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
ERA has selected the City of Ranson as a Brownfields
Area-Wide Planning Pilot Program recipient. Ranson and its
partner community, Charles Town, are located in the eastern
panhandle of West Virginia. Ranson is targeting the 1.5-mile
Commerce Corridor, which is along the Ranson-Charles
Town border and has 3,000 residents. Ranson has tradition-
ally been an industrial community. Over the past few years,
more than 1,500 jobs in Ranson have been lost as several
major manufacturing facilities have closed their plants. More
than 25 percent of residents live below the poverty level.
There are at least 15 brownfields in the Commerce Corridor
Ranson, WV
Pilot Program Description
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.aov/brownfieldsy
EPA's Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization
(202) 566-0633
Assistance Recipient: City of Ranson, WV
(304) 725-1010
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.
area. Ranson and Charles Town launched the Commerce
Corridor Initiative in 1999 to revitalize the area. The initiative
has been advanced by several city resolutions and agree-
ments. The area-wide plan will help Ranson and Charles
Town prioritize brownfields site assessment and cleanup and
develop site-specific reuse plans based on community input.
Development of the plan is expected to facilitate community
involvement in brownfields assessment and cleanup and
encourage development of high-tech commercial office build-
ings in vacant areas between Ranson and Charles Town.
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA560-F-10-003V
October 2010
www.epa.gov/brownfields
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