United States
                       Environmental
                       Protection Agency
                       Washington, D.C. 20460
 Solid Waste
 and Emergency
 Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-97-038
May 1997
                       National  Brownfields
                      Assessment  Pilot
                                                             Tacoma,  WA
  Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
                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. Between 1995 and 1996, EPA funded 76 National and Regional Brownfields
Assessment Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of brownfields
solutions. EPAis funding morethan 27 Pilots in 1997. The Pilots 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 selected the City of Tacoma for a Brownfields
  Pilot.  Closing or relocating  of industrial and
  maritime activities along Tacoma's downtown Thea
  Foss Waterway has contributed to unemployment
  and poverty in the area. Unemployment is more
  than 18%,  and about 46% of the residents live
  below the poverty level. The industrial and maritime
  activities have left a legacy of contamination and
  liability that are inhibiting reuse and redevelopment
  along the waterway while suburban sprawl expands.
  The City  is specifically concerned  about the
  Waterway sites in the core of Tacoma's Enterprise
  Community where contamination could present an
  additional obstacle to economic revitalization.

  OBJECTIVES

  The Pilot is working to encourage economic growth
  and redevelopment in the City's downtown core
  by addressing environmental contamination and
  liability issues head on. Redevelopment of the
  urban waterfront will promote productive land-
  use, reduce air and water pollution associated with
  urban sprawl, and expand job opportunities in
  locations accessible to low-income populations.
  To satisfy  these objectives, Tacoma  intends to
  conduct environmental site assessments, plan for
 PILOT SNAPSHOT
  Tacoma, Washington
  Date of Award:
  March 1996

  Amount: $200,000

  Site Profile: The Pilot
  targets the 27-acre Thea
  Foss Waterway located in
  the core of Tacoma's
  Enterprise Community.
Contacts:

William Pugh
Public Works Department
Tacoma, Washington
(206)591-5525
   Lori Cohen
   U.S. EPA Region 10
   (206) 553-6523
   cohen.lori@epamail.
   epa.gov
        Visit the EPA Brownfields Website at:
        http://www.epa.gov/brownfields

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site  remediation, and  identify incentives  for
redevelopment.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Building on  existing community  involvement
activities associated with the adjacent NPL site.
The Pilot has:

• Established the Foss Waterway Development
 Authority as a separate legal entity to facilitate
 redevelopment of the Thea Foss Waterway while
 eliminating contamination, providing public access
 and preventing future blight. By Council resolutions,
 Tacoma authorized this entity with a seven member
 board comprised of leaders from the financial, real
 estate  development and resource  management
 industries; and

• Completed a draft of The Economic Analysis for
 Development of the Thea Foss Waterway.  The
 report  provides a look  at the  effects  of public
 brownfields investments under different scenarios.

The Pilot is:

• Conducting an Economic and Market Analysis Study
 to determine the economic  impacts of proposed
 developments as part of the  Programmatic
 Environmental Impact Statement, determining the
 most appropriate mix of "doable" developments
 that will attract private investment;

• Conducting  a Financing  Strategy Plan to identify
 sources of public and private capital for feasible
 uses identified in the Economic Analysis and make
 recommendations on brownfields financing tools
 (e.g., a revolving loan fund to provide low interest,
 flexible term loans for priority projects); and

• Conducting a Public/Private Partnership Strategies
 Plan to prioritize projects which are essential and to
 analyze financing and community needs in order to
 develop an  effective public/private  collaboration
 and promote incentives.

LEVERAGING OTHER ACTIVITIES

Experience with the Tacoma Pilot has been a catalyst
for related activities including the following.

• Focusing brownfields efforts and resources on sites
 within the Empowerment Zone and adjacent NPL site.
 National Brownfields Assessment Pilot
 May 1997
                           Tacoma, Washington
                             EPA 500-F-97-038

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