Since 1997, the South & Southwest HSRC has offered free technical outreach services to communities with environmental contamination problems through two distinct, but interrelated, outreach programs:

Outreach specialists help communities with cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated land.

Technical Outreach Services for Communities (TOSC) uses university educational and technical resources to help community groups understand the technical issues involving the hazardous waste sites in their midst. TOSC aims to empower communities to participate substantively in the decision-making process regarding their hazardous substance problems. Service under this program is no longer available due to the completion of the EPA contract supporting this activity. GTRI outreach specialists, however, can assist communities on a contract basis.

Technical Assistance to Brownfields Communities (TAB) helps communities to clean and redevelop properties that have been damaged or undervalued by environmental contamination. The purpose of these efforts is to create better jobs, increase the local tax base, improve neighborhood environments, and enhance the overall quality of life. The main audiences for TAB assistance are community groups, municipal officials, developers, and leaders with lending institutions constituting a secondary audience. The current EPA grant for the TAB program in Regions 4 & 6 is set to expire September 30, 2007. EPA has issued an open call for proposals for the next round of funding and expects a new program to resume December 1, 2007.

If your community is located in one of the states in EPA regions 4 or 6, call the TOSC/TAB toll free number at 1-888-683-5963 or send an e-mail note to: bob.schmitter@gtri.gatech.edu. For more information on how to get TOSC assistance, follow this link.