United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C. 20460 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5101) EPA 500-F-00-037 April 2000 www.epa.gov/brownfields/ <&EPA Brownfields Supplemental Assistance Naugatuck Valley, CT Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105) Quick Reference Fact Sheet 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. BACKGROUND EPA awarded Naugatuck Valley supplemental assistance for its Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot. The Naugatuck River Valley has a long history of industrial development and contains at least 168 contaminated sites. In 1992, there was a 9.9 percent unemployment rate in the Central Valley. The depressed economy typifies the troubled economy of the state. Current projections for j ob growth in Connecticut through the year 2010 are the lowest in the nation. The supplemental Pilot will continue the coordinated efforts of municipalities within the 45-mile-long valley. The Valley Regional Planning Agency (VRPA) established the Naugatuck Valley Brownfields Pilot (NVBP) to act as the Pilot's primary brownfields broker and redevelopment facilitator. Since its origination, the Pilot has added two municipalities within the valley for brownfields assessments; the VRPAnow coordinates brownfields proj ects on behalf of 10 municipalities within the valley. Brownfields within each municipality are selected for assessment by an advisory committee that includes members from participating towns. PILOT SNAPSHOT Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut Date of Announcement: March 2000 Amount: $150,000 Profile: The Pilot targets brownfields from 10 municipalities within the 45- mile-long Naugatuck Valley. Contacts: Valley Regional Planning Agency Naugatuck Valley (203)735-8688 Regional Brownfields Team U.S. EPA-Region 1 (617)918-1209 Visit the EPA Region 1 Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/region01/remed/brnfld/ 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/ ------- OBJECTIVES AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES The intent of the VRPA's brownfields effort is to assess, clean up, and reuse contaminated land and water in the valley. Utilizing the administrative capacity of the regional organization and the individual municipalities facilitated through the original Pilot funding, the supplemental funding will be usedprimarily for environmental assessments. The Pilot will use established selection criteria to identify priority sites for redevelopment and then facilitate cleanup and redevelopment by assessing these sites and creating final development strategies. To accomplish these objectives, the Pilot plans to: • Identify brownfields within each of the participating municipalities; and • Conduct Phase n environmental assessments at the targeted properties. The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change. Brownfields Supplemental Assistance Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut April 2000 EPA 500-F-00-037 ------- |