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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


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•	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


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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


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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 '


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