Brownfields 2011  Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
               Energize-ECI Regional Planning District, East Central Indiana
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 Energize-ECI Regional Planning District was
selected to receive a brownfields assessment coalition
grant. The District's coalition partners are Blackford,
Delaware, Grant, and Jay Counties (combined
population 150,365), all of which are located in
east-central Indiana. Since 1999, the coalition's
four-county region has lost 15,158 jobs, primarily
related to the decline of the auto industry. Many former
manufacturing facilities have been either abandoned or
demolished, leaving behind acres of unused land in the
midst of declining neighborhoods. The region's
unemployment rate exceeds the national average by
nearly three percent, and some neighborhoods within
the coalition area have median household incomes that
are up to 40 percent lower than the national average.
Brownfield assessments will allow the coalition to
identify contaminated areas and prioritize sites
according to their potential for eventual job creation.
                   Assessment Grant

                   $358,500 for hazardous substances
                   $250,500 for petroleum

                   EPA has selected the Energize-ECI Regional
                   Planning District for a brownfields assessment
                   coalition grant. Community-wide hazardous
                   substances grant funds will be used to conduct 12
                   Phase I and eight Phase II environmental site
                   assessments. Petroleum grant funds will be used to
                   conduct 10 Phase I and six Phase II environmental
                   site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to
                   develop an inventory of brownfield sites throughout
                   the coalition area and conduct community outreach
                   and cleanup planning 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 5 Brownfields Team
                   (312)886-7576
                   EPA Region 5 Brownfields Web site
                   (http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields)

                   Grant Recipient: Energize-ECI Regional Planning
                   District,IN
                   765-254-0116 extO

                   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)
E PA 560-F-128-075
         May 11

-------