W5 +> cF ** PRtfl'Sr ^ Brownfields 2002 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet Humboldt County, California 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 Humboldt County for a Brownfields Assessment Pilot. Humboldt County (population 126,518) is located in northern California, approximately 240 miles north of San Francisco. A large number of former industrial sites, including timber processing plants, warehouses, and docking facilities, remain idle in what once was the central base of Humboldt County's economy. For this Pilot, the county has targeted a 256-acre site on the Samoa Peninsula, across Humboldt Bay from the city of Eureka. The target area includes the lumber company town of Samoa, with 62 acres of sand dunes and coastal forest habitat along the Pacific Ocean and approximately 46 acres of vacant industrial and commercial property. Over the last 20 years, the economy of Humboldt County has shifted from its original base in natural resources, such as timber and commercial fishing, to a more diverse base, which now includes smaller manufacturing businesses. The expanding manufacturing sector provides sustainable, living-wage jobs, but is constrained by the availability of suitable industrial sites. The Samoa Peninsula offers a number of potential sites for this sector, but redevelopment requires addressing the environmental legacy of previous uses. The county's per capita household income is 78 percent of the statewide smH i+c imn 1 r\\7top»nt rate* ic f\ ^ Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 05/01/2002 Amount: $200,000 Profile: Humboldt County, California. The Pilot targets a 256-acre multi-use site within a state Enterprise Zone and Free Trade Zone on the Samoa Peninsula for assessment and redevelopment into an industrial park. 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 9 Brownfields Team (415)972-3091 EPA Region 9 Brownfields Web site (http ://www .epa.gov/region9/brownfields) Grant Recipient: County of Humboldt,CA (707)268-3735 Objectives The county's objective is to expedite the redevelopment of vacant industrial and commercial properties on the Samoa Peninsula that are suitable for manufacturing. To accomplish this objective, the Pilot will complete environmental site assessments on properties located within a 256 acre target area, which is within a state Enterprise Zone and a Free Trade Zone. The county will incorporate the results of the assessments into plans for zoning, redevelopment, and preservation of resources and open space. Activities Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: • Completing a Phase I environmental assessment of the entire site; • Competing Phase II environmental assessments as needed to transfer properties or identify the United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 500-F-02-059 May 02 ------- UV VlUgV U11U A lij W11V111JJ1VJ lllVllk 1UIV llJ J^Vl Will. compared to the statewide average of 4.9 percent. extent of contamination requiring cleanup; and • Integrating Pilot activities and assessment results into zoning, subdivision, redevelopment, and preservation plans, including the Humboldt Bay Local Coastal Plan. 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-02-059 j. j.- a ancl Emergency .. __ Protection Agency Response (5105T) MaV02 Washington, DC 20450 ^ v ' ------- |