I | Brownfields 2006 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet Niagara County, NY EPA Brownfields Program 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. Community Description Niagara County was selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant. Located in western New York, Niagara County (population 219,846) has experienced a 9.3 percent decline in its population and the loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs from 1990 to 2000. Niagara Falls, the county's largest city and a federally designated Renewal Community, lost 45 percent of its residents while the state population grew by 5.5 percent. This decline mirrors the departure of large employers in the region, including steel, aircraft and aerospace, chemical, specialty ceramics, and paper manufacturing businesses. In many cases, the departing heavy manufacturing companies left behind a legacy of toxic contamination. There are about 200 petroleum-contaminated brownfields sites scattered throughout the county. They include old filling stations, underground agricultural and industrial storage tanks, and former industrial sites. Assessment and eventual cleanup of these brownfields sites will help protect the health of area residents by reducing exposure to petroleum hydrocarbons. Redevelopment of these properties will encourage infill development, discourage development of greenspace in outlying areas, bring jobs and revenues back into the county, and reverse the trend toward out-migration of area residents. Assessment Grant $200,000 for petroleum EPA has selected Niagara County for a brownfields assessment grant. Petroleum grant funds will be used to coordinate community education efforts, complete an inventory of sites, enter the data into the county's geographic information system, and perform a minimum of seven Phase I and three Phase II environmental site assessments of sites around the county. 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 2 Brownfields Team (212) 637-4309 EPA Region 2 Brownfields Web site (http://www.epa.gov/region02/br ownfields/) Grant Recipient: Niagara County Department of Economic Development,NY (716) 278-8750 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 c Environmental anri Fmpflpn™ EPA 560-F-06-044 Protection Agency Response (5105T) May 2006 Washington, DC 20450 Kesponse (si us ) ------- |