\ Brownfields 2003 Assessment and Cleanup
Grant Fact Sheet
Rochester, NY
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 Rochester was selected to receive
assessment and cleanup grants. Rochester (population
219,773) is a federally designated Enterprise
Community Zone and Renewal Community located
near Lake Ontario in west New York State. The city
estimates that 35 to 40 percent of its 5,200
manufacturing and commercial properties can be
considered brownfields. Abandoned and underused sites
have become magnets for illegal dumping, vandalism,
and drug activity. Grant funds will be used in blighted,
low-income neighborhoods where brownfields have a
disproportionally negative impact on the community.
The poverty rate in the neighborhoods targeted for the
cleanup grants ranges from 18 percent to 28 percent.
Thirty-five percent of residents of the neighborhood
adjacent to the targeted sites live below the poverty
level. Minorities comprise 52 percent of the population
of Rochester. The city hopes that the assessment,
cleanup, and eventual redevelopment of targeted
brownfields will create jobs, attract new businesses, and
increase open space.
Assessment Grant
$200,000 for hazardous substances
$80,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the City of Rochester for a
brownfields assessment grant. The city intends to use
grant funds to conduct assessment activities at an
abandoned collision shop potentially contaminated
with hazardous substances and a former gas station
where petroleum contamination is suspected. Grant
funds will also be used to replenish and sustain the
city's Brownfields Assistance and institutional
controls programs.
Cleanup Grant
$400,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the City of Rochester for two
cleanup grants totaling $400,000. The city will use
one of the grants to clean up three former gasoline
stations and the other to clean up two
petroleum-contaminated acres on Charlotte Street in
downtown Rochester. The city hopes to convert the
gas stations into greenspace and the Charlotte Street
site into new townhouse and loft residences.
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 2 Brownfields Team
(212) 637-4309
EPA Region 2 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/region02/brownfields/)
Grant Recipient: City of Rochester, New York
(585) 428-5978
The information presented in this fact sheet comes
from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the
accuracy of this information. The cooperative
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA500-F-03-173
Jun 03
-------
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)
EPA500-F-03-173
Jun 03
------- |