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  Brownfields 2007

  Grant Fact Sheet

      Southern  Maine

    Regional Planning

          Commission


EPA Brownfields Program

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, commu-
nities, and other stakeholders to work together to
prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse
brownfields. Abrownfield 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 the
Brownfields 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. Addi-
tionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal
response programs through a separate mechanism.

Community Description

The Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission
(SMRPC) was selected to receive a brownfields
revolving loan fund grant. SMRPC is a council of
governments serving 39 communities (combined
population 202,315) in an area extending from the
Atlantic coast to the White Mountains. Most southern
Maine communities developed around industrial mills
built during the 1800s. Mill buildings therefore generally
form the downtown centers of their communities.
Today, most mill sites in the region are abandoned.
SMRPC has identified more than 300 brownfield sites
Revolving Loan Fund
Grant
$1,000,000 for hazardous substances

EPA has selected the Southern Maine Regional
Planning Commission (SMRPC) for a
brownfields revolving loan fund grant. The grant
will be used to capitalize a revolving loan fund
from which SMRPC will provide loans and
subgrants to support cleanup activities for sites
contaminated with hazardous substances. Grant
funds will be used to operate the revolving loan
fund, plan and oversee site cleanups, and support
community outreach activities.
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 at: www.epa.gov/
brownfields.

EPA Region 1 Brownfields Team
617-918-1424
http://www.epa.gov/region01/brownfields/

Grant Recipient: Southern Maine Regional
Planning Commission
207-324-2952

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 negoti-
ated.  Therefore, activities described in this fact
sheet are subject to change.
in the region. Many communities in the region have
been severely affected by the loss of more than 17,000
manufacturing jobs in the state during the past decade.
Residents in many areas around mill complexes earn
very low incomes. For example, there are at least 26
neighborhoods in the region where residents earn less
than 80 percent of the national per capita income.
                                                Solid Waste and
                                                Emergency Response
                                                (5105T)
                       EPA560-F-07-159
                       May 2007
                       www.epa.gov/brownfields

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Unemployment, low incomes, and the high cost of
living have contributed to a declining economy through-
out the region. Brownfields redevelopment is needed to
reduce sprawl, attract investors and jobs, and revitalize
local economies.

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