Vermont Business Magazine Two southern Vermont organizations and a state agency will get $500,000 for borwnfield remediation fromthe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The organizations are theSouthern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission, theWindham Regional Commission and theVermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development.
The awards are part ofapproximately $5.3 million in supplemental funding EPA has awarded to New England communities to assist them in cleaning up contaminated brownfield properties.EPAplans to provide supplemental funding to 11successful, existing Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) grantees in the region, helping communities carry out cleanup and redevelopment projects.
“Brownfields redevelopment is a win-win for New England communities” saidEPAregional administrator Alexandra Dunn. “These supplemental funds can help cleanup projects get to completion and ready for redevelopment.”
New England communities selected for FY18 supplemental funding are:
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Capitol Region Council of Governments, CT- $500,000
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Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments, CT- $500,000
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Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, MA- $450,000
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City of Portland, ME- $500,000
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Greater Portland Council of Governments, ME- $500,000
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Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, ME- $500,000
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Piscataquis County Economic Development Council, ME- $350,000
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Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission, ME- $500,000
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Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission, VT- $500,000
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Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, VT- $500,000
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Windham Regional Commission, VT- $500,000
The Brownfields RLF program supportsEPA’s commitment to assist communities in addressing environmentally challenged properties and meet their local revitalization priorities. The supplemental funds announced today will help communities reuse vacant and abandoned properties and turn them into community assets such as housing, recreation and open space, health facilities, social services, transportation options, infrastructure and commerce opportunities.
RLFs specifically supply funding for loans and sub-grants to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites. The supplemental funding to each grantee ranges from about $200,000 to $500,000. These funds are provided to communities who have shown achieved success in their work to clean up and redevelop brownfield sites.
A recent national study shows that cleaning up brownfields leads to residential property value increases of 5 - 15.2% within a 1.24-mile radius of the site. (Haninger et al. 2017). Another study analyzing data near 48 brownfields found that an estimated $29 to $97 million in additional tax revenue is generated for local governments in a single year after cleanup. This is two to seven times more than the $12.4 millionEPAcontributed to the cleanup of those brownfields.
More information onEPA’s Brownfields program is available at:http://www.epa.gov/brownfields
Source: EPA 6.7.2018