/ O \ Brownfields 1998 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet
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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 Ypsilanti for a Brownfields
Pilot. Ypsilanti is an historic urban community with a
population of nearly 25,000, located 20 minutes west of
the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The City, four square
miles in area, has limited land for development and is
seeking to redevelop idle industrial sites located in the
City's 34-acre Water Street District. Industrial,
residential, and park properties characterize the Water
Street area. The City believes contamination exists due
to automobile manufacturing and associated industries.
Ypsilanti is faced with a declining population, a high
poverty rate (18%), limited opportunities for tax base
expansion, a deteriorating infrastructure, and a higher
unemployment rate than surrounding communities. Eight
targeted redevelopment areas are identified in the City's
Master Plan, but the Pilot will primarily focus on the
Water Street Redevelopment Area.
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 07/01/1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets the City's 34-acre Water
Street district where abandoned and idle industrial
lands provide the best opportunities for
redevelopment in a community that has limited land
for expansion.
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/R5Brownfields)
Grant Recipient: Ypsilanti, MI, City of
(734)483-9646
Objectives
Ypsilanti plans to redevelop the Water Street area with a
mix of commercial and residential land uses,
capitalizing on the area's proximity to the Huron River
and the City's central business district. The Water Street
project will provide a model process for future
brownfields redevelopment in Ypsilanti.
An Environmental Real Estate Assessment (EREA) of
the target area revealed probable contamination and
recommended further environmental investigation. Pilot
funding will be used for conducting Phase I and Phase II
assessments, collecting parcel information to update the
EREA, and conducting public outreach activities to
involve property owners and developers.
Activities
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
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•	Performing Phase I environmental assessments
on 15 to 20 parcels;
•	Performing Phase II environmental assessments
on 8 to 10 parcels;
•	Updating the EREA with the results from
environmental assessments so that parcels can be
prioritized based on their redevelopment
potential; and
•	Conducting public information meetings where
targeted neighborhoods are provided updates of
Pilot activities and are encouraged to offer their
input in planning redevelopment in their
communities.
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-98-203
Jul 98

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w5
Brownfields 1998 Supplemental Assessment
Pilot Fact Sheet
City of Ypsilanti, Ml
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 awarded the City of Ypsilanti supplemental
assistance for its Brownfields Assessment Demonstration
Pilot. Ypsilanti is a historic urban community with a
population of nearly 25,000, located 20 minutes west of
the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The city is constrained
by various economic factors, which have created a need
for brownfields redevelopment. For example, the city is
only four square miles, more than 30 percent of the land
is tax exempt, and the city has an 18 percent poverty rate
which is three times the county rate. Based on
demographic characteristics such as these, Ypsilanti has
been designated as a disadvantaged community by the
Michigan State Housing Development Authority.
It is estimated that between 30 and 35 brownfields exist
in the city, most of which are located in eight
redevelopment target areas established under the city's
master planning process. These areas were selected based
on existing and historic land use patterns, the extent of
underused properties and structures, limited economic
viability, and the presence of real or perceived
environmental contamination. Potential areas of
expansion for the supplemental assistance include the
Water Street Redevelopment area, a former city landfill,
a former dry cleaning operation, and additional sites
throughout the city.
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 03/01/2000
Amount: $150,000
Profile: The Pilot will inventory, target, and assess
brownfields throughout the city with a focus on
properties within Ypsilanti's eight redevelopment
target areas.
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/R5Brownfields)
Grant Recipient: Ypsilanti, MI, City of
(734)483-9646
Objectives
Ypsilanti's objective is to spur community-wide
economic investment and revitalization. Brownfields
redevelopment in the city's targeted areas will provide
the city with the opportunity to revitalize a community
facing the struggles of urban disinvestment and an
inability to expand its boundaries. The supplemental
assistance will help the city identify and prioritize
brownfields throughout the city and provide funds for
environmental assessments at several priority properties.
These assessments will allow the city to determine what
types of cleanup and redevelopment barriers must be
removed with the aid of other city and state incentives
for brownfields redevelopment.
To accomplish these objectives, the Pilot plans to:
• Identify brownfields within the city, create a
Geographic Information System (GIS) inventory,
and select five to six high-priority brownfields
for further investigation;
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 500-F-00-057
Apr 00

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•	Conduct Phase I environmental assessments at
the five to six targeted brownfields;
•	Conduct Phase II environmental assessments as
needed at the targeted properties and prepare
assessment reports to describe the type and
extent of cleanup needed and to determine
potential reuses for each property;
•	Prepare risk assessment plans for each property
undergoing a Phase II assessment; and
•	Conduct multifaceted community outreach to
ensure that the community is involved throughout
the identification, inventory, prioritization, and
assessment process.
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-00-057
Apr 00

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