s OA Brownfields 1998 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet
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/ Brownsville, 7X
EPA Brownfields Initiative
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.
Background
EPA has selected the City of Brownsville for a
Brownfields Pilot. Brownsville (population 15,000) is the
second-poorest city in Texas and one of the poorest in the
nation. The City has been identified as one of the 25
worst places in the nation for children to live. In 1990,
67% of all families in Brownsville reported incomes
below the poverty level. In addition, 11.5% of the
population is unemployed, and between 2,000 and 3,000
people are homeless. Brownfields in the City have
resulted in the loss of potential tax revenues and job
opportunities along with the ongoing concern of potential
environmental health risks.
The Buena Vida neighborhood is one of the most
distressed areas in the City. A majority (66.7%) of the
8,000 residents live in poverty. The neighborhood has
been designated by the State as an Enterprise
Community and by the City as a Neighborhood
Redevelopment Area. This area served as one of the first
business centers in Brownsville. A major part of the area
is being redeveloped with construction of a Federal
courthouse facility. The City hopes to use the momentum
of this project and the Pilot to address other brownfields
in the neighborhood, especially a rail-switching yard.
The rail yard is in close proximity to several schools, a
zoo, parks, and the downtown business district and poses
possible contamination risks to the neighborhood and the
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 07/01/1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets brownfields in the Buena
Vida neighborhood, a State-designated Enterprise
Community and a City-designated Neighborhood
Redevelopment Area.
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 6 Brownfields Team
(214) 665-6780
EPA Region 6 Brownfields Web site
(http ://www .epa.gov/region6/brownfields)
Grant Recipient: Brownsville, TX
(956)548-6150
Objectives
Through the Pilot and other community-based City
efforts to revitalize the Buena Vida neighborhood, the
City hopes to promote economic opportunity,
self-sufficiency, and sustainable community
development. The City is working on other programs
with the community, such as improving infrastructure
and providing one-stop social services, to address the
priority problems of substance abuse, high
unemployment, limited health care, homelessness, and
brownfields revitalization. The Pilot will help continue
the City's progress by working with grassroots efforts to
identify and assess brownfields in the area.
Activities
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
•	Assisting in the development of a master plan for
the Buena Vida neighborhood by conducting site
assessments and identifying area brownfields;
•	Conducting an outreach program for
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 500-F-98-219
Jul 98

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environment.
neighborhood stakeholders; and
• Developing cost estimates for cleanup and
redevelopment of the targeted area.
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
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
Solid Waste
EPA 500-F-98-219
Jul 98

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