United States
                  Environmental
                  Protection Agency
                  Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
 EPA500-F-99-019
 March 1999
 www.epa.gov/brownfields/
         PA  Brownfields Assessment
                  Demonstration  Pilot
                            Southeastern  Louisiana Regional
                                        Planning Commission, LA
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. Since 1995, EPA has funded more than 200 Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilots, at up to $200,000  each, to support creative two-year explorations and  demonstrations  of
brownfields solutions. 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

EPAhas selectedthe Southeastern LouisianaRegional
Planning Commission for a Brownfields Pilot. The
Pilot area covers more than 3,000 square miles and
encompasses nine parishes. Southeastern Louisiana
is a culturally diverse region covering 3,400 miles. It
has a population of almost 1.4 million, 1  million of
whom  live in Orleans and Jefferson  parishes.
Primarily a commercial center with a thriving tourist
industry, the region is both urban and rural. Parish
unemployment rates range from 6 percent to  11
percent; minority populations range from  12 percent
to 68 percent; and up to 32 percent of parish residents
live in  poverty. The Pilot will work through the
Regional Planning Commission (RPC), a  state
commission responsible for regional planning and
coordinating efforts.

OBJECTIVES

The Pilot plans to establish a regional brownfields
redevelopment model and create tools to help area
parishes and municipalities develop local solutions
to brownfields problems. Ultimately, these solutions
will lead to brownfields redevelopment,  new jobs,
and increased tax revenue. To accomplish this goal,
the Pilot will establish regional partnerships to help
guide brownfields planning and redevelopment, assist
 PILOT SNAPSHOT
    Southeastern Louisiana
  Regional Planning Commission
Date of Announcement:
March 1999

Amount:  $200,000

Profile: The Pilot, comprising
nine parishes in southeastern
Louisiana, will develop a
regional brownfields
redevelopment model to foster
local solutions to local
brownfields problems.
 Contacts:

 Regional Planning
 Commission
 (504) 568-6611
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 6
(214)665-6736
      Visit the EPA Region 6 Brownfields web site at:
   http://www.epa.gov/earth1r6/6sf/bfpages/sfbfhome.htm

    For further information, including specific Pilot contacts,
  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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municipalities in developing  streamlined  policies
and regulations, research and establish approaches to
gathering site data for use in a regional geographic
information system  (GIS),  and create model  site
assessments strategies.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Establishing the Southeastern Louisiana Regional
 Brownfields  Consortium  to guide  regional
 brownfields planning  and project activities.  The
 Consortium will comprise parish  representatives,
 government, businesses, and  financial institutions;

• Developing uniform criteria  for site identification
 and selection;

• Formulating a regional brownfields redevelopment
 model, which will include standardized procedures
 for Phase I and II site assessments; and

• Developing and encouraging regionally compatible
 GIS criteria.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot            Southeastern Louisiana Regional Planning Commission, Louisiana
March 1999                                                                          EPA 500-F-99-019

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