Brownfields  2009 Assessment  Grant Fact  Sheet
               Baltimore Development Corporation,  MD
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 Baltimore Development Corporation was selected to
receive two brownfields assessment grants. Baltimore
(population 631,366) was  an important center for industry
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Industrial sites
were located in densely populated residential
neighborhoods that were a source of workers for the
nearby factories. The decline of the city's industrial base
has left Baltimore with large tracts of shuttered,
abandoned, and underused properties in the center of
residential neighborhoods. More than 1,000 potential
brownfield sites that occupy over 2,400 acres have been
identified in the city. These sites contribute to community
disinvestment. From 2000 to 2006, while the state's
population grew by six percent, the city's population
declined by three percent.  The city's unemployment rate
is nearly 11 percent, and 21.5 percent of residents live
below the poverty level. Seventy percent of city residents
are minorities. Brownfield assessments will help the  city
identify contaminated areas and determine appropriate
site reuse.
                     Assessment Grants

                     $200,000 for hazardous substances
                     $200,000 for petroleum

                     EPA has selected the Baltimore Development
                     Corporation for two brownfields assessment
                     grants. Community-wide hazardous substances
                     and petroleum grant funds will be used to conduct
                     Phase I and Phase II environmental site
                     assessments, prepare cleanup plans, and 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 3 Brownfields Team
                     (215)814-3129
                     EPA Region 3 Brownfields Web site
                     (http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/bf -Ir)

                     Grant Recipient: Baltimore Development
                     Corporation,MD
                     (410) 837-9310 ext 317

                     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-09-118
      May 2009

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