United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response(5105)
EPA 500-F-00-224
October 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
oEPA Brownfields Showcase
Community
Houston, TX
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
Brownfields are abandoned, idled or underused industrial and commercial properties where expansion or redevelopment is
complicated by real or perceived contamination. In May 1997, Vice President Gore announced a Brownfields National Partnership
to bring together the resources of more than 15 federal agencies to address local cleanup and reuse issues in a more coordinated
manner. In 1998, this multi-agency partnership designated 16 "Brownfields Showcase Communities"models demonstrating
the benefits of collaborative activity on brownfields. In October 2000, the partnership selected 12 additional "Brownfields
Showcase Communities" to continue the success of the initiative. The Brownfields Showcase Communities are distributed
across the country and vary by size, resources, and community type. A wide range of support will be leveraged, depending on
the particular needs of each Showcase Community.
BACKGROUND
The Brownfields National Partnership has selected
Houston, Texas, as a Brownfields Showcase Com-
munity. The city's Brownfields Redevelopment
Program drives the cleanup and redevelopment of
sites that create opportunities for the development of
new commercial buildings, multifamily residences,
and greenspace and recreational uses within the 932
acres of targeted brownfields sites. The city has a
20-square-mile federally designated Enhanced
Enterprise Community (EEC), three state Enterprise
Zones, and 22 Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones.
Approximately 19
percent of the city's
nearly 4.5 million
people live below the
poverty line, with
more than 42 percent
of the population in
the EEC (102,000)
living in poverty.
which became brownfields. Real and perceived
contamination at these sites, combined with
Houston's lack of zoning, provided little incentive for
developers to consider brownfields sites as redevelop-
ment options. Improvement in the economy, imple-
mentation of the state voluntary cleanup program,
establishment of risk-based cleanup regulations, and
the work being conducted through the Brownfields
Redevelopment Program, however, are helping to
alleviate this problem and create successful redevel-
opment opportunities.
Community Profile
Houston, Texas
Although Houston is
known as the "Energy
Capital of the World," the bust of the oil industry in
the mid-1980s put hundreds of local companies out
of business and closed numerous plants, many of
CURRENT ACTIVITIES
AND ACHIEVEMENTS
To date, there are 19 sites
in Houston's Brownfields
Redevelopment Program.
Of these sites, four have
been redeveloped and
redevelopment is under-
way at another seven. The
Brownfields Redevelop-
ment Program addresses brownfields from all angles;
since the inception of the program in 1996, commu-
nity participation remains high, technical and finan-
Houston's Brownfields
Redevelopment Program seeks to
refocus development interest and
opportunities toward the city's
brownfields to deal with its legacy of
sprawl. The Showcase Community
designation will provide even
greater access to the technical and
professional resources that can
assist with the city's revitalization.
-------
cial help has been leveraged from state and federal
agencies, and many partnerships have been forged.
Through the Brownfields Redevelopment Program,
Houston has:
Helped to leverage more than $520 million of
private sector investment and more than $14.9
million in public sector financing ($4.4 million
from federal sources and $10.5 from the city),
and matched brownfields property owners and
developers up with additional sources of
funding for cleanup and redevelopment;
Created 2,700 new full-time jobs at the 557
acres of brownfields where redevelopment is
ongoing or completed;
Maintained strong community relations by
working with the mayor to hold annual
brownfields workshops for property owners and
regular press conferences at project-specific
milestones; and
Created and maintained an interactive Web site
that facilitates communication between the
Brownfields Redevelopment Program, state,
EPA, program applicants, property owners,
developers, and community.
Houston has formed partnerships with federal, state,
and local entities to address brownfields issues.
Partnerships include:
EPA, which awarded the Houston a Brownfields
Assessment Demonstration Pilot and the
Houston Community College System with a Job
Training Pilot;
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development, which has designated Houston as
an EEC and approved a $3.8 million construction
and permanent financing grant to a brownfields
site in the Brownfields Redevelopment Program;
U.S. Department of Transportation, which has
provided the city's Public Works and
Engineering Department with a $30 million grant
to develop hiking and biking trails on abandoned
railroad right-of-ways;
U.S. Department of Commerce, which has
provided Houston with a $3.8 million Economic
Development Administration grant to stimulate
economic development and job creation in the
city's Second Ward;
U.S. Department of Energy staff, who selected
Houston to team up with Argonne National
Laboratory to develop software that helps
developers match up with available brownfields
sites; and
U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, Texas Natural Resource Conservation
Commission, EPA Region 6, and a private Web
designer to develop an interactive Web site.
SHOWCASE COMMUNITY OBJECTIVES AND
PLANNED ACTIVITIES
Houston plans to use the Showcase Community
designation to expand the work already being
conducted in the Brownfields Redevelopment
Program. Designation will allow the city direct
access to additional resources in the National
Brownfields Showcase Communities
October 2000
Houston, Texas
EPA 500-F-00-224
-------
Brownfields Partnership that can provide a broad
range of technical and professional expertise. Since
Houston's charter prohibits the use of public funds to
enhance private property, the city will use this
designation to leverage additional resources. The
goals of the city's Brownfields Redevelopment
Program will be greatly enhanced by being desig-
nated a Showcase Community. These goals include
leveraging resources from specific federal agencies
for the continued development of the hiking and
biking trail, identifying brownfields with high reuse
potential, educating nonprofit organizations and local
developers about available funding and application
procedures, facilitating stakeholder communication,
sharing technologies, and expediting permitting
processes. The Brownfields Redevelopment Program
is held up as a model program, and with Showcase
Community designation, its success can be replicated
on a national scale.
Contacts
City of Houston, City Hall
(713)437-6552
U.S. EPA-Region 6
(214)665-6736
For more information on the Brownfields Showcase
Communities, visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/showcase.htm.
Brownfields Showcase Communities
October 2000
Houston, Texas
EPA 500-F-00-224
------- |