W5
Brownfields 1998 Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet
Hagerstown, MD
EPA Brownfields Initiative
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.
Background
EPA has selected the City of Hagerstown for a
Brownfields Pilot. The City's heritage was built on the
manufacturing and railroad industries. Economic decline
since the recession of the early 1980s has left its mark on
the City in the form of high unemployment and vacant
and deteriorating buildings. In response, the State
designated the central portion of the City as a
Revitalization Area. This area contains 42% of the City's
total population and has an unemployment rate of 7%. In
addition, 23% of the area's families live below the
poverty level.
There is no complete inventory of brownfields properties
in Hagerstown. However, the City is targeting its cleanup
and redevelopment efforts on old industrial and
commercial properties along former rail corridors and in
the Revitalization Area.
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 07/01/1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot will target its redevelopment
efforts along former rail corridors and in the central,
urbanized portion of the City designated as the
Revitalization Area.
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 3 Brownfields Team
(215)814-3129
EPA Region 3 Brownfields Web site
(http ://www .epa.gov/reg3hwmd/bf-lr)
Grant Recipient: Hagerstown, MD
(301) 739-8577
Objectives
The City's main objective is the cleanup and
redevelopment of the old industrial and commercial
properties along the old rail corridors and within the
central urbanized area of Hagerstown. The City believes
this revitalization effort will serve to create new job
opportunities and improve the quality of life of its
residents. To aid in this effort, the Pilot will conduct site
assessments to identify and evaluate potential
brownfields sites, and encourage community
participation in its planning and redevelopment efforts.
To facilitate this program's outreach, the City has asked
various community-based organizations, professional
organizations, affected citizens, and economic
development-related businesses to participate on a
Stakeholders Committee.
Activities
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Developing an inventory of vacant, idled, or
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 500-F-98-185
Jul 98

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underused properties in the targeted
Revitalization Area and along rail corridors;
•	Prioritizing identified sites based on
redevelopment potential in the target
Revitalization Area;
•	Conducting Phase I assessments on three to four
selected sites;
•	Creating a cleanup and redevelopment plan for
the target area; and
•	Conducting community outreach activities to
involve stakeholders in the Pilot's planning and
redevelopment efforts.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet
been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this
fact sheet are subject to change.
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
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
Solid Waste
EPA 500-F-98-185
Jul 98

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