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 Brownfields 2006

  Grant Fact Sheet

    Allegheny  County

      Redevelopment

         Authority,  PA


EPA Brownfields Program

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, commu-
nities, and other stakeholders 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 Allegheny County Redevelopment Authority was
selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant.
Until the 1970s, the economy of Allegheny County
(population 1,282,000) relied on heavy industry and
raw material and residual management operations. Its
river corridors, along the Allegheny, Monongahela,
and Ohio Rivers, were lined with steelmaking opera-
tions and other industries that relied on the rivers and
adjacent rail lines for the transportation of raw materi-
als and finished products. The demise of these indus-
tries left the county with many abandoned and
 Assessment Grant
 $200,000 for petroleum

 EPA has selected the Allegheny County Redevel-
 opment Authority for a brownfields assessment
 grant. Petroleum grant funds will be used to
 conduct up to five Phase I and II environmental
 site assessments around the county. The final
 number of assessments will depend upon the size
 and complexity of the selected sites.
 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: Allegheny County Redevelop-
 ment Authority, PA
 412-350-1080

 The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
 yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
 in this fact sheet are subject to change.
underutilized properties and declining populations and
incomes. The area's poverty rate is three times the
national average. Unemployment in communities with
significant brownfields is as high as 15 percent.
Approximately 16 percent of county residents are
minorities, and that percentage increases to more than
45 in the heavily impacted former industrial communi-
ties. Assessment and eventual cleanup of the county's
brownfields sites will help eliminate the concerns that
discourage investment in the impacted communities.
Redevelopment of the properties is expected to create
thousands of jobs that would be accessible to low- and
middle-income families in the area.
                                                Solid Waste and
                                                Emergency Response
                                                (5105T)
                        EPA 560-F-06-051
                        May 2006
                        www.epa.gov/brownfields

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