United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-00-134
May 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
<&EPA Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Windham Regional Commission, VT
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 has selected the Windham Regional
Commission for a Brownfields Pilot. Located in the
southeast corner of Vermont, the Windham Region
consists of 27 towns in Windham, Bennington, and
Windsor Counties. Once a thriving industrial and
transportation hub, this area is now plagued with
abandoned or underused industrial properties, which
remain underused because of real or perceived
environmental contamination. Over the years, local
industrial operations closed due to a variety of
factors, including technological change, a reduced
need to be near railroad and/or water resources, and
market changes. As manufacturing waned,
employment in the region made a gradual shift
toward the service industries, many of which pay far
lower wage rates. Of the total population, 11.6
percent live below the poverty level. Because these
properties are located in traditionally commercial
areas, their redevelopment and reuse will stimulate
economic renewal and growth of the entire region.
OBJECTIVES
The goal of the Windham Regional Commission is to
redevelop abandoned and underused brownfields in
the Pilot areato aid and stimulate economic activity in
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Windham Regional
Commission, VT
Date of Announcement:
May 2000
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Windham Regional
Commission Pilot will target
brownfields properties in the
WindhamRegionfor assessment,
cleanup, and redevelopment.
Contacts:
Windham Regional
Commission
(802)257-4547
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 1
(617)918-1424
Visit the EPA Region 1 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region01/remed/bmfld/
Forfurtherinformation, including specific Pi lotcontacts,
additional Pilot information.brownfieldsnewsandevente.and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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the traditional commercial downtowns and village
centers. The Pilot's primary objective is to target
brownfields properties in the Windham Region for
assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment. Pilot funds
will be usedto establish a steering committee that will
develop site selection criteria, as well as identify and
prioritize brownfields sites throughoutthe region. The
Pilot will conduct site assessments on targeted sites.
In addition, the Pilot will solicit community involvement
and assist with the development of cost-effective
solutions, financing strategies, and implementation
measures for the redevelopment at targeted sites.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Establishing a steering committee;
• Developing site selection criteria;
• Identifying and targeting brownfields sites for
assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment using site
selection criteria;
• Conducting Phase I, II, and III site assessments at
targeted properties;
• Conducting community outreach and soliciting
community involvement in the selection of potential
sites and in the reuse options; and
• Developing cost-effective solutions, financing
strategies, and implementation measures for the
redevelopment at targeted sites.
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 Windham Regional Commission, VT
May 2000 EPA500-F-00-134
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