Brownfields

One of the legacies of Vermont’s industrial heritage has been the challenge of reusing abandoned sites. Developers find it easier to build on open pastures or green fields instead of purchasing an existing “brownfields” site in a town or village.  Developers have tended to avoid the liabilities attached to contaminated sites and the high costs of cleanup.

To help bring abandoned and underutilized sites back into reuse, the Central Vermont Brownfields Program grants funds to conduct site assessments and related activities at brownfields sites to determine whether a site is, in fact, contaminated.

The overall goal of the Brownfields Program is to return sites with real or perceived contamination to the marketplace or to be reused for the public good such as housing, commercial uses, parks or green space. The program will provide landowners with a better understanding of the funding sources, benefits, tax incentives, liabilities, insurance protection, and other tools available to redevelop sites.

CVRPC has received $100,000 of funding funds for site assessments from the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, Department of Economic Development (ACCD-DED). Funding can be used to undertake Environmental Site Assessment and Corrective Action Planning activities. Property owners and/or prospective purchaser are eligible to apply, enrollment in the State’s BRELLA program may be a pre requisite. For information about BRELLA, the States Brownfield Reuse and Environmental Liability Limitation Program visit the program website site here.

This project is led by the CVRPC Brownfields Advisory Committee whose membership consists of representatives from municipalities, financial institutions, economic development sector, not for profit groups, public health agencies and other interested parties.

If you or a developer in your municipality are considering the development, expansion, or re-use of a site that may be complicated by the release of a hazardous material, please get in touch with CVRPC. For more information about the Brownfields Program or to inquire about funding for a specific site, please contact: Clare Rock, Senior Planner at rock@cvregion.com

You can also link to VT DEC Brownfields Program and the Vermont Brownfields Handbook 

Programs