Brownfields 2011  Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
               Pulaski County, AR
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

Pulaski County was selected to receive two brownfields
assessment grants. Located in the geographic center of
Arkansas, Pulaski County (population 381,904) is
comprised of eight municipalities, two Air Force bases,
and 600 square miles of unincorporated land. The
majority of brownfields in Pulaski County are
concentrated on both sides of the Arkansas River in an
industrial, economically distressed area that is home to
a high percentage of minority residents. The county
intends to focus its assessment activities on brownfields
that are located in the 17.2-square-mile Pulaski
Empowerment Zone (EZ) in Little Rock and North
Little Rock. Within the EZ, 79 percent of residents are
African-American, and the unemployment rate is nearly
17 percent. More than 37 percent of EZ residents live
below the poverty level. Assessment of brownfields in
the EZ will help identify potential threats to human
health and the environment in some of the most
disadvantaged neighborhoods in Pulaski County.
                   Assessment Grants

                   $200,000 for hazardous substances
                   $200,000 for petroleum

                   EPA has selected Pulaski County for two
                   brownfields assessment grants. Community-wide
                   hazardous substances grant funds will be used to
                   conduct seven to 10 Phase I and two to five Phase II
                   environmental site assessments. Petroleum grant
                   funds will be used to conduct five Phase I and two to
                   five Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant
                   funds also will be used to conduct cleanup planning
                   and 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 6 Brownfields Team
                   (214) 665-6780
                   EPA Region 6 Brownfields Web site
                   (http://www.epa.gov/region6/brownfields)

                   Grant Recipient: Pulaski County,AR
                   (501)340-6157

                   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-128-101
         May 11

-------