United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-00-003
April 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
<&EPA BrownfieldsSupplemental
Assistance
Bucks County, PA
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other
stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and
sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and
an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded
up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected
by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental
field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds
to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states,
tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods
to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND
EPA awarded the Bucks County supplemental
assistance for its Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot. Since the mid-twentieth century,
the economic vitality of Bucks County has centered
around a manufacturing industrial base located along
the Delaware River. Bucks County has been the site
for much industry, mainly because of its major
transportation routes, including the Delaware River,
Delaware Canal, Neshaminy Creek, Interstate-95,
Route 202, and Route 611. Despite accessibility to an
established transportation network and a large, high-
quality workforce, businesses tend to avoid brownfields
and their suspected contamination and, instead, elect
to locate in undeveloped parts of the county, which
has exacerbated urban decay and suburban sprawl.
Originally, the Pilot focused on three municipalities
and later expanded to cover all six municipalities
comprising the Enterprise Zone (EZ) located in the
lower portion of the county. While the concentration
of industrial sites is greatest in the EZ municipalities,
it is estimated that all municipalities within Bucks
County have at least one industrial property. Many of
these industrial businesses are now either defunct or
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Date of Announcement:
March 2000
Amount: $150,000
Profile: The Pilotwill identify
and rank brownfields sites in
Bucks County and target
priority brownfields sites for
acquisition, assessment,
cleanup, and/or
redevelopment.
Contacts:
Bucks County Regional Brownfields Team
Redevelopment Authority U.S. EPA - Region 3
of the County of Bucks (215)814-3129
(215)781-8711
Visit the EPA Region 3 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/brownfld/hmpage1.htm
For further information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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operating at diminished capacity. It is estimated that
there are more than three square miles of vacant
industrial facilities, underused buildings, and
abandoned properties in the county.
OBJECTIVES AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES
The Pilot, lead by the Redevelopment Authority ofthe
Bucks County, will use the supplemental assistance to
expand its efforts to identify and rank brownfields
throughout the remaining 48 municipalities of Bucks
County. To do this, the Pilot plans to focus on 6 to 10
(depending on the size) municipalities at one time.
The Pilotwill then target priority brownfields sites for
acquisition, assessment, cleanup, and/or
redevelopment.
To accomplish these objectives, the Pilot plans to:
• Identify and locate, using tax map parcel numbers
and street maps, all vacant properties zoned for
industrial or commercial usage;
• Meet with community officials in charge of each
municipality to identify which vacantorunderutilized
properties are possible brownfields sites;
• Conduct initial field investigations to identify eligible
brownfields sites;
• Rate the remaining properties to establish a list of
priority brownfields sites;
• Contact the corresponding property owners and
municipalities about proceeding with the acquisition,
assessment, and cleanup ofthe sites; and
• Assess properties.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated:
therefore, activities described in this factsheetare subject to change.
Brownfields Supplemental Assistance Bucks County, Pennsylvania
March 2000 EPA 500-F-00-003
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