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Brownfields
2004 Assessment
Grant
Fact Sheet
Cicero, IL
EPA Brownfields Program
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.
Assessment Grant
$200,000 for hazardous substances
$150,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the Town of Cicero for a brownfields assessment grant. Hazardous substances grant funds will be used to conduct community outreach activities, inventory and prioritize brownfields sites located within the 1.2-square-mile target area, conduct Phase I and Phase II site assessments on selected sites, and develop cleanup strategies for sites selected for redevelopment. Petroleum grant funds will be used to perform Phase I and Phase II site assessments at locations known to have had
Community Description
The Town of Cicero was selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant. Cicero (population 85,616) is a high density-suburb of Chicago with a rapidly growing, mostly minority population. Approximately 77 percent of the town's residents are Hispanic. The unemployment rate is almost 10 percent, and 15.5 percent of residents have incomes at or below the poverty level. The three census tracts that make up the target area (total population 25,791) are almost twice as densely populated as the city, and the average income is 10 percent below the city's level. There are many underutilized and vacant properties in the target area, one-half to two-thirds of which are zoned for industrial use. The city would like to redevelop these properties for commercial/retail, residential, and greenspace uses that would better fit the needs of the 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 5 Brownfields Team
(312) 886-7576
EPA Region 5 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields)
Grant Recipient: Town of Cicero, IL
Cicero, IL
(972) 205-3454 ext 448
Town of Cicero
(708) 656-3600 ext 448
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.