&EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C. 20460 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5101) EPA500-F-98-132 May 1998 Assessment Demonstration Pilot Pioneer Valley, MA Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101) 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. Since 1995, EPA has funded more than 150 Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of brownfields solutions. The Pilots 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. OVERVIEW EPA has selected the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) for a Brownfields Pilot. Located in midwestern Massachusetts, the Pioneer Valley Region consists of 43 cities and towns in Hampshire and Hampden counties. Although the region is known for its industrial heritage, this legacy has left a surplus of brownfields. The region has apopulation of approximately 603,000, and contains 450 vacant and contaminated industrial sites. Most of these sites are located in the region's three major urban areas (Springfield, Holyoke, Chicopee), where 25% of the residents are minorities and one-third of the low- income population resides. In addition, because many of the region's old mill buildings were built near outlying water sources, brownfields are also found in the area's suburbs and rural locations. OBJECTIVES The Pilot plans to work with the PVPC to increase the urban core's vitality and stability by encouraging the assessment, cleanup, and reuse of brownfields; and to decrease industry' s movement from the urban core and its ongoing development of greenfields by easing existing barriers to brownfields cleanup and reuse. PILOT SNAPSHOT Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts Date of Announcement: May 1998 Amount: $200,000 Profile: The Pioneer Valley Region encompasses 43 cities and towns and 602,000 residents in midwestern Massachusetts. Contacts: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (413)781-6045 Regional Brownfields Team U.S. EPA-Region 1 (617)573-9681 Visit the EPA Regionl Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/region01/remed/brnfld/ 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/ ------- The Pilot will create an inventory of brownfields sites to match properties with developers and establish site cleanup and reuse criteria by partnering with area stakeholders. ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: • Developing an Internet-accessible inventory of known brownfields sites in ageographic information system (GIS); • Creating a monitoring and reporting system within the GIS to track the region's brownfields cleanup and redevelopment projects on an ongoing basis; • Developing a list of key site characteristics for differenttypes of properties and establishing criteria to identify priority brownfields sites; and • Providing seed money to help communities, community development corporations, and not-for- profit developers conduct site assessments. This seed money will be matched with Community Development Block Grant funds, other municipal funds, partnerships with other developers, and other sources. The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change. Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts May 1998 EPA500-F-98-132 ------- |