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Brownfields 1997 Revolving Loan Fund Pilot
Fact Sheet
Birmingham, AL
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
The City of Birmingham has more than 2,500 acres of
old industrial sites. Many of these sites require
environmental cleanup before they can be returned to
productive use. North Birmingham is the home of the
city's iron foundry business, and a 900-acre site has been
targeted for the BCRLF pilot. More than 40 percent of
the land is abandoned and environmental contamination
has deterred reinvestment and redevelopment. The
population in the area is predominately African American
and extremely poor. While major manufacturing and
transportation companies continue to operate in the area,
the district has lost more than 40 percent of its population
since 1970.
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 09/01/1997
Amount: $500,000
Profile: A 900-acre site in North Birmingham
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: City of Birmingham,AL
(205)254-2870
Objectives
The goal of the Birmingham BCRLF Pilot is to fund
cleanup of brownfields sites. The BCRLF will be used
to leverage other needed funding sources including
owner's equity and conventional financial mechanisms.
The city will use the BCRLF Pilot as a partner in
environmental cleanup and redevelopment projects,
particularly in North Birmingham and other industrial
areas.
Activities
Fund Structure and Operations
The Mayor's Office, Community Enterprises Division
(CED) will act as the Lead Agency. The Director of
CED will serve as the Site Manager. The city plans to
designate an organization that currently manages similar
loan programs as Fund Manager. The Birmingham
Environmental Clearinghouse and North Birmingham
community organizations will organize and ensure
continued interaction with the affected communities.
Birmingham will provide in-kind contributions that will
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 500-F-99-037
May 99

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enable full capitalization of the loan pool. The city will
also continue its partnership with the Birmingham
Environmental Clearinghouse, an organization that
helps communities understand environmental risk
factors. The BCRLF will be used to complement other
city-assisted loan programs and the Community
Development Block Grant program.
Use of BCRLF Pilot funds must be in accordance with
CERCLA, and all CERCLA restrictions on use of
funding also apply to BCRLF funds.
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-99-037
May 99

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