Brownfields Area-Wide Plannini
i
Pilot Project Fact Sheet
EPA Brownfields Program
EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communi-
ties, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent,
assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brown-
fields. A brownfield 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. In 2002, the Small
Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization
Act was passed to help states and communities around
the country clean up and revitalize brownfields sites. Un-
der this law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible
applicants to assess and clean up brownfield sites.
Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Pilot
Program
EPA is piloting an area-wide planning approach to com-
munity brownfield challenges, which recognizes that
revitalization of the area surrounding the brownfield site(s)
is just as critical to the successful reuse of the property as
assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment of an individual
site. The pilot program will help further community-based
partnership efforts within underserved or economically
disadvantaged neighborhoods by confronting local envi-
ronmental and public health challenges related to brown-
fields, while creating a planning framework to advance
economic development and job creation.
Pilot Project Description
EPA has selected the City of Lowell as a Brownfields
Area-Wide Planning Pilot Program recipient. The city will
focus this assistance on the Tanner Street Corridor, which
is south of the city's central business district and home
to 1,768 residents. Most of the area is zoned for heavy
industry, with some commercial and residential areas on
the periphery. It is one of only a few active industrial areas
in Lowell, with an emphasis on automobile and metal
recycling. The city has identified at least six brownfield
sites in the project area. Many businesses have relocated
out of the city because there is little room for expansion,
Lowell, MA
EPA is awarding approximately
$4 million in total across 23 recipients.
Recipients will each receive up to approxi-
mately $175,000 in EPA cooperative agreement and/
or direct technical assistance. Assistance will help
recipients initiate development of an area-wide plan
and identify next steps and resources needed to
implement the plan.
Contacts
For additional information, brownfields news and
events, and publications and links, visit the EPA
Brownfields Web site (http://www.epa.gov/brownfields).
EPA's Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization
(202) 566-0633
Assistance Recipient: City of Lowell, MA
(978) 446-7200
The information presented in this fact sheet comes
from the project proposal; EPA cannot attest to the ac-
curacy of this information. The cooperative agreement
and/or direct technical assistance have not yet been
negotiated. Activities described in this fact sheet are
subject to change.
and there is a shortage of industrial land to attract new
industries. Lowell's unemployment rate is higher than
both the state and national unemployment rates, and 35
percent of residents in the project area live in poverty.
The area-wide plan will build on the city's Tanner Street
Initiative. Development of the plan is expected to facilitate
community involvement in brownfield assessment and
cleanup, and target brownfields redevelopment of existing
underutilized industrial properties within close proximity to
multimodal transit and existing infrastructure.
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA 560-F-10-0031
October 2010
www.epa.gov/brownfields
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