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VICE PRESIDENT GORE ANNOUNCES GRANTS TO 23 COMMUNITIES TO EXPAND EFFORTS TO CLEAN UP AND REDEVELOP "BROWNFIELDS"

Release Date: 03/12/99
Contact Information:

_______________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release Contact:
Friday, March 12, 1999 (202) 456-7035

Washington, DC -- Vice President Gore awarded 23 new grants, for over $4 million, today to help communities clean up and redevelop Brownfields -- abandoned, contaminated properties, often found in distressed areas -- and return the sites to thriving centers of prosperity.

“There is no greater example of the environment and the economy working hand in hand to benefit the American people than the Administration’s efforts to clean up and revitalize Brownfields,” said Vice President Gore. “These grants I am announcing today will help bring to these communities new jobs, new opportunities, and new hope.”

To date, the federal government has awarded 227 Brownfields grants, for over $42 million, to states, cities, towns, counties, and tribes. These grants have leveraged over $1 billion for redevelopment and created over 2,500 jobs.

Today’s announcement builds on the Administration’s efforts to breathe new life, new opportunity, and new hope into the nation’s central cities and isolated rural areas. The Brownfields redevelopment efforts are an important part of the President’s overall community empowerment agenda.

Since 1993, the Administration has taken significant steps to clean up and redevelop Brownfields and return them to productive use, such as removing legal barriers to redevelopment; creating a national model to determine the best way to revitalize communities; providing a targeted tax incentive to businesses that purchase and cleanup these sites; and, with today’s announcement, providing a total of over $46 million in seed money for 250 Brownfield grants.

Last January, Vice President Gore announced the Administration’s new Livability Agenda will generate $700 million per year to provide new tools and resources for state and local governments to help communities across America grow in ways that ensure a high quality of life and strong, sustainable economic growth. As part of this effort, the new Better America Bonds initiative will provide $9.5 billion in bonding authority over five years to help communities preserve and enhance green spaces, protect water quality, and clean up Brownfields.

In addition to Brownfields grants, the EPA Brownfields Action Agenda, which includes showcase communities, revolving loan fund pilots and job training grants, the Administration has provided $22 million to address Brownfields issues and is expected to leverage $7 billion in private investments for redevelopment of Brownfields.

The Brownfields grants awarded today total about $200,000 for each community. The states, communities and tribes selected to receive the new grants include:


Aurora, CO
Fort Myers, FL
Tampa, FL
Hillsborough County, FL
Fort Valley, GA
Macon, GA
Lacon, IL
Wichita, KS
Southeastern Louisiana Regional Planning Commission, LA
Worcester, MA
Great Barrington, MA


Walpole, MA
Antrim County, MI
Jackson County, MI
Nashua, NH
Johnstown, NY
Lockland, OH
Girard, OH
Duquesne, PA
Fort Worth, TX
Renton, WA
Aberdeen, WA
White Mountain Apache Tribe, AZ