Brownfields 2004 Grant Fact Sheet

Franklin Regional Council of Governments, Franklin County, MA

EPA BROWNFIELDS PROGRAM

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic development 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, the President 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

EPA has selected the Franklin Regional Council of Governments for a brownfields assessment grant. Grant funds will be used to update the council's inventory of brownfields sites, conduct community outreach activities, develop site access strategies, perform Phase I and II site assessments, and prepare remediation plans for three sites within Franklin County. If funds permit, other sites will be added to this project.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The Franklin Regional Council of Governments was selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant. Franklin County (population 71,535) is located in the upper Connecticut River Valley in western Massachusetts. It is the most rural area in the commonwealth. Historically, agriculture and manufacturing have been the dominant sectors of the regional economy. Although manufacturing is still the area's largest employer (31.7 percent), closure of many of the region's larger manufacturing facilities has created environmental, economic, and social problems. Twenty of the county's 26 communities have lower per capita incomes than the state average. The per capita income in the county is 80 percent of the state average. The three target sites, a railyard, an auto dealership/garage, and an asphalt plant, are near the Connecticut River, an American Heritage River. Revitalization plans include expanding the Trolley Museum at the former railyard site, and redeveloping the other two sites for commercial space, greenspace, senior housing, or downtown parking. These activities are expected to generate additional tourism, bring jobs to the area, and enhance tax revenues.

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 at: www.epa.gov/brownfields.

EPA Region 1 Brownfields Team
617-918-1221
http://www.epa.gov/region01/brownfields/

Grant Recipient: Franklin Regional Council of Governments, MA
413-774-1194

The cooperative agreement for this grant has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.