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  Brownfields  2007

  Grant Fact  Sheet

      East Tennessee

  Development District


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 East Tennessee Development District (ETDD)
was selected to receive a brownfields assessment
grant. Located in the heart of Appalachia, the ETDD
serves  16 counties (combined population 1,050,543).
Three of the ETDD counties include Rural Enterprise
Communities, and part of the City of Knoxville is an
Empowerment Zone. The region depends heavily on
government facilities for employment. Over the past
several years, the downsizing of these facilities has led
to significant job losses. The median household
income is 26 percent lower than the national average.
Sixteen percent of residents in the region live below
the poverty level. There are deserted commercial
 Assessment Grant
 $200,000 for hazardous substances
 EPA has selected the East Tennessee Develop-
 ment District (ETDD) for a brownfields assess-
 ment grant. Hazardous substances grant funds
 will be used to inventory and prioritize
 brownfields sites, and conduct at least ten Phase I
 and as many Phase II environmental site assess-
 ments as possible throughout the ETDD's 16-
 county region. Grant funds also will be used to
 support community outreach activities.
 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 4 Brownfields Team
 404-562-8792
 http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/bf/index.htm

 Grant Recipient: East Tennessee Development
 District
 865-273-6003

 The information presented in this fact sheet comes
 from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the
 accuracy of this information. The cooperative
 agreement for the grant has not yet been negoti-
 ated. Therefore, activities described in this fact
 sheet are subject to change.
buildings, and vacant lots throughout the region.
Streams, rivers, and lakes are impacted by runoff from
brownfields. The ETDD plans to establish a regionally
focused program for eventual cleanup and redevelop-
ment of brownfields. This program is expected to lead
to economic growth while helping to preserve trea-
sured agricultural and forest areas.
                                                Solid Waste and
                                                Emergency Response
                                                (5105T)
                        EPA 560-F-07-044
                        May 2007
                        www.epa.gov/brownfields

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