United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-234
April 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
vvEPA
Brownfields Cleanup
Revolving Loan Fund Pilot
Jackson County Brownfields Redevelopment
Authority, Ml
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 $250,000 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 forfuture employment in the environmental field; and, brownfields cleanup revolving
loan fund (BCRLF) programs (each funded up to $1,000,000 over five years) to provide financial assistance 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
Jackson County is an old industrial community replete
with mills along the Portage, Kalamazoo, and Grand
Rivers, and railroad industries along the route from
Detroit to Chicago. Today, Jackson County is a diverse
community that includes 19 townships, 7 villages, and
the City of Jackson. The incidence of poverty in the
county is high and close to the state average of 13%,
but within Jackson City, the poverty rate is 21%, with
a per capita income of $10,500 (1990 figures).
To combat the financial and community drain created
by abandoned industrial and commercial properties, the
County and City of Jackson have both established
Brownfields Redevelopment Authorities (BRAs) - a
product of the Michigan Brownfields Redevelopment
Financing Act (MBRFA). The BRA of Jackson County
has utilized an EPA Assessment Demonstration Pilot
grant to create an initial inventory of 100 known and/or
suspected brownfields sites, undertaken regular
community outreach activities, and assessed at least
seven sites. The pilot assessments have leveraged $110
million in new investment, helped retain 1,400 utility
jobs, and are expected to create over 20 new industrial
jobs.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Jackson County, Michigan
Contacts:
Jackson County Brownfields
Redevelopment Authority
(517)788-4455
Date of Announcement:
April 2001
Amount: $1.0 million
BCRLF Target Area:
Sites throughout the City
and County of Jackson
Region 5 Brownfields
Coordinator
(312)886-3058
Visit the EPA Region 5 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields/
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:
www.epa.gov/brownfields
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BCRLF OBJECTIVES
The goal of the Jackson County BCRLF is to clean up
and redevelop brownfields properties and create jobs by
encouraging private investment through timely and
accurate site information. The County's BCRLF will
also provide additional financial incentives through the
BRA, which may include other state and federal
resources. Proposed uses of BCRLF loans include
redevelopment of the contaminated former Michigan
Industrial Holdings, Inc. property and two former metal
recycling facilities owned by Jackson Iron & Metal.
FUND STRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS
The BRA of Jackson County is the cooperative
agreement recipient and will serve as the lead agency
and fund manager. The BRA is considering several
options for selection of a site manager.
LEVERAGING OTHER RESOURCES
Federal resources available to supplement the
BCRLF objectives include the Department of
Commerce Economic Development Administration's
Brownfields Program, and the Housing and Urban
Development Community Development Block
Grants. At the state level, the Michigan Department
of Environmental Quality offers the Brownfield
Redevelopment Site Reclamation Grant Program and
the Clean Michigan Initiatives program. The
MBRFA allows the BRAs to use tax increment
financing to repay site assessment and remediation
costs. In addition, firms and families located within
the designated tax-free Renaissance Zones are not
required to pay income taxes. Finally, the BRA of
Jackson County is planning to provide additional
resources to the BCRLF.
Use of BCRLF Pilot funds must be in accordance with
CERCLA, and all CERCLA restrictions on use of
funding also apply to BCRLF funds.
Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Pilot
April 2001
Jackson County, Ml
EPA 500-F-01-234
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