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More than $730,000 in Stimulus Funding to Assess Brownfields Properties in Five Communities of Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska

Release Date: 01/06/2010
Contact Information: Belinda Young, (913) 551-7463, [email protected]


Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., Jan. 6, 2010) - EPA announced today that more than $730,000 of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds have been distributed to assess brownfields properties in Region 7. These funds provided contractor support in five Region 7 communities to address community blight and contamination under the Targeted Brownfields Assessment Program (TBA).

Communities targeted for these funds are Grundy Center, Ottumwa and Waverly, Iowa; Kansas City, Mo.; and Lincoln, Neb.

EPA’s TBA Program is a voluntary and free program designed to help public entities and tribes to minimize the uncertainties of contamination often associated with brownfields. TBA funds can only be used on brownfields properties where a strong redevelopment plan exists, especially those developed with grassroots support. Other factors that support TBA are environmental improvements, job creation, reuse as green or recreational space, reuse for nonprofit purposes, increased neighborhood stabilization, and any other recognizable benefits to the community.

TBA provides an opportunity for small and rural communities to have properties assessed without having to manage a grant. Over the past three years, EPA Region 7 has provided TBA contractor support to local communities and tribal lands valued at more than $400,000.

Brownfields are sites where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant. In 2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act (Brownfields Law) was passed. The Brownfields Law expanded the definition of what is considered a brownfield, so communities may now focus on mine-scarred lands or sites contaminated by petroleum or the manufacture and distribution of illegal drugs. EPA’s Brownfields Program encourages redevelopment of America’s estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites.

President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on February 17, 2009, and has directed that the Recovery Act be implemented with unprecedented transparency and accountability. To that end, the American people can see how every dollar is being invested at www.recovery.gov. ARRA TBA information is updated on a quarterly basis.