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Brownfields 2008
Grant Fact Sheet
Chicago, IL
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 this 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. Additionally, funding support is
provided to state and tribal response programs through
a separate mechanism.
Community Description
The City of Chicago was selected to receive two
brownfields assessment grants. Located in northeast-
ern Illinois, Chicago (population 2,895,964) includes a
federally designated Empowerment Zone and Renewal
Community. In 1993, the city created the Chicago
Brownfields Initiative and has since returned more than
1,000 acres to productive use. Today, there are still at
least 1,000 acres of brownfields in the city, ranging in
size from a tenth of an acre to 50 acres. Most are
located in former industrial areas or in communities
with high rates of unemployment and poverty. The
city's unemployment rate is 6.2 percent, and 63 percent
of residents are African-American, Hispanic, or Latino.
Assessment of brownfields is expected to help create
momentum for cleanup funding and leverage invest-
ment for redevelopment.
Assessment Grants
$200,000 for hazardous substances
$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the City of Chicago for two
brownfields assessment grants. Hazardous sub-
stances grant funds will be used to conduct 10
Phase I and Phase II environmental site assess-
ments and evaluate sites for the Illinois Voluntary
Cleanup Program. Petroleum grant funds will be
used to perform the same tasks at sites with
potential petroleum contamination.
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 5 Brownfields Team
312-886-7576
http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields
Grant Recipient: City of Chicago, IL
312-744-9139
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.
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA 560-F-08-094
April 2008
www.epa.gov/brownfields
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