United States
                       Environmental
                       Protection Agency
                       Washington, D.C. 20460
                         Solid Waste
                         and Emergency
                         Response (5101)
EPA500-F-97-125
April 1997
  &EPA
National  Brownfields
Assessment  Pilot
                          Bucks  County,  PA
  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. Between 1995 and 1996, EPA funded 76 National and Regional Brownfields
Assessment Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of brownfields
solutions. EPAis funding morethan 27 Pilots in 1997. 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 Bucks County as a Brownfields
Pilot. Since mid-century, the economic vitality of
Bucks County has centered around a manufacturing
industrial base located along the Delaware River.
The loss of 10,000 jobs at U.S. Steel and industrial
downsizing over the past two decades have resulted
in the county's high unemployment rate. There are
more than  three square miles of vacant industrial
facilities, under-used buildings, and abandoned
properties in the county.

Bucks County secured an Enterprise Zone designation
from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1996.
Three of the municipalities in this Enterprise Zone
are  among the county's most  populous.  County
Commissioners are  trying to facilitate  the
revitalization of older, abandoned, and under-used
buildings within Bucks County, particularly within
these Enterprise Zone communities. Businesses that
want to locate in the county tend to avoid brownfields
and  their suspected  contamination  despite
accessibility to a large, high-quality workforce and
an established transportation  network.  Instead,
businesses often elect to locate in undeveloped parts
of the county, which has exacerbated urban decay
and suburban sprawl.
                         PILOT SNAPSHOT
                                            Date of Award:
                                            April 1997

                                            Amount: $200,000

                                            Site Profile: The pilot will
                                            focus on more than three
                                            square miles of vacant or
                                            under-used industrial
                                            property within the Buck's
                                            County Enterprise Zone.
                       Bucks County, Pennsylvania
                       Contacts:

                       Robert White
                       Bucks County
                       Redevelopment Authority
                       (215)860-3313
  Tom Stolle
  U.S. EPA-Region 3
  (215)566-3129
  stolle.tom®
  epamail.epa.gov
                               Visit the EPA Brownfields Website at:
                               http://www.epa.gov/brownfields

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OBJECTIVES

The objective of this brownfields pilot is to initiate a
comprehensive   assessment  of  potentially
contaminated industrial and commercial properties
thatwouldbe appropriate forprivate sectorinvestment.
The  pilot will focus on brownfields within three
Enterprise Zone communities—Bristol Township,
Bristol Borough, and Morrisville Borough.

ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this pilot include:

Phase 1: Coordination with Enterprise Zone Plan
  • Forming a Brownfields Task Group;

  • Establishing goals for designated brownfields
    communities, and identifying the unique cultural,
    social, historical, and environmental aspects of
    the communities;

  • Ensuring community participation and outreach;

Phase 2: Site Inventory (and Ranking)
  • Reviewing available databases and surveys to
    identify brownfields  sites, and creating  an
    inventory of brownfields sites;

  • Creating a matrix  of ranking  criteria, and
    prioritizing sites for environmental assessment;

Phase 3: Environmental Site Assessment
  • Preparing site assessment work plans  for sites,
    and conducting site assessments;

  • Preparing site assessment reports;

  • Evaluating appropriate flow of ownership models
    for site redevelopment and reuse; and

  • Presenting recommendations  to community
    leaders.

The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been
negotiated; therefore,  activities  described in this fact
sheet are subject to change.
  National Brownfields Assessment Pilot                                           Bucks County, Pennsylvania
  April 1997                                                                       EPA 500-F-97-125

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