Brownfields 2010 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet Kansas City, MO 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 City of Kansas City was selected to receive a brownfields assessment coalition grant. Coalition partners for the city (population 436,402) are Jackson County and the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority. The coalition will target three major initiatives: the Green Impact Zone, Urban Agriculture, and Urban Renewal Areas. The Green Impact Zone is a 150-square-block area of Kansas City that has experienced severe economic decline. The zone contains about 185 brownfield sites, including filling stations, salvage yards, and commercial and light manufacturing facilities. About 25 percent of the properties in this zone are vacant lots, and others contain vacant structures. Nearly 20 percent of all mortgages in the zone were delinquent during the last two years. Kansas City"s unemployment rate in August 2009 was 12.2 percent. Brownfield assessments will help the city prepare for cleanups and are expected to help leverage resources for eventual site redevelopment. Assessment Grant $871,500 for hazardous substances $128,500 for petroleum EPA has selected the City of Kansas City for a brownfields assessment coalition grant. Community-wide hazardous substances grant funds will be used to conduct 14 Phase I and 13 Phase II environmental site assessments. Petroleum grant funds will be used to conduct two Phase I and three Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to support 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 7 Brownfields Team (800) 223-0425 EPA Region 7 Brownfields Web site (http://www.epa.gov/region7/cle anup/brownfields ) Grant Recipient: City of Kansas City (816)513-3002 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-10-148 April 2010 ------- |