Brownfields  2010 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
               Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency, TN
EPA Brownfields Program

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states.
communities, and other stakeholders to work together to
prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse
brownfields. A brownfield 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. In
2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act was passed to help
states and communities around the country cleanup and
revitalize brownfields sites. 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 Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning
Agency (RPA) was selected to receive a brownfields
assessment coalition grant. The RPA"s coalition
partners are Hamilton County, the City of Chattanooga,
and the Southeast Tennessee Development District. The
coalition represents 10 counties (combined population
609,262) in southeast Tennessee. The region has a rich
industrial past characterized by textile mills and
manufacturing and commercial operations scattered
throughout urban core communities. During the past
four decades, economic decline has left the region with
abandoned and potentially contaminated industrial sites.
A preliminary inventory of sites has identified 293
brownfields in the RPA area. Several of the sites are
adjacent to or near the Tennessee and Hiwassee Rivers
and Chattanooga Creek, potentially affecting regional
water quality. The unemployment rate in five of the 10
regional counties is about 14 percent. The poverty rates
in eight of the 10 counties range from 15 to 27 percent.
Brownfield assessments are expected to facilitate site
cleanup and encourage reuse.
                   Assessment Grant

                   $250,000 for petroleum

                   EPA has selected the Chattanooga-Hamilton County
                   Regional Planning Agency for a brownfields
                   assessment coalition grant. Community-wide
                   petroleum grant funds will be used to conduct seven
                   Phase I and three Phase II environmental site
                   assessments. Grant funds also will be used to
                   inventory sites, develop cleanup plans, and conduct
                   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
                   (http://www.epa.gov/brownfields).

                   EPA Region 4 Brownfields Team
                   (404) 562-8792
                   EPA Region 4 Brownfields Web site
                   (http: //www. epa.gov/region4/waste/bf)

                   Grant Recipient: Chattanooga-Hamilton County
                   Regional Planning Agency,TN
                   423-757-5216

                   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 negotiated.
                   Therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are
                   subject to change.
  United States
  Environmental
  Protection Agency
  Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA560-F-10-192
        Apr 10

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