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VTV Rock Island, IL
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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
January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed
into law the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields
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 Rock Island was selected to receive two
brownfields assessment grants. Rock Island (population
39,684) is located in western Illinois along the
Mississippi River. The city has identified 48
brownfields ranging from small city lots to large
industrial complexes. Twenty-two of these are
petroleum sites. More than 70 percent of the
brownfields sites are in two census tracts that represent
the city's oldest and poorest neighborhoods. The
poverty rates in these tracts are 23.6 and 38 percent, as
compared to 10.7 percent statewide. Over 70 percent of
the residents in these two census tracts are minorities,
and the median household incomes are 37 and 51
percent of the state's median income. Assessment and
eventual cleanup of the sites will eliminate
neighborhood blight and help protect the environment,
including the Mississippi River, a source of drinking
water for the city. The city will offer tax incentives to
brownfields developers and has re-zoned several
abandoned industrial areas, especially along the
riverfront. Redevelopment will attract private
investment, create jobs, increase tax revenues, and add
greenspace to Rock Island.
Grant Fact Sheet
Assessment Grants
$100,000 for hazardous substances
$100,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the City of Rock Island for two
brownfields assessment grants. Hazardous
substances and petroleum grant funds will be used to
conduct community outreach activities, perform
Phase I and II environmental site assessments on
properties identified in the city's brownfields
database, and develop cleanup plans for sites within
the city.
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/R5 Brownfields)
Grant Recipient: City of Rock Island,IL
(309) 732-2920
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	c
Environmental	anri Fmpflpn™	EPA 560-F-06-097
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Protection Agency	Response (5105T)	MaV06
Washington, DC 20450	^ v '

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