Brownfields Area-Wide Plannini
i
Pilot Project Fact Sheet
Pioneer Valley Planning Commission,
Chicopee, MA
EPA Brownfields Program
EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities,
and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess,
safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brown-
field site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or re-
use 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.
Under this law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible
applicants to assess and clean up brownfield sites.
Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Pilot
Program
ERA is piloting an area-wide planning approach to community
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 un-
derserved or economically disadvantaged neighborhoods by
confronting local environmental and public health challenges
related to brownfields, while creating a planning framework to
advance economic development and job creation.
Pilot Project Description
EPA has selected the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
(PVPC) as a Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Pilot Program
recipient. PVPC is focusing this project on downtown Chicopee's
West End neighborhood. With a population of 2,025, this area
was once home to major manufacturers of textiles, munitions,
and shoes, and supported a thriving working-class neighborhood.
Today, many former industrial and commercial sites in the area
are contaminated and underused. Over 28 percent of the
community lives below the poverty level. The city-wide unem-
ployment rate is over 12 percent. Known brownfields cover 20
to 25 percent of West End's land area, presenting a challenge to
EPA is awarding approximately
$4 million in total across 23 recipients.
Recipients will each receive up to approximately
$175,000 in EPA cooperative agreement and/or direct
technical assistance. Assistance will help recipients initi-
ate 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:
Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, MA
(413)781-6045, ext. 339
The information presented in this fact sheet comes from
the project proposal; EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of
this information. The cooperative agreement and/or direct
technical assistance have not yet been negotiated. Activi-
ties described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
revitalization efforts. The city has developed a Downtown Revital-
ization Plan that incorporates the community's vision for revital-
izing the downtown area, including the West End. The area-
wide plan will focus on sustainable approaches to brownfields
redevelopment, including the use of alternative energy generators,
reuse of current infrastructure, and creation of greenspace.
Development of the plan is expected to facilitate community
involvement in brownfields assessment and cleanup by generat-
ing site-specific reuse plans for brownfield sites, as well as next
steps and resources needed to implement the reuse plans.
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA560-F-10-003J
October 2010
www.epa.gov/brownfields
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