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 Brownfields  2005

 Grant  Fact  Sheet

    Southwest Region

Planning Commission,

      Southwest New

          Hampshire


 EPA Brownfields Program

 EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, commu-
 nities, and other stakeholders in economic development
 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 Southwest Region Planning Commission was
 selected to receive two brownfields assessment grants.
 The Southwest Region (population 98,538) is a network
 of villages and low-density rural housing surrounding
 several regional centers of commerce and employ-
 ment. The region borders Massachusetts to the south
 and Vermont to the west, across the Connecticut River.
 The region's demographics are diverse. However,
 more than 61 percent of the jobs are in three of the
  Assessment Grants
                                  2005
  $158,000 for hazardous substances
  $158,000 for petroleum

  EPA has selected the Southwest Region Planning
  Commission for two brownfields assessment
  grants. Hazardous substances grant funds will be
  used to support the already established advisory
  committee, conduct community outreach activi-
  ties, inventory and rank sites contaminated by
  hazardous substances and/or petroleum, and
  perform up to five Phase I and up to four Phase
  II site assessments around the Southwest
  Region's 36 municipalities of New Hampshire.
  Petroleum funding will be used to conduct the
  same activities for sites with potential petroleum
  contamination.
  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
  617-918-1221
  http://www.epa.gov/region01/brownfields/

  Grant Recipient: Southwest Region Planning
  Commission, NH
  603-357-0557

  The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
  yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
  in this fact sheet are subject to change.
region's 36 municipalities. Between 2000 and 2004,
the region lost almost 1,200 jobs. The formerly
industrial town centers, with the greatest potential for
contamination, are the region's most densely popu-
lated centers. These centers tend to have low-to-
moderate income neighborhoods, with a dispropor-
                                               Solid Waste and
                                               Emergency Response
                                               (5105T)
                       EPA 560-F-05-073
                       May 2005
                       www.epa.gov/brownfields

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tionate number of sensitive populations at a disadvan-
tage in an area where reliable personal transportation is
necessary to access employment. Assessment and
redevelopment of the region's brownfields sites are key
to generating local employment opportunities for area
residents, enhancing the local tax base,  and preserving
the rural farms and forest landscape. Assessment and
cleanup of brownfields sites are also important to the
water supply of the region, where nine of eleven
municipal sources rely solely on groundwater.

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