Brownfields 2010 Revolving Loan Fund Grant Fact Sheet Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority, Ml 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 Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority was selected to receive a brownfields revolving loan fund grant. Wayne County (population 2,000,000) consists of 614 square miles with a largely urban landscape, including the Cities of Hamtramck and Detroit. The county is bisected by the Rouge River and bordered by the Detroit River. Abandoned industrial facilities along the riverfronts and population movement from the cities have left many older communities severely impacted by contaminated brownfields. There are more than 3,000 identified brownfields in the county, including more than 1,800 leaking underground tank sites. These sites tend to be in communities with the highest percentages of minority residents and rates of poverty. In August 2009, the unemployment rates for Wayne County, Detroit, and Hamtramck ranged from 18.2 to 27.8 percent. Brownfield cleanups conducted through the RLF grant are expected to reduce barriers to redevelopment, create job opportunities, and increase tax revenues, especially along the Detroit Riverfront. Revolving Loan Fund Grant $750,000 for hazardous substances $250,000 for petroleum EPA has selected the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority for a brownfields revolving loan fund grant. The grant will be used to capitalize a revolving loan fund from which the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority will provide loans and subgrants to support cleanup activities for sites contaminated with hazardous substances and petroleum. Grant funds will be used to establish and market the fund, plan for and oversee cleanups, and support community outreach activities. The Authority expects to award two to four loans from this RLF. 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: Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority,MI (313)331-3842 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-10-102 Apr 10 ------- |