Brownfields 2003 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
              Windham Regional Commission, Southeast, VT
EPA Brownfields Program

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states.
communities, and other stakeholders to work together to
prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse
brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the
expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be
complicated by the presence or potential presence of a
hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. On
January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed
into law the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields
Law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible
applicants through four competitive grant programs:
assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup
grants, and job training grants. Additionally, funding
support is provided to state and tribal response
programs through a separate mechanism.

Community Description

The Windham Regional Commission was selected to
receive an assessment grant. The commission serves the
23 towns in Windham County; the neighboring towns
of Readsboro, Searsburg, and Winhall in Bennington
County; and the town of Weston in Windsor County.
The region's population is approximately 46,400. The
Windham region has faced land use challenges because
developers have found it easier to build on open
pastures and greenfields rather than redevelop existing
brownfields sites that litter downtown areas. Many of
the region's brownfields are found in the towns of
Brattleboro (population 8,289) and Bellows Falls
(population 3,165), where more than 11 percent of the
population lives in poverty. Median household incomes
in these two towns are less than 75 percent of the
statewide median.
                  Assessment Grant

                  $200,000 for hazardous substances

                  EPA has selected the Windham Regional
                  Commission for a brownfields assessment grant.
                  Grant funds will be used to perform Phase I and
                  Phase II investigations on three sites in the Town of
                  Brattleboro. Potential sites include a former
                  manufacturing facility and sites along the
                  Brattleboro waterfront that will be part of an
                  extensive Union Station redevelopment project.
                  Grant funds will also be used to conduct assessment
                  activities on at least one additional site within the
                  region served by the commission.

                  Contacts

                  For further information, including specific grant
                  contacts, additional grant information, brownfields
                  news and events, and publications and links, visit
                  the EPA Brownfields Web site
                  (http://www.epa.gov/brownfields).

                  EPA Region 1 Brownfields Team
                  (617)918-1424
                  EPA Region 1 Brownfields Web site
                  (http: //www. epa.gov/region 1 /brownfields)

                  Grant Recipient: Windham Regional Commission,VT
                  (802) 257-4547

                  The information presented in this fact sheet comes
                  from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the
                  accuracy of this  information.  The cooperative
                  agreement for the grant has not yet been negotiated.
                  Therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are
                  subject to change.
  United States
  Environmental
  Protection Agency
  Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA500-F-03-216
        Jun 03

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