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BROWNFIELDS REDEVELOPMENT HELP JUST A PHONE CALL AWAY

Release Date: 11/2/1998
Contact Information: Ruth Podems (215) 814-5540

PHILADELPHIA - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new Brownfields Yellow Pages is now available for communities interested in redeveloping abandoned industrial sites.  The Brownfields Yellow Pages provides listings of 16 federal agencies who have joined in a groundbreaking effort to help revitalize cities.

"The EPA has teamed up with several federal agencies to look at brownfields from several angles, not only the environmental cleanup angle," said W. Michael McCabe, EPA’s mid-Atlantic regional administrator.  "When other agencies have a stake in redevelopment, they can contribute their expertise and resources -- such as the Small Business Administration providing loans to start up businesses on brownfields, or HUD considering brownfields for housing development."

Along with EPA, the agencies include the Economic Development Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, Departments of Education, Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs, and Justice (Community Relations Service).  Also included are the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the National Park Service, the Federal Highway and Railroad administrations and the Federal Transit Authority, Deposit Insurance Corp., the Housing Finance Board, and the Small Business Administration is also on board.

The model for this federal partnership was developed by the mid-Atlantic region of EPA in Philadelphia, and was named this month as a national model for EPA’s nine other regions.   Last year, Vice President Al Gore announced the Brownfields National Partnership and encouraged federal agencies to cooperatively develop a program model.  The program integrates redevelopment resources available from the federal partners in an effort to streamline the process for the benefit of the community.

Examples of how this resource directory may be used include Brownfields site assessment and cleanup activities, which can be linked to federal health and workforce-development programs; transportation planning; economic/industrial redevelopment or green-space/community reuse opportunities.

Brownfields are vacant or underused industrial or commercial properties where the threat of contamination has hindered redevelopment.  In the mid-Atlantic region (Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia) EPA estimates there are tens of thousands of such sites.  More than $5.5 million has already been awarded by EPA to 17 communities in this region designated as Brownfields pilots.  

The Brownfields Yellow Pages is available in printed form by contacting Brigid Lowery, EPA Brownfields Coordinator at (215) 814-2780.  It is also available on EPA’s regional Internet site at: https://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/brownfld/hmpage1.htm.


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