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Brownfields 2008 Grant Fact Sheet
Southern Windsor 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 this 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 GRANTS
$200,000 for hazardous substances
$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission for two brownfields assessment grants. Hazardous substances grant funds will be used to prioritize sites and prepare up to three Phase I and three Phase II environmental site assessments. Petroleum grant funds will be used to prioritize sites and prepare up to four Phase I and four Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to conduct community outreach activities.
COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION
The Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission was selected to receive two brownfields assessment grants. Located in southeastern Vermont, the Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission serves 10 small towns (combined population 25,105) in Windsor County. Towns in the region were built in the early 20th Century around the machine tool industry. The industry peaked during World War II and then went into a gradual decline. Between 1980 and 2000, most companies relocated or downsized dramatically, and the county lost about 43 percent of its manufacturing jobs. A decline in population, wages, and employment followed. Many large manufacturing plants were closed, leaving over one million square feet of vacant space. Many of these now vacant or underused industrial properties are located in town centers. In the Town of Windsor alone, over 40 acres of the former downtown industrial area is comprised of brownfields. Assessment of sites in Southern Windsor County is expected to encourage new business and industrial growth in the area.
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.
EPA Region 1 Brownfields Team
617-918-1424
EPA Region 1 Brownfields web site
Grant Recipient: Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission, VT
802-674-9201
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.