United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-00-057
April 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
4»EPA BrownfieldsSupplemental
Assistance
Ypsilanti, Ml
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other
stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and
sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and
an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded
up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected
by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental
field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds
to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states,
tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods
to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND
EPA awarded the City of Ypsilanti supplemental
assistance for its Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot. Ypsilanti is a historic urban
community with a population of nearly 25,000, located
20 minutes west of the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
The city is constrained by various economic factors,
which have created a need for brownfields
redevelopment. For example, the city is only four
square miles, more than 30 percent of the land is tax
exempt, and the city has an 18 percent poverty rate
which is three times the county rate. Based on
demographic characteristics such as these, Ypsilanti
has been designated as a disadvantaged community
by the Michigan State Housing Development
Authority.
It is estimated that between 30 and 35 brownfields
exist in the city, most of which are located in eight
redevelopment target areas established under the
city's master planning process. These areas were
selected based on existing and historic land use
patterns, the extent of underused properties and
structures, limited economic viability, and the presence
of real or perceived environmental contamination.
Potential areas of expansion for the supplemental
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Ypsilanti, Michigan
Date of Announcement:
March 2000
Amount: $150,000
Profile: The Pilot will
inventory, target, and assess
brownfields throughout the
city withafocuson properties
within Ypsilanti's eight
redevelopmenttargetareas.
Contacts:
Community and Economic
Development Department
City of Ypsilanti
(734)483-9646
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 5
(312)886-1960
Visit the EPA Region 5 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields/
Forfutther information, including specific Pilotcontacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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assistance include the Water Street Redevelopment
area, a former city landfill, a former dry cleaning
operation, and additional sites throughout the city.
OBJECTIVES AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES
Ypsilanti's objective is to spur community-wide
economicinvestmentandrevitalization. Brownfields
redevelopment in the city' s targeted areas will provide
the city with the opportunity to revitalize a community
facing the struggles of urban disinvestment and an
inability to expand its boundaries. The supplemental
assistance will help the city identify and prioritize
brownfields throughout the city and provide funds for
environmental assessments at several priority
properties. These assessments will allow the city to
determine what types of cleanup and redevelopment
barriers must be removed with the aid of other city
and state incentives for brownfields redevelopment.
To accomplish these objectives, the Pilot plans to:
• Identify brownfields within the city, create a
Geographic Information System (GIS) inventory,
and select five to six high-priority brownfields for
further investigation;
• Conduct Phase I environmental assessments at the
five to six targeted brownfields;
• Conduct Phase n environmental assessments as
needed at the targeted properties and prepare
assessment reports to describe the type and extent
of cleanup needed and to determine potential reuses
for each property;
• Prepare risk assessment plans for each property
undergoing a Phase II assessment; and
• Conduct multifaceted community outreach to ensure
that the community is involved throughout the
identification, inventory, prioritization, and
assessment process.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Brownfields Supplemental Assistance Ypsilanti, Michigan
April 2000 EPA 500-F-00-057
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