s OA Brownfields 1995 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet
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/ Knoxville, TN
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 selected the City of Knoxville for a
Brownfields Pilot. In the Fall of 1992, the City of
Knoxville's Department of Economic Development
requested assistance from the Tennessee Valley
Authority in evaluating the feasibility of
alternatives for the redevelopment of Knoxville's
Center City Business Park. The study area
comprises 566 acres in the center of the City,
including many acres of abandoned or under used
commercial and industrial property. Approximately
150 acres have been identified as potentially
suitable for redevelopment.
Over the past two years, citizens, businesses and
community groups, local and State economic
development organizations, and academic
institutions have assisted the City and the
Tennessee Valley Authority in the formulation and
development of the Knoxville Center City Business
Park Brownfields Redevelopment Initiative. The
Brownfields Pilot funds are being used to move
forward with their redevelopment plan. Successful
assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment of this
critical area not only has the potential to affect the
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 09/01/1995
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets 566 acres in the center of
Knoxville, 150 of which have been identified as
potentially suitable for redevelopment.
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 4 Brownfields Team
(404)562-8792
EPA Region 4 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/bf)
Grant Recipient: Knoxville, TN
(423)215-2174
Objectives
Through this brownfields effort, Knoxville will reestablish
the inner city as the vibrant center of Knoxville by joining
residents, community agencies, and the private sector in a
coordinated partnership to revitalize the area. The Pilot
plans to accomplish this by planning to develop a portion of
the Center City Business Park with a "green" theme
including attracting businesses in the recycling, reuse, and
manufacturing industries. The strategy includes identifying
and assessing environmental contamination, exploring
options for businesses to redevelop vacant properties, and
working with lenders to provide low interest loans to
environmentally friendly companies. The strategy will be
developed through an ongoing dialogue between the private
sector and local, State, and Federal regulatory agencies on
brownfields issues, including establishing criteria to
determine when a property is "clean" and what types of use
can be permitted on contaminated sites.
Activities
The Pilot has:
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Environmental
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Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
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EPA 500-F-97-017
May 97

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inner-city residents, but also to have a significant
impact on the quality of life in adjacent
neighborhoods.
•	Prioritized different areas within the target area,
Center City, for ongoing work;
•	Set up the Knoxville Brownfields World Wide Web
Homepage
(http://www.korrnet.org/Knoxville/brownfields.html).
This site includes information on the study area,
development events, and links to other resources,
including the City's and EPA's homepage; and
•	Conducted a neighborhood tour of West View to
identify concerns of the community as related to
brownfields sites and design issues. The findings
were brought to the redevelopment team for
incorporation in a design team concept.
The Pilot is:
•	Investigating sites that are believed to be
contaminated, and determining the most appropriate
and cost-effective methods of remediation;
•	Expanding and improving the City's community
involvement plan by developing a community
outreach program on Brownfields;
•	Developing a redevelopment plan that includes a land
acquisition, assemblage, relocation, and clearance
program for the City Center area;
•	Developing programs to identify ways to assist
prospective purchasers with environmental and legal
issues, identifying additional funding sources for
redevelopment, and attracting private investment in
the brownfields study area;
•	Meeting with current property owners, realtors,
prospective buyers, and lending institutions to
determine how to expedite environmental
revitalization; and
•	Developing an implementation plan to identify ways
to ensure that the cleanup activities do not aggravate
existing environmental threats and to determine the
potentially responsible parties.
Leveraging Other Activities
Experience with the Knoxville Pilot has been a catalyst for
related activities including the following.
•	Local educational institutions and community
development groups are working together to develop
a skilled workforce within neighboring inner-city
communities as an employment base for current and
future businesses in the project area.
•	East Tennessee Design Center and the University of
Tennessee are developing design guidelines for the
Center City area. The Urban Site Design class from
the University of Tennessee's Graduate Planning
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program is focusing on Center City redevelopment to
produce a coordinated approach to development
through the use of Urban Site design criteria.
•	The City is receiving assistance from the Tennessee
Valley Authority to assess the feasibility of a small
business incubator in the Center City area.
•	Working with the business community on the
identification of specific property needs to encourage
relocation in the brownfields areas.
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-97-017
May 97

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