Brownfields 2009 Assessment and Revolving Loan Fund Grant Fact Sheet Downriver Community Conference, Wayne and Monroe Counties, 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 Downriver Community Conference (DCC) was selected to receive a brownfields assessment coalition grant and a brownfields revolving loan fund grant. Coalition partners for the assessment and revolving loan fund grants are the DCC's 14 member communities (combined population 356,832). The DCC is located in southeastern Michigan near Detroit. It has been home to heavy industry, dominated by the automobile industry, for nearly a century. The continuing decline of the automobile industry has resulted in the closing of major industrial facilities and many associated automotive suppliers. These closings have left a legacy of abandoned and contaminated properties throughout the DCC communities. Over 400 brownfields have been identified by the state, and many are located near low-income residential areas with large minority populations. The unemployment rate in the DCC area is 12 percent. Assessment of brownfields is expected to reduce barriers to the cleanup and redevelopment of potentially contaminated sites. Cleanups conducted through the RLF grant are expected to help member communities put brownfields back to productive reuse. Assessment Grant $700,000 for hazardous substances $300,000 for petroleum EPA has selected the Downriver Community Conference for a brownfields assessment coalition grant. Community-wide hazardous substances and petroleum grant funds will be used to conduct 50 Phase I and 40 Phase II environmental site assessments throughout the 14 DCC member communities. Grant funds also will be used to prepare cleanup plans and support community outreach activities. Revolving Loan Fund Grant $1,000,000 for hazardous substances $500,000 for petroleum EPA has selected the Downriver Community Conference for a brownfields revolving loan fund grant. The grant will be used to capitalize a revolving loan fund from which the Downriver Community Conference will provide loans to support cleanup activities for sites contaminated with petroleum and hazardous substances. Grant funds will be used to select projects, manage the loans, and conduct cleanups. Grant funds also will be used to support community involvement 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 5 Brownfields Team (312)886-7576 EPA Region 5 Brownfields Web site (http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfiel ds) United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 560-F-09-053 May 2009 ------- Grant Recipient: Downriver Community Conference,MI (734) 362-3477 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 560-F-09-053 May 2009 ------- |