/ O \ Brownfields 2000 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet
1 J Pulaski County, AR
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 Pulaski County for a Brownfields Pilot.
Pulaski County was also selected to receive additional
funding for assessments at Brownfields properties to be
used for greenspace purposes. This Pilot is targeting
areas in two cities located in Pulaski County-Little Rock
and North Little Rock. Little Rock and its sister city,
North Little Rock, were settled in the early 1800s on
opposite banks of the Arkansas River. Transportation,
commerce, and industry began on and grew inland from
the riverbanks. Like most American cities after World
War II, central Arkansas sprawled into suburban
greenfields and began the abandonment of its historical
urban core. The cities face several obstacles in
redeveloping the urban core. Both Little Rock and North
Little Rock are currently undergoing downtown/river
area redevelopment, the extent of which has not yet been
fully realized. The unknown nature of brownfields
locations and liabilities is a major deterrent to urban core
redevelopment.
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 05/01/2000
Amount: $200,000
$50,000 for Greenspace
Profile: The Pilot plans to use funding to identify
sites, perform environmental assessments, and
develop appropriate cleanup and redevelopment
plans for the targeted areas of Pulaski County. The
Pilot also plans to use additional greenspace funding
to develop an integrated park/ recreational system
along the riverfront of the Arkansas River.
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: Pulaski County,AR
(501) 340-8305
Objectives
The Pilot plans to use funding to survey the target area
in order to provide private developers and public
agencies with a complete data set on development sites.
The Pilot also plans to coordinate long-term municipal
redevelopment plans with the brownfields data. The
number of sites to be formally assessed will be narrowed
based on current and historic uses of the property and
restrictions on redevelopment. Once the sites are
narrowed, environmental assessments will be
conducted.
The additional greenspace funding will assist in plans
for an integrated park/recreational system that connects
both city centers to the library. The selected greenspace
"focus area" falls approximately in the center of the
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targeted Urban Core Redevelopment area. Conceptual
development plans include a botanical garden,
esplanades and overlooks along both sides of the
Arkansas River, a marina, a boat launch, a proposed
Central Arkansas Aquarium and entertainment center,
and further development of the existing Riverfront
Parks on either side of the river. The two city parks will
be joined by the abandoned Rock Island Rail bridge,
which will be converted into a pedestrian pathway.
Activities
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Identifying and inventorying potential
brownfields properties within the primary target
•	Conducting assessments on the Old Veterans
Administration Hospital, the Library
Redevelopment Area, Vestal Property, and 13h
Street Park sites;
•	Involving the community in brownfield
assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment
planning efforts;
•	Maintaining a brownfields database for the target
area; and
•	Incorporating redevelopment plans into land use,
zoning, and parks master plans for the target area
and remote sites.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet
been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this
fact sheet are subject to change.
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.
area;
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
Solid Waste
EPA 500-F-00-117
May 00

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