Brownfields 2009 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
™ Upper Cumberland Development District, TN
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 Upper Cumberland Development District was
selected to receive two brownfields assessment grants.
The District consists of 14 counties in the rural Upper
Cumberland region (population 305,000) of Tennessee.
The largest employment sectors in the region historically
included manufacturing, mining, and construction. The
decline in these sectors has left the area with skeleton
buildings and abandoned and idled factories, mines, and
mills. These properties are barriers to economic growth in
the area. The number of people living below the poverty
level in the District is about 30 percent higher than the
national rate. The median household income is
significantly lower than the national median. In the past
seven years alone, the region has lost 8,000
manufacturing jobs. Brownfield assessments will clarify
the presence of contamination and address potential
threats to human health and the environment posed by
sites. Assessments will help the region move forward with
cleanup and redevelopment plans that are expected to
catalyze revitalization.
Assessment Grants
$200,000 for hazardous substances
$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the Upper Cumberland
Development District for two brownfields
assessment grants. Community-wide hazardous
substances grant funds will be used to inventory
and prioritize sites and conduct at least 20 Phase I
and 5 Phase II environmental site assessments.
Grant funds also will be used for community
outreach activities. Petroleum grant funds will be
used to perform the same tasks at sites with
potential petroleum contamination.
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 4 Brownfields Team
(404) 562-8792
EPA Region 4 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/region4/was te/bf)
Grant Recipient: Upper Cumberland Development
District,™
(931)432-4111
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-09-252
May 2009
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