w5 Brownfields 2000 Revolving Loan Fund Pilot Fact Sheet Hamilton, OH 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 Hamilton's economy is linked to industrial development. Due to a loss of industrial jobs, the City is facing economic adversity. Hamilton has been designated a Distressed City by the State of Ohio. Hamilton's BCRLF will target the City's Enterprise Zone (EZ), which has a poverty rate of 26 percent and an unemployment rate of 12 percent. The EZ was created to encourage industrial and commercial investment in the most distressed sections of the community. The City was awarded a Brownfields Assessment Pilot in 1998. To date, the City has assessed and aided in the redevelopment of approximately one million square feet of space in the Enterprise Zone. Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 05/01/2000 Amount: $500,000 Profile: City of Hamilton Enterprise Zone 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: City of Hamilton, Ohio (513)868-5855 Objectives Hamilton's BCRLF intends to provide business owners with technical assistance, link potential borrowers to additional sources of funding, encourage community involvement, and facilitate public-private partnerships. Redeveloping sites in the target area is expected to mitigate health risks, create jobs, increase private investment, and help retain existing businesses. In addition, job training partnerships are anticipated among the cooperating partners and new businesses. Activities Fund Structure and Operations The City of Hamilton Department of Economic Development will serve as lead agency and fund manager. The Environmental Laboratory and Safety Division of the Department of Operations will assume the duties of site manager. The City of Hamilton will leverage other Federal, State and local resources through the successful completion of site selection and remediation planning activities. United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 500-F-00-150 May 00 ------- Hamilton plans to use US Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant funds for remediation and redevelopment activities, make loans from its Commercial Revolving Loan Fund, assist in developing creative public-private partnerships through the Community Improvement Corporation, and increase participation in cleanup activities and aid in identifying other funding sources through the City's Voluntary Action Program. The City also will provide services valued at approximately $50,000 to the BCRLF program. In addition, supplementary loans may be available through Ohio's Water Pollution Control Loan Fund and Urban Redevelopment Loan 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-00-150 May 00 ------- |