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City of Philadelphia is Smart About Growth - City Joins Federal Agencies in Partnership Pledging Smart Urban Growth

Release Date: 10/16/2002
Contact Information: Bonnie Smith, (215) 814-5543

Bonnie Smith, (215) 814-5543

PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today joined with other federal agencies to support the City of Philadelphia in smart growth efforts. This agreement, one of the first in the mid-Atlantic region, promotes urban development using the principles of smart growth.

EPA and nine other federal agencies are member of the mid-Atlantic Federal Partners for the Environment. The partners have signed an agreement with the City of Philadelphia, pledging to support smart growth and sustainable development while addressing growth and redevelopment in the city.

“This is a win-win situation. Smart growth includes economic growth and improved quality, as well as environmental benefits from improved land use management and sustainable development,” said Donald S. Welsh, mid-Atlantic regional administrator.

Today’s ceremony, held at the Municipal Services Building, commits the federal partners to supporting smart growth. Signers of the agreement included EPA Regional Administrator Donald S. Welsh and City of Philadelphia Managing Director Estelle Richmond.

The agreement includes several site-specific redevelopment projects throughout the city of Philadelphia. These redevelopment projects -- often called brownfields projects – are abandoned or idled industrial properties where real or perceived contamination has been a barrier to redevelopment. One of the assessment, remediation, and reuse projects is the Tidal Schuylkill River Development area, extending from the Philadelphia Water Works to Fort Mifflin. Another area for brownfields redevelopment is the North Delaware Waterfront Development, which
stretches from Penn Treaty Park north to Poquessing Creek (the Philadelphia/Bucks County line). Also part of the agreement is the American Street Corridor, an urban mix of industry, vacant lots, brownfields, and residential tracts, which will require property acquisition, environmental assessment, and remediation.

The City has also proposed several pollution prevention and reduction assistance projects, including using EPA’s energy star system to examine energy efficiency in buildings, exploring options for using alternative fuels and alternative fuel vehicles, and looking at ways to expand and improve scrap tire collection and recycling efforts.

Additional projects included in the agreement are open space planning assistance, parks revitalization, habitat conservation, and ecological hazard reduction.

In addition to EPA, the Mid-Atlantic Federal Partners for the Environment consists of representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service; U.S. Geological Survey, National Park Service; Federal Highway Administration; U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service; Office of Surface Mining; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the National Marine Fisheries Services.

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