w5 Brownfields 1997 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet Niagara Falls, NY 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 the City of Niagara Falls as a Brownfields Pilot. Between 1960 and 1990, the city's population declined substantially, and the manufacturing worker population dropped by one-third. Industries have left the area, leaving idle sites that are a major problem for Niagara Falls. Seventeen of these former industrial sites, encompassing 386 acres, are suspected of containing contaminated soil or groundwater and are unmarketable as a result of the environmental stigma. No tracts of undeveloped, uncontaminated land remain for development within the city; therefore, brownfields cleanup is imperative for economic growth. To promote successful redevelopment of the properties, the environmental risks must be defined accurately to encourage interest by banks and developers. Of the 17 contaminated sites, four have been targeted for the pilot. Because the four sites are within the state-designated Economic Development Zone, the city will be able to offer tax credits and utility rate reductions to new or expanding businesses. Redevelopment of these sites will provide an opportunity for Niagara Falls to revitalize economically disadvantaged areas, provide jobs, augment the city's dwindling tax base, and limit urban sprawl and infrastructure maintenance costs. Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 05/01/1997 Amount: $195,250 Profile: Four sites within the City's industrial area are targeted for the pilot. 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/brownfields/) Grant Recipient: City of Niagara Falls,NY (716)286-4460 Objectives The city's goal is to provide guidance in redeveloping under-used and potentially contaminated properties. The city will use a systematic approach toward redevelopment that includes outreach, risk assessment, and environmental education. For each of the four sites targeted in the pilot, the city will develop cost estimates for rehabilitation, demolition, and remediation and will identify potential financing sources. Experience gained from the pilot will be used to address additional sites with contamination concerns and redevelopment potential. Activities Activities planned as part of this pilot include: • Conducting detailed investigations of four targeted sites to determine the extent of contamination; • Planning for the cleanup of each of the four targeted sites, and developing cost estimates; United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 500-F-97-120 Apr 97 ------- • Creating a comprehensive education and outreach program that addresses the needs of the Economic Development Zone neighborhoods; • Establishing an Environmental Awareness Center to develop, coordinate, implement, and document environmental education programs; and • Coordinating pilot activities with ongoing brown-fields efforts conducted by the city's Department of Environmental Services. 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-97-120 Apr 97 ------- w5 Brownfields 1997 Supplemental Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet City of Niagara Falls, NY 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 awarded the City of Niagara Falls supplemental assistance for its Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot. Between 1960 and 1990, the city's population declined substantially, as industries left the area and the manufacturing worker population dropped by one-third. This has left idle sites that are a major problem for Niagara Falls. No tracts of undeveloped, uncontaminated land remain for development within the city; therefore, brownfields cleanup is imperative for economic growth. The Pilot originally targeted properties in the Highland Avenue Redevelopment Area, a state-designated Economic Development Zone (EDZ), for assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment. With the supplemental assistance funds, the Pilot is extending its focus area to the Buffalo Avenue Corridor, also an EDZ. Among the city's most troubled areas, the Buffalo Avenue Corridor, comprising approximately 1,560 acres in the southern section of the city, has a 14.8 percent unemployment rate, compared with the state's 5 percent rate, and 24.5 percent of the households lived below the poverty level in 1990. The shift away from major manufacturing has left a pattern of underutilized land in the Buffalo Avenue Corridor that fails to capitalize on the city's location advantages, economic potential, and value. Redevelopment of this area will provide an opportunity for Niaeara Falls to revitalize economicallv Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 03/01/2000 Amount: $150,000 Profile: City of Niagara Falls, NY. The Pilot targets sites in the Buffalo Avenue Corridor for assessment, cleanup, and development. 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/brownfields/) Grant Recipient: City of Niagara Falls,NY (716)286-4467 Objectives Niagara Falls's primary objective is to make vacant land and blighted property available for redevelopment and thereby creating jobs for citizens and increase the tax base. The city will use the supplemental assistance to assist this effort by conducting site investigations on at least three properties in the Buffalo Avenue Corridor, the first step in demonstrating the viability of cleanup and redevelopment in the area. To accomplish these objectives, the Pilot plans to: • Identify at least three sites for Phase I and Phase II investigations; • Develop a Buffalo Avenue Corridor Reuse Plan that ties brownfields redevelopment to an overall neighborhood improvement program; • Conduct outreach and community involvement efforts to involve citizens in the redevelopment process; • Create an advisory committee comprised of various stakeholders, including community United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 500-F-00-039 Apr 00 ------- disadvantaged areas, provide jobs, augment the city's dwindling tax base, and limit infrastructure maintenance costs. groups, to foster public awareness and input of brownfield redevelopment efforts in the corridor; and • Investigate environmental assessments at "mothballed" brownfields sites where the present owners did not contribute to the contamination. 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. United States c Environmental anri Fmpflpn™ EPA 500-F-00-039 _ . . and Emergency . __ Protection Agency Response (5105*0 Apr°° Washington, DC 20450 ^ v ' ------- |