Federal Brownfields Partnership Chooses Showcase Communities Finalists

Today (10/27) a partnership of Federal agencies with interests in Brownfields redevelopment moved 40 communities closer to becoming Brownfields Showcase Communities.

Brownfields are abandoned, idled or underused industrial and commercial properties where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived contamination. In May 1997, Vice President Gore announced a Brownfields National Partnership to bring together the resources of more than 15 Federal agencies to address local cleanup and reuse issues in a more coordinated manner. Through a Federal Register notice, the multiagency partnership solicited applications from communities to serve as "Brownfields Showcase Communities"-- models demonstrating the benefits of collaborative activity on Brownfields.

More than two hundred (231) communities responded to the first phase of the competition, expressing interest in becoming Brownfields Showcase Communities. Forty communities were chosen today to submit detailed applications by December 10, 1997. The Federal partners plan to announce ten Showcase Communities in early 1998. The Showcase Communities will receive a mix of technical and financial support depending on their specific needs and will develop models of cooperation that can be copied across the country.

For more information about the Showcase Communities Project, contact Sven-Erik Kaiser at (202) 260-5138.