Brownfields Cleanup Revolving
Loan Fund Pilot Fact Sheet

Norwich, CT

EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.

PILOT SNAPSHOT
Norwich, CT	Date of Announcement: April 2001 Amount: $1.0 million
BCRLF Target Area: Low to Moderate Income Census Tracts within the City.

BACKGROUND

The City of Norwich is a former mill town located on the Thames River in eastern Connecticut. Norwich is composed of former mill villages and residential neighborhoods that developed around individual factories. When the City's manufacturing base dissolved in the 1980s, mills closed and were abandoned. As a result, there are numerous brownfields in the midst of residential communities. Many of these brownfields lie in deeply impoverished areas. The poverty rate in Norwich is double that of the county and the state.

The City has actively addressed its brownfields problem. An EPA Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Program allowed Norwich to characterize and prioritize contaminated sites for redevelopment.

BCRLF OBJECTIVES

The goals of Norwich's BCRLF program are to clean up and return the City's brownfields sites to productive use. The City hopes that this will result in job creation, an increase in the tax base, elimination of potential health risks, and an improvement in the quality of life for residents with low to moderate incomes.

Many of the areas targeted by the Norwich BCRLF have been designated as State Urban Enterprise Zones and Railroad Depot Zones.

The City will likely issue the first BCRLF loan to the developer of the former Capehart Manufacturing Site. This site has already undergone Phase II Assessment.

FUND STRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS

The lead agency will be the City of Norwich Economic Development Department supported by a licensed environmental professional. The site manager will be the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Finally, a city-designated subcontractor will serve as the fund manager.

LEVERAGING OTHER RESOURCES

A number of funding sources can be used to complement BCRLF loans. State funds are available to areas with Urban Enterprise Zone and Railroad Depot Zone designations. A $1.5 million Business Development Pool is another possible means of state financial support. Funds are also available thanks to the City's designation as a Department of Housing and Urban Development Entitlement Community. The City also plans to make significant contributions of its own.

Use of BCRLF Pilot funds must be in accordance with CERCLA, and all CERCLA restrictions on use of funding also apply to BCRLF funds.

CONTACTS

City of Norwich Economic Development Coordinator
(860) 823-3822

Region 1 Brownfields Coordinator
(617) 918-1210

Visit the EPA Region 1 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region01/brownfields/index.html

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/

United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460

Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)

EPA 500-F-01-242
April 2001

Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)

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Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Pilot Fact Sheet