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  Brownfields  2007

  Grant  Fact Sheet

        Lehigh  Valley

            Economic

        Development

      Corporation,  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 Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corpora-
tion (LVEDC) was selected to receive a brownfields
assessment grant. LVEDC operates in Lehigh and
Northampton Counties (population 579,156), and is
targeting the Cities of Bethlehem and Easton, and the
Boroughs of Bangor, Slatington, and Emmaus (com-
bined population 118,658) for its brownfields efforts.
These communities have been negatively impacted by
the decline of numerous industries in the area, such as
 Assessment Grant
 $200,000 for hazardous substances
 EPA has selected the Lehigh Valley Economic
 Development Corporation (LVEDC) for a
 brownfields assessment grant. Hazardous sub-
 stances grant funds will be used to expand
 LVEDC's inventory of brownfield sites and to
 conduct about six Phase I and three Phase II
 environmental site assessments. Grant funds also
 will be used to implement 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 3 Brownfields Team
 215-814-3129
 http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/bfs/index.htm
 Grant Recipient: Lehigh Valley Economic Devel-
 opment Corporation, PA
 610-266-6775
 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.
the steel industry; heavy manufacturing; slate produc-
tion; and textile weaving, cutting, and dyeing. The
targeted communities generally have higher unemploy-
ment and poverty rates, and lower than average
household incomes than their respective counties.
Eventual brownfields cleanup and redevelopment will
reduce threats to human health and the environment
and is anticipated to increase employment opportuni-
ties, while expanding the tax base in the targeted
communities and surrounding areas.
                                               Solid Waste and
                                               Emergency Response
                                               (5105T)
                        EPA 560-F-07-095
                        May 2007
                        www.epa.gov/brownfields

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