United States
                   Environmental
                   Protection Agency
                   Washington, D.C. 20460
 Solid Waste
 and Emergency
 Response (5101)
 EPA 500-F-00-083
 May 2000
 www.epa.gov/brownfields/
  \>EPA   Brownfields Assessment
                   Demonstration  Pilot
                                                         Baton Rouge,  LA
 Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
                   Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative  is designed to empower states, communities, and other
stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and
sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and
an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded
up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected
by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental
field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds
to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states,
tribes, municipalities, and communities with  useful information and strategies as they continue  to seek new methods
to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND

EPA has  selected the City of Baton Rouge for a
Brownfields Pilot. Baton Rouge, population 399,105,
is home to an extensive petrochemical industry that
forms the backbone of the city's economy. When oil
and gas markets suffered a downturn in the 1980s,
Baton Rouge was particularly hard hit and, although
the principal petrochemical corporations survived,
many dependent small businesses failed, leaving behind
a large number of inactive commercial properties
throughout the city.  These properties are typically
located in impoverished, ethnically diverse areas,
where the minority population is approximately 89
percent and almost 52 percent of the population lives
below the poverty level. Afterbeing vacant for years,
these properties remain undeveloped due to their
perception of being crime ridden, deteriorated, and
contaminated.  Today, Baton Rouge is the fastest
growing area in the state and new commercial
properties are atapremium. Unfortunately, investors
interested in developing blighted inner-city sites are
hampered by  both real and  perceived  issues  of
contamination and potential liability.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
                   Date of Announcement:
                   May 2000

                   Amount: $200,000

                   Profile:  The Pilot targets
                   brownfields propertiesthroughout
                   Baton Rouge for assessment
                   and redevelopment.
   Baton Rouge, LA
Contacts:
City of Baton Rouge
Planning Director
(225)389-3144
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 6
(214)665-6736
    Visit the EPA Region 6 Brownfields web site at:
 http://www.epa.gov/earth1r6/6sf/bfpages/sfbfhome.htm

  For further information, including specific Pilot contacts,
 additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
 publications and links, visit  the EPA Brownfields web site at:
        http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/


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OBJECTIVES

The Pilot will work in tandem with Baton Rouge's
Comprehensive Land Use and Development Plan,
which was designed to return the city's dilapidated
industrial properties to productive use.  The goals of
that program are to protect and enhance the value and
character of existing  urban  areas,  to  promote
developmentandredevelopmentwithinthe urbanized
areas, to revitalize deteriorating neighborhoods, and
to create and maintain accessible open space and
greenbelt areas. The Pilot is consistent with the Plan
and will provide  the  resources  to  perform site
assessments, develop cleanup plans, encourage public
involvement, and develop tools to facilitate the cleanup
and redevelopment of properties.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Developing an inventory of brownfields sites and
  prioritizing them based on value to the neighborhood,
  redevelopment viability, and level of contamination;

• Performing Phase I and II assessments  on the
  priority sites;

• Preparing redevelopment plans for sites based on
  the most promising reuse scenarios;

• Establishing a Brownfields Resource Center  to
  provide comprehensive brownfields information and
  support to interested parties; and

• Holding a regularly scheduled discussion forum
  open  to all  brownfields  stakeholders  and
  interested parties to communicate information
  and resolve issues.

The cooperative agreementforthis Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
 Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot                                                Baton Rouge, LA
 May2000                                                                         EPA 500-F-00-083

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