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  Brownfields  2008

  Grant Fact  Sheet

     Indiana 15 Regional

  Planning Commission,

       Southern Indiana


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 Indiana 15 Regional Planning Commission was
selected to receive two brownfields assessment grants.
The Commission will target Crawford, Dubois, Orange,
Perry, Pike, and Spencer Counties (combined popula-
tion 124,302) in southern Indiana for its brownfields
efforts. The area was first settled over 200 years ago
and has relied on industries such as coal mining, oil
extraction, and wood furniture manufacturing to
support its economy. However, since the 1960s, these
industries have significantly declined, leaving behind
numerous abandoned mine lands and oil fields. In
 Assessment Grants
 $200,000 for hazardous substances
 $200,000 for petroleum

 EPA has selected the Indiana 15 Regional Planning
 Commission for two brownfields assessment
 grants. Hazardous substances grant funds will be
 used to develop a site inventory and conduct 10
 Phase I and six Phase II environmental site
 assessments. Grant funds also will be used to
 support community outreach activities. 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: Indiana 15 Regional Planning
 Commission
 812-367-8455

 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.
addition, there has been a significant loss of wood
manufacturers, which has resulted in high unemploy-
ment rates. Orange County has the second highest
unemployment rate in the state at 7.2 percent, and 14.2
percent of Crawford County residents live below the
poverty level. Brownfields assessments will allow the
community to prioritize sites and are expected to help
expedite redevelopment.
                                                Solid Waste and
                                                Emergency Response
                                                (5105T)
                        EPA 560-F-08-099
                        April 2008
                        www.epa.gov/brownfields

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