Brownfields 2001 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet Monroe, LA EPA Brownfields Initiative 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. Background EPA has selected the City of Monroe for a Brownfields Assessment Pilot. Monroe is located in Ouachita Parish in the northeast section of the state. The proposed brownfields target area is located within a federally designated Empowerment Zone which covers 20 square miles. Nearly 58 percent of the 20,000 individuals residing in the target area live at or below the poverty level, and overall 56 percent of the city are minorities. The target area is located along the Ouachita River, which used to be a heavily traveled steamboat route. With the advent of railroads and the automobile, the city grew and ultimately abandoned river travel, forcing many riverfront businesses to close. Today, the target area is littered with abandoned buildings and crumbling infrastructure, and the surrounding area experiences a high crime rate, a high drop-out rate, and chronic unemployment. Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 04/01/2001 Amount: $200,000 Profile: The Pilot targets abandoned and underused properties in a federal Empowerment Zone along the Ouachita River. Over half of the residents in the target area live in poverty. 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 6 Brownfields Team (214)665-6780 EPA Region 6 Brownfields Web site (http://www.epa.gov/region6/brownfields) Grant Recipient: City of Monroe,LA (318)329-2231 Objectives The city intends to advance Monroe's overall development potential through the Pilot by returning abandoned and underused properties to active and productive use throughout the target area. Monroe intends to use an extensive data gathering and information filtering process to identify and inventory brownfield sites. From this brownfields inventory, the city will determine which sites are best suited for redevelopment and then conduct environmental assessments at these sites. The Pilot also will create a community-based brownfields committee that will foster discussion among community members and developers, assess local needs and priorities, and keep the community involved in Pilot activities. Activities Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: • Developing a broad community-based planning United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA500-F-01-271 Apr 01 ------- process to increase awareness and solicit input from the community; • Conducting Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments to create redevelopment projects for identified brownfields sites; and • Entering into cooperative partnerships with the public and private sectors to encourage residential and commercial redevelopment in target areas. The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change. 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 Q ., . ,A/__t,. E-ironmental andEmXency EPA 50°-F-°1 ^ Protection Agency ResDonse(51oVn Apr01 Washington, DC 20450 Kesponse (bl Ob I) ------- |