United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C. 20460 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5101) EPA 500-F-00-044 April 2000 www.epa.gov/brownfields/ v>EPA Brownfields Supplemental Assistance Salt Lake City, UT Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105) 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. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs 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 awarded Salt Lake City supplemental assistance for its Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot and additional funding for assessments at brownfields properties to be used for greenspace purposes. The focus of the Pilot is SaltLakeCity's 65 0-acre Gateway District (population 620) on the western edge of downtown. This part of the city has been adversely impacted by more than 100 years of transportation activity. Rail lines and rail yards, an interstate highway withfourfly-overoff-ramps,andalack of infrastructure investment have created a neighborhood of shifting land uses and abandonment. A majority of residents in the area are low-income andun- or underemployed, and economic investment is limitedby environmental concerns. Supplemental funding is needed to allow the city to conduct the needed environmental assessments on a number of properties in the south half of the district, where revitalization activities are just beginning. Assessment of these properties could overcome uncertainty abouttheir environmental conditions and facilitate the necessary investment to revitalize the area. PILOT SNAPSHOT Salt Lake City, Utah Date of Announcement: March 2000 Amount: $150,000 Greenspace: $50,000 Profile: The Pilot will target specific properties in the south half of the Gateway District that have the greatest immediate potential for cleanup and redevelopment. Contacts: Salt Lake City Regional Brownfields Team (801)535-7240 U.S. EPA - Region 8 303-312-6803 Visit the EPA Region 8 Brownfields Website at: http://www.epa.gov/region08/cross/brown/brownf.html Forfutther information, including specific Pilotcontacts, additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ ------- OBJECTIVES AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES Salt Lake City's overall goal is to support an accelerated redevelopment of the Gateway area to allow for enhancement of downtown mixed-use development with the associated creation of new employment and commercial opportunity, as well as additional downtown housing units. Because most of the private investment in the Gateway District to date has been in the northern half, the supplemental Pilot targets properties in the southern half that have the greatest immediate potential for cleanup and redevelopment. Several sites have already been identified as likely to be targeted by the Pilot. The Pilot will conduct environmental assessments at the selected properties and will workwithproperty owners on appropriate cleanup options. The Pilot will use the greenspace funding to support Salt Lake City's "Open Space Plan," which calls for bringing City Creek above ground in the Gateway District and restoring its surface connection with the Jordan River; the creek had been channeled to an underground conduit around the turn of the twentieth century. The greenway to be provided by this proj ect will help to link downtown with the regional Jordan River Parkway and reconnect the westside neighborhoods with downtown. The project's environmental cleanup, landscaping, recreational opportunities, andaquaticrestorationwill improve the image and habitability of the area and will make the surroundingproperties—including brownfields sites— more desirable for both residential and commercial uses. In addition, significant community involvement is planned with the support of the National Park Service Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program. To accomplish these objectives, the Pilot plans to: • Conduct environmental assessments on a number of properties in the south half of the Gateway District that have immediate cleanup and redevelopment potential; • Develop cleanup cost estimates and plans for assessed properties; Conduct environmental assessments for the greenspace City Creek project, including soil and groundwater sampling to evaluate the suitability of environmental conditions for the proposed riparian and recreational uses; Involve the Gateway and Poplar Grove communities in designing and planning the greenspace project, including meeting with the local community councils, meeting one-on-one with property owners and tenants along the right-of-way, and providing an opportunity for community input on the project; and Conduct a study to determine measures of success. The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change. Brownfields Supplemental Assistance April 2000 Salt Lake City, Utah EPA 500-F-00-044 ------- |