Brownfields 2011 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
Region III-A Development and Regional Planning Commission,
North east In diana
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 Region III-A Development and Regional Planning
Commission was selected to receive a brownfields
assessment coalition grant. The Commission's coalition
partners are the Northeastern Indiana Regional
Coordinating Council and the Counties of Adams,
Allen (excluding Fort Wayne), LaGrange, Noble,
Steuben, Wells, and Whitley (combined population
303,831). Located in northeast Indiana, this area had an
economy that historically was dominated by the
agricultural sector. Manufacturing came to the area with
the advent of rail transportation in the late 1800s.
Today, the region is experiencing significant economic
distress. In the last year, the region lost approximately
7,700 jobs, including jobs in the automotive, foundry,
electronics, and housing construction industries. There
are 115 sites on the region's list of brownfields, more
than twice the previous year's total. The average
unemployment rate for the seven counties is 10.4
percent, higher than the state and national averages.
Brownfield assessments will help the Commission
identify human health risks associated with sites and
are expected to generate interest in site redevelopment
and reuse.
Assessment Grant
$588,900 for hazardous substances
$320,400 for petroleum
EPA has selected the Region III-A Development and
Regional Planning Commission for a brownfields
assessment coalition grant. Community-wide
hazardous substances grant funds will be used to
conduct 18 Phase I and 14 Phase II environmental
site assessments and develop five cleanup plans.
Petroleum grant funds will be used to conduct 14
Phase I and 10 Phase II environmental site
assessments and develop four cleanup plans. Grant
funds also will be used to inventory and prioritize
sites and support 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 5 Brownfields Team
(312)886-7576
EPA Region 5 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields)
Grant Recipient: Region III-A Development and
Regional Planning Commission,IN
260-347-4714
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-128-077
May 11
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