Brownfields 2010 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
    ^         Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission, 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 Southern Windsor County Regional Planning
Commission (SWCRPC) was selected to receive a
brownfields assessment grant. The SWCRPC serves 10
small towns (combined population 25,105) in
southeastern Vermont. The towns in the region were built
during the early 20th century around the machine tool
industry. The decline of this sector began after World
War II and accelerated during the 1980s. In 2000, the last
of the machine tool giants closed. Between 1980 and
2000, 42.5 percent of manufacturing jobs disappeared
from the region. Per capita income continues to lag behind
county and state rates, and wages are eight percent lower
than state levels. Although the exact number of
brownfields is unknown, the region has nearly one million
square feet of vacant, dilapidated industrial space.
Assessment of brownfields is expected to identify and
characterize contamination and encourage new business
investment and industry in the region"s small towns.
                    Assessment Grant $200,000 for hazardous
                    substances
                    EPA has selected the Southern Windsor County
                    Regional Planning Commission for a brownfields
                    assessment grant. Community-wide hazardous
                    substances grant funds will be used to identify and
                    prioritize brownfields and conduct four Phase I
                    and two Phase II environmental site assessments.
                    Grant funds also will be used to develop at least
                    one cleanup plan and conduct 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/regionl/bro wnfields)

                     Grant Recipient: Southern Windsor County
                     Regional Planning Commission,VT
                     802-674-9201

                     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-10-036
      April 2010

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