Brownfields 2010  Assessment Grant  Fact Sheet
               Rutland Regional Planning Commission, Rutland County, 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. In
2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act was passed to help
states and communities around the country cleanup and
revitalize brownfields sites. Under this 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 Rutland Regional Planning Commission was
selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant. The
Commission serves 27 communities (combined
population 63,743) in primarily rural Rutland County.
The economies of these villages and small urban
centers were founded on mining, textile, and other
industrial operations. Declines in these industries have
left once-thriving industrial plants abandoned and
blighted. Job losses have resulted in a sharp population
decline, which has been as great as 30 percent in some
villages. The region has higher unemployment and
poverty rates than the state. It contains more than 300
known hazardous sites, according to an inventory
compiled by the state. Brownfield assessments will
identify the risks these sites pose to human health and
the environment, and are expected to provide a first step
toward cleanup and reuse of vacant industrial and
commercial properties.
                   Assessment Grant $200,000 for hazardous
                   substances
                   EPA has selected the Rutland Regional Planning
                   Commission for a brownfields assessment grant.
                   Community-wide hazardous substances grant funds
                   will be used to conduct five or six Phase I and two
                   Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds
                   also will be used to conduct cleanup planning and
                   community outreach activities.

                   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: Rutland Regional Planning
                   Commission, VT
                   802-775-0871

                   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)
EPA 560-F-10-035
        Apr 10

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