EPA Announces Chicot County, Ark., to Receive $300,000 in Brownfields Assessment Funding

EPA Announces Chicot County, Ark., to Receive $300,000 in Brownfields Assessment Funding

The grant awards help underserved communities across the country Build Back Better and address Environmental Justice concerns

Media contacts: Jennah Durant at [email protected] or 214 665-2200

DALLAS – (June 1, 2021) Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Chicot County, Ark., is among the 151 communities to receive 154 grant awards totaling $66.5 million in Brownfields funding through its Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) Grants. Chicot Co. plans to use their $300,000 community-wide assessment grant to conduct environmental site assessments, focusing on the cities of Eudora and Lake Village, which is located in a Qualified Opportunity Zone. Priority sites include an 18-acre former lumber mill in Eudora and a former gas station in Lake Village.

This funding will support underserved and economically disadvantaged communities across the country in assessing and cleaning up contaminated and abandoned industrial and commercial properties. Approximately 50 percent of selected recipients are receiving EPA Brownfields grant funding for the first time and more than 85 percent serve small communities.

“Through our Brownfields Program, EPA is delivering on the Biden Administration’s commitment to lifting up and protecting overburdened communities across America, especially communities that have experienced long periods of disinvestment and decay,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “These assessment and cleanup grants will not only support economic growth and job creation, but they will also empower communities to address the environmental, public health, and social issues associated with contaminated land.”

“Brownfields funding can be truly transformative for smaller communities, by removing obstacles to start redevelopment or maintaining momentum for existing projects,” said Acting Regional Administrator David Gray. “EPA is pleased to offer this assistance to Chicot County, and we look forward to working with the community and watching these sites progress.”

“I’m excited that Chicot County has been selected by the Environmental Protection Agency for a Brownfields Assessment Grant,” said Chicot County Judge Mack Ball. “The grant will allow us to begin the redevelopment process in Lake Village of the abandoned gas station on Jackson Street and the former lumber mill in Eudora. This will ultimately help us restore these properties to productive reuse, enhancing the quality of life where we live and work.”

Today’s grant announcement includes:

• $8.8 million for 11 Multipurpose Grants, which will provide funding to conduct a range of eligible assessment and cleanup activities at one or more brownfield sites in a target area. 

• $42.2 million for 107 Assessment Grants, which will provide funding for brownfield inventories, planning, environmental assessments, and community outreach.

• $15.5 million for 36 Cleanup Grants, which will provide funding to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites owned by the recipient.

The list of the fiscal year 2021 applicants selected for funding is available here: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/applicants-selected-fy-2021-brownfields-multipurpose-assessment-and-cleanup-grants

EPA anticipates that it will award the grants once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied by the selected recipients.

Since its inception in 1995, EPA’s Brownfields Program has provided nearly $1.76 billion in grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return them to productive reuse. This has led to significant benefits for communities across the country. For example:

• To date, communities participating in the Brownfields Program have been able to attract more than $34.4 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funding after receiving Brownfields funds. This has led to over 175,500 jobs in cleanup, construction, and redevelopment.

• Based on grant recipient reporting, recipients leveraged on average $20.13 for each EPA Brownfields dollar and 10.3 jobs per $100,000 of EPA Brownfield Grant funds expended on assessment, cleanup, and revolving loan fund cooperative agreements.

• In addition, an academic peer-reviewed study has found that residential properties near brownfield sites increased in value by 5% to 15.2% as a result of cleanup activities.

• Finally, analyzing data near 48 brownfields, EPA found an estimated $29 million to $97 million in additional tax revenue for local governments in a single year after cleanup—2 to 7 times more than the $12.4 million EPA contributed to the cleanup of those brownfield sites.

For more on the Brownfields Grants: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/types-epa-brownfield-grant-funding

For more on EPA’s Brownfields Program: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields
 

Connect with EPA Region 6:

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eparegion6 

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/EPAregion6

Activities in EPA Region 6: https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-region-6-south-central

# # #