Department of Environment & Conservation
Robert Martineau, Commissioner

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed by President Obama on February 17, 2009 specifically included these projects and programs connected to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation:

 

» Clean Water State Revolving Fund and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund

» Diesel Emissions Reduction

» Leaking Underground Storage Tanks

» Brownfields Assessment and Cleanup

» Superfund Hazardous Waste Cleanup

 

Brownfields Assessment and Cleanup

EPA provides grants and revolving loan funding directly to communities for brownfields assessment and cleanup once per year. On May 8, EPA announced the 2009 grant recipients funded by both the general program and ARRA resources. Four Tennessee entities received seven grants for a total of $2.2 million from general program funding. The department was responsible for raising awareness of the grants and providing assistance to grantees during the application process. Tennessee recipients included:

 

The City of Chattanooga was awarded $1.2 million ($1 million for a Revolving Loan Fund for hazardous substances and $200,000 for the hazardous substance cleanup of the former Anchor Glass facility).

 

The City of Knoxville was awarded $400,000 ($200,000 for petroleum, $200,000 for hazardous substances) for a community-wide assessment of the South Knoxville Waterfront Project.

 

The Upper Cumberland Development District was awarded $400,000 ($200,000 for petroleum, $200,000 for hazardous substances) for a community-wide assessment.

 

Hamilton County was awarded $200,000 for the hazardous substance cleanup of the former Charles A. Bell Elementary School.

 

Click here for more information on these Tennessee Brownfield grant recipients.

 

Grants for these Tennessee entities were generated by the traditional funding allocation from the Brownfields 104(k) grant program, not ARRA funds. However, the addition of ARRA funds to the pool of total available Brownfields resources enabled EPA to make more Brownfields grants available for recipients from Tennessee in this cycle.

 

Superfund Hazardous Waste Cleanup

These cleanup funds will go directly into the federal pipeline for National Priorities List (NPL) sites and not go through Environment and Conservation. The Department of Energy's Oak Ridge office is receiving $755 million in stimulus funding for "shovel-ready" cleanup projects that can be completed over the next 2 1/2 years. Expediting cleanup for Oak Ridge sites on the National Priorities List will create jobs, spur the economy and accelerate critical environmental efforts.  The department is pleased to see additional dollars expended for needed cleanup on the Oak Ridge Reservation.

 

Summer Youth Jobs

25 million dollars in funding is available for the Summer Youth Jobs Program in Tennessee.  More than 10,000 jobs will be available for disadvantaged youth between the ages of 14 and 24 for summer work between June 6 and August 7, 2009. Some of these positions will be at Tennessee State Parks and State Historic Sites.  The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development will be the hiring agency for the Summer Youth Jobs program. For more information call the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development at 1-800-255-5872.

 

Implementation

• March 25, 2009 Update

 

Documents and Reports

• Click here to view 1511 Certification Statements for investments through the SRF program.
• Click here to view State Agency Weekly Reports
• EPA ARRA Award Letter to TDEC for Clean Diesel Grant Program
• EPA ARRA Award Letter to TDEC for Clean Water SRF Program
• EPA ARRA Award Letter to TDEC for Drinking Water SRF Program
• EPA ARRA Award Letter to TDEC for Leaking Underground Storage Tank Program
• EPA ARRA Award Letter to TDEC for Water Quality Management Program