A \ Brownfields 2009 Assessment Grant
&Z] Fact Sheet
Tulare Redevelopment Agency, CA
RECOUERY.GOV
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
February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into
law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The
Recovery Act is an unprecedented effort to jumpstart our
economy, and create or save millions of jobs. This law
provided stimulus funds to the Brownfields Program to
award grants to evaluate and clean up former industrial
and commercial sites. Under this law, EPA will provide
financial assistance to eligible applicants through four
competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving
loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants.
Community Description
The Tulare Redevelopment Agency was selected to
receive two brownfields assessment grants. The City of
Tulare (population 52,000) is located in the central San
Joaquin Valley along Highway 99. It is in the midst of an
ethnically diverse valley with a large Hispanic
population. The surrounding Tulare County is a
low-income, rural community with a 10.6 percent
unemployment rate. The county's agricultural output
ranks second in the nation, and about a third of the city's
workforce is employed in farming or other agricultural
services. Currently, the Agency's brownfields list contains
20 sites encompassing more than 35 acres in and adjacent
to the city's downtown corridor. About 45 percent of these
sites are suspected to have petroleum contamination, and
25 percent are suspected to contain hazardous substances.
Many of them are vacant, blighted, and underused.
Assessment of brownfields will provide the Agency with
the tools to evaluate the properties and facilitate plans to
address environmental conditions.
Assessment Grant
$200,000 for hazardous substances
(Recovery Act Funding)
$200,000 for petroleum (Recovery Act
Funding)
EPA has selected the Tulare Redevelopment
Agency for two brownfields assessment grants.
Community-wide grant funds will be used to
conduct 10 Phase I and 5 Phase II environmental
site assessments for hazardous substances and
petroleum contamination. Grant funds also will be
used to identify sites, prepare cleanup plans, and
monitor and enforce institutional controls.
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 9 Brownfields Team
(415) 972-3091
EPA Region 9 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/region9/bro wnfields)
Grant Recipient: Tulare Redevelopment
Agency,CA
(559) 684-4254
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-09-143
May 2009
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