United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA500-F-99-054
May 1999
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
>>EPA Brownfields Cleanup
Revolving Loan Fund Pilot
City of Brockton, 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. 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 forthe 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
Brockton, a small city in Massachusetts, is trying to
rebound from the loss of its industrial base and apattern
of disinvestment. The City has been designated an
Economic Target Area under the Commonwealth's
Economic Development Incentive Program. The
Brockton BCRLF will focus on sites within the
Economic Corridor, a north-south tract that runs
through the City's center and contains most of its
industrially-zoned land. Brownfields comprise about
one-third of the area in the Corridor. The Corridor has
over 100 old industrial mill buildings with 30 percent
to 35 percent of the space vacant and 60 percent to 70
percent contaminated. Since most industrially-zoned
land in Brockton is developed, the Economic Corridor
is the City' s last maj or re source for industrial growth.
Brockton is a Brownfields Assessment Pilot.
BCRLF OBJECTIVES
The City of Brockton's brownfields program aims to
identify and prioritize brownfields sites in the Economic
Corridor, perform site assessments, identify strategic
ways to reuse the sites, remediate the sites in a
consistent manner with reuse plans, perform
infrastructure improvements, develop the sites, and
explore quality life improvements such as bicycle
PILOT SNAPSHOT
City of Brockton,
Massachusetts
Date of Announcement:
May 25,1999
Amount: $500,000
BCRLF Target Area:
Economic Corridor, a north-
south tract running through
the center of Brockton that
contains most of the City's
industrially-zoned land
Contacts:
City Planner
(509)580-7113
Region 1 Brownfields
Coordinator
(617) 918-1291
Visit the EPA Region 1 Brownfields web site at:
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/
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paths. The BCRLF will support these objectives by
offering a financing tool specifically targeted at cleanup
efforts. Four types of borrowers are anticipated:
Brockton businesses (mostly industrial or commercial)
seeking to expander relocate; businesses from outside
the City (mostly industrial or commercial) seeking to
establish operations in Brockton; real-estate developers;
and the City or other City agencies seeking to make
sites attractive to prospective purchasers.
FUND STRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS
The City will serve as the lead agency and through a
memorandum of understanding with the Massachusetts
Department of Environmental Protection the City will
obtain assistance in carrying out its site management
responsibilities. The City is exploring two alternatives
for fund manager. One option is to solicit competitive
bids from interested non-profits and local banks.
Alternatively, the City may enter into an
intergovernmental agreement with the SouthEastern
Economic Development Corporation (SEED), apublic
entity established to package loans under the Small
Business Administration's 504 program. The City will
contribute $50,000tothe BCRLF for loans. Brockton
has established a limit of $100,000 per loan and
anticipates making about five loans in the initial round
of lending. Loan terms will be established on a case-
by-case basis by the fund manager.
Brownfields Tax Incentive Program for encouraging
private investment, and pursue additional funding
sources.
Use of BCRLF Pilot funds must be in accordance with
CERCLA, and all CERCLA restrictions on use of funding
also apply to BCRLF funds.
LEVERAGING
The City will contribute $50,000 to the BCRLF for
loans. Through Massachusetts'brownfields legislation
that will provide $30 million in assistance to
municipalities, there is potential for additional loan
funds. In addition, the Economic Corridor falls within
six Economic Opportunity areas, permitting the City to
offer property tax incentives to companies that locate
or expand in the Corridor. This program also generates
an increase in the state tax credit forthe same companies
and triggers priority consideration from state financing
programs. The City also has obtained $250,000 from
the Massachusetts DHCD Demolition of Abandoned
Buildings Program for infrastructure improvements.
Finally, the City plans to continue to offertax incentives
to attract developers, explore the potential effectiveness
of the six census tracts in the City eligible for the Federal
Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Pilot
May 1999
City of Brockton, Massachusetts
EPA 500-F-99-054
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