Brownfields 2006 Grant Fact Sheet

Addison County Regional Planning Commission, VT

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 petroleum
EPA has selected the Addison County Regional Planning Commission for a brownfields assessment grant. Petroleum grant funds will be used to inventory brownfields sites, conduct community outreach activities, and perform a limited number of Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III environmental site assessments throughout the region.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The Addison County Regional Planning Commission (ACRPC) was selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant. Located in midwestern Vermont, the ACRPC serves 36,865 people in 21 small municipalities around the region. The economic and social hubs of the county developed around power sources and utilized locally available natural resources in their industrial and manufacturing operations. With the decline in industrial activity, once thriving industries were abandoned or downsized, leaving the hubs with numerous brownfields sites. Many residents migrated to more rural areas, where development came at the expense of thousands of acres of farmland. More than 40 percent of over 80 state identified hazardous substance sites and 84 petroleum sites are in the region's three most heavily populated communities. The presence of brownfields has impeded the region's ability to attract investment and tourism to the area, provide employment opportunities, and deliver critical community services. Assessment of the area's brownfields will help the region reverse these trends and promote redevelopment of the sites. Brownfields redevelopment is expected to ensure economic growth without the loss of productive farmland, helping to restore the tax base, create local jobs, and increase recreational opportunities and tourism in the region.

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
617-918-1424
http://www.epa.gov/region01/brownfields/

Grant Recipient: Addison County Regional Planning Commission, VT
802-388-3141

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