Brownfields Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet

PILOT SNAPSHOT
Baltimore County, Maryland	Date of Announcement: September 1997 Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot will focus on vacant and underused properties in the county's southeast industrial corridor.

BACKGROUND

EPA selected Baltimore County for a Brownfields Pilot. For decades, the economic base of Baltimore County consisted of many large heavy manufacturing operations that occupied much of the county's east side. Closures and downsizing by manufacturing employers since 1960 have resulted in a significant reduction in manufacturing jobs. Vacant and underused industrial properties in the area are suspected of environmental contamination.

State and local policies have been used to concentrate efforts on already-developed land while preserving rural areas of the county and the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Concerns about known and suspected contamination can impede the use of otherwise valuable sites. The county has redirected staff and resources to improve its older communities and has recently developed a comprehensive community and economic revitalization strategy, of which the brownfields is a part. The county's southeast and southwest industrial corridors have been designated as state Enterprise Zones.

OBJECTIVES

Baltimore County plans to use the Pilot to assess brownfields properties, evaluate potential uses for the properties, and then match the properties with potential purchasers who would be encouraged to enroll in Maryland's Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCP). The VCP can provide eligible parties with releases from state liability if they complete certified cleanups of brownfields properties that are then redeveloped. This Pilot will coordinate state programs, including the state VCP, the Brownfields Revitalization Incentive Fund, the Neighborhood Revitalization Program, and the Enterprise Zone program to better benefit the county's communities.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

The Pilot has:

• Created an inventory of more than 100 brownfields and targeted two sites (the former J&L Industries site located at 6923 Ebenezer Road and the former Pikesville Fire Station) for redevelopment;

• Completed Phase I environmental assessments on the J&L Industries site and the former Pikesville Fire Station site;

• Conducted preliminary environmental screens on 67 potential brownfields;

• Developed fact sheets on each of the 100+ sites in the inventory, including aerial photos and tax maps;

• Organized a brownfields redevelopment workshop for 75 real estate brokers, bankers, and members of the real estate industry to convey information about the Pilot's activities; and

• Integrated the county's existing Economic Development Site Inventory, which includes fact sheets on brownfields-related data, with a geographic information system (GIS) to identify environmentally sensitive sites.

The Pilot is:

• Enhancing the Economic Development Site Inventory to include information on former site uses, redevelopment potential, and publicly available environmental data;

• Coordinating the "Brownfields Working Group," a group of citizens, businesses, public officials, and technical environmental specialists that will be Baltimore County's vehicle for ensuring ongoing community participation in the brownfields program; and

• Facilitating the assessment and cleanup planning of brownfields properties through its participation in Maryland's VCP.

LEVERAGING OTHER ACTIVITIES

Experience with the Baltimore County Pilot has been a catalyst for related activities, including the following:

• The Pilot served as a liaison between a metal fabricator, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), and a lender in order to clarify environmental liability issues. On February 26, 1998, B&B Welding purchased the vacant site in the North Point Enterprise Zone.

• The Pilot worked with the State of Maryland to secure the expansion by General Motors/Allison of an under-construction manufacturing facility located on a former brownfields site to include an additional 390 jobs.

• The Pilot acted as a catalyst for the revitalization of the former Bendix manufacturing facility into an office park to be opened in the fall of 2000. The estimated private sector investment is $30 million, and 1,000 jobs are expected to be created.

• In conjunction with both the Maryland brownfields legislation passed in early 1997 and the award of the EPA Pilot, the Baltimore County Council adopted its own brownfields tax credit legislation on September 2, 1997.

• A $10,000 grant from the county is being used to convene the Brownfields Working Group, to conduct outreach activities, and to organize educational seminars on brownfields cleanup and redevelopment; one out of the three planned has already been held.

• Baltimore County shares a $500,000 EPA Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund grant with MDE and Prince George's County.

CONTACTS

Baltimore County Department of Economic Development
(410) 887-8023

U.S. EPA - Region 3
(215) 814-3132

Visit the EPA Region 3 Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/bfs/index.htm

For further information, including specific Pilot contacts, additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/