5 o T> Brownfields 2008 Grant Fact Sheet Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Central Kansas 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 Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) was selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant. The KDHE is targeting eight counties (combined population 154,283) in rural central Kansas for assessments. As the interstate highway system developed in the United States, traffic along the region's original single-lane highways declined. Gas stations that depended on business from cross-country travelers along U.S. Highways 56 and 281 began to feel the financial impacts of the shift to the newer Assessment Grant $200,000 for petroleum EPA has selected the Kansas Department of Health and Environment for a brownfields assess- ment grant. Petroleum grant funds will be used to inventory brownfields and conduct 16 to 20 Phase I and five to six Phase II environmental site assess- ments throughout eight rural counties in central Kansas. Grant funds also will be used to support 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 7 Brownfields Team 800-223-0425 http://www.epa.gov/region7/cleanup/brownfields Grant Recipient: Kansas Department of Health and Environment 785-296-5519 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. interstate system. As these stations closed, many rural Kansas communities were left with abandoned properties. These communities struggle to survive as populations continue to decline and the number of underused properties in downtown areas increases. The KDHE database has identified 769 underground storage tanks in the region. Brownfields assessment is expected to help the targeted counties gain infor- mation about environmental conditions at these sites, and begin planning for cleanup and redevelopment activities. Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA560-F-08-170 April 2008 www.epa.gov/brownfields ------- |