•    Brownfields  2004 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
               Racine, Wl
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. On
January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed
into law the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields
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 City of Racine was selected to receive a
brownfields assessment grant. Racine is a city of 81,855
residents along the banks of Lake Michigan.
Historically, the city's economy was centered around
the manufacturing industry. Industry shifts and plant
closings have negatively affected the city's economy.
At 12.6 percent, Racine's unemployment rate is the
highest in Wisconsin. The unemployment rate for the
city's minorities is nearly four times higher than the
unemployment rate for white residents. The homeless
rate increased by 25 percent between 1998 and 2002.
Many of the vacant and boarded-up industrial plants in
the city are in residential neighborhoods. The
abandoned brownfields have led to an increase in the
crime rate, a decrease in property values, vandalism,
and human health risks from contamination.
Brownfields redevelopment is expected to provide land
for development, remove blighted buildings, return
neighborhoods to a healthy environment, and ensure the
city's long-term vitality.
                   Assessment Grant

                   $200,000 for petroleum

                   EPA has selected the City of Racine to receive a
                   brownfields assessment grant. Grant funds will be
                   used to continue a comprehensive brownfields
                   inventory, and perform Phase I and II assessments at
                   some of the city's 300 identified brownfields. The
                   city hopes to concentrate on the sites within
                   economically distressed areas where manufacturing
                   plant closings, poverty, and unemployment levels
                   have had the greatest impact.

                   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: City of Racine, WI
                   Racine City Development Dept.
                   (262)636-9151

                   City of Racine
                   (262)636-9151

                   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-04-179
        Jun 04

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