Brownfields 2003 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
              Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, LA
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 Baton Rouge and  Parish of East Baton
Rouge were selected to receive a brownfields
assessment grant. The city is focusing its brownfields
assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment efforts on
areas defined in the city's Strategic Plan for Economic
Development. These areas include the city's downtown
and the industrial corridor dominated by the
petrochemical industry. The targeted areas are adjacent
to neighborhoods with the greatest concentrations of
minorities and highest rates of poverty and
unemployment. One predominantly minority
neighborhood has 33  percent poverty and 13 percent
unemployment rates.  The assessment of properties in
the target areas will leverage private resources for the
cleanup and reuse of brownfield sites and stimulate the
local economy.
                  Assessment Grant

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

                  EPA has selected the City of Baton Rouge and
                  Parish of East Baton Rouge for a brownfields
                  assessment grant. The city plans to assess three sites
                  contaminated by hazardous substances and three
                  sites contaminated by petroleum. Additional sites
                  contaminated by hazardous substances or petroleum
                  will be assessed as they enter a property-transfer
                  environmental management process established
                  under a new state law. Grant funds also will be used
                  to involve the community through partnerships with
                  community-based organizations.

                  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 Baton Rouge and Parish of
                  East Baton Rouge,LA
                  (225)389-3144

                  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)
EPA 500-F-03-053
        Jun 03

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