s jQLI Brownfields 1996 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet / Tacoma, WA 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 selected the City of Tacoma for a Brownfields Pilot. Closing or relocating of industrial and maritime activities along Tacoma's downtown Thea Foss Waterway has contributed to unemployment and poverty in the area. Unemployment is more than 18%, and about 46% of the residents live below the poverty level. The industrial and maritime activities have left a legacy of contamination and liability that are inhibiting reuse and redevelopment along the waterway while suburban sprawl expands. The City is specifically concerned about the Waterway sites in the core of Tacoma's Enterprise Community where contamination could present an additional obstacle to economic revitalization. Pilot Snapshot Date of Announcement: 03/01/1996 Amount: $200,000 Profile: The Pilot targets the 27-acre Thea Foss Waterway located in the core of Tacoma's Enterprise Community. 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 10 Brownfields Team (206)553-7299 EPA Region 10 Brownfields Web site (http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/CLEANUP.NSF/ sites/bf) Grant Recipient: City of Tacoma,WA (206)591-5525 Objectives The Pilot is working to encourage economic growth and redevelopment in the City's downtown core by addressing environmental contamination and liability issues head on. Redevelopment of the urban waterfront will promote productive land-use, reduce air and water pollution associated with urban sprawl, and expand job opportunities in locations accessible to low-income populations. To satisfy these objectives, Tacoma intends to conduct environmental site assessments, plan for site remediation, and identify incentives for redevelopment. Activities The Pilot has: • Established the Foss Waterway Development Authority as a separate legal entity to facilitate redevelopment of the Thea Foss Waterway while eliminating contamination, providing public access and preventing future blight. By Council United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA 500-F-97-038 May 97 ------- resolutions, Tacoma authorized this entity with a seven member board comprised of leaders from the financial, real estate development and resource management industries; and • Completed a draft of The Economic Analysis for Development of the Thea Foss Waterway. The report provides a look at the effects of public brownfields investments under different scenarios. The Pilot is: • Conducting an Economic and Market Analysis Study to determine the economic impacts of proposed developments as part of the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, determining the most appropriate mix of "doable" developments that will attract private investment; • Conducting a Financing Strategy Plan to identify sources of public and private capital for feasible uses identified in the Economic Analysis and make recommendations on brownfields financing tools (e.g., a revolving loan fund to provide low interest, flexible term loans for priority projects); and • Conducting a Public/Private Partnership Strategies Plan to prioritize projects which are essential and to analyze financing and community needs in order to develop an effective public/private collaboration and promote incentives. Leveraging Other Activities Experience with the Tacoma Pilot has been a catalyst for related activities including the following. • Focusing brownfields efforts and resources on sites within the Empowerment Zone and adjacent NPL site. • Building on existing community involvement activities associated with the adjacent NPL site. 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-97-038 May 97 ------- |