.html
Grant Recipient: City of Tucson, AZ
520-791-5414
The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
in this fact sheet are subject to change.
motels. They are dispersed throughout the zone and, in
some cases, occupy large portions of otherwise
valuable land. Assessment of these sites will facilitate
the implementation of the master plans developed for
the area that include mixed-use developments,
greenspace/open space, and alternative transportation
throughout the Empowerment Zone.
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA560-F-05-131
May 2005
www.epa.gov/brownfields
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