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EPA TO AWARD SUPERFUND REDEVELOPMENT PILOTS

Release Date: 01/07/2000
Contact Information: Alice Kaufman, EPA Community Affairs Office, (617) 918-1064

Boston - In an effort to get Superfund sites into productive reuse, EPA plans to award up to 40 pilot projects at a top level of $100,000 each in financial assistance and/or services under the Superfund Redevelopment Initiative. The Superfund Redevelopment Initiative is a new program to help communities across the country restore toxic waste sites to productive use.

The Pownal Tannery Superfund Site in Pownal, Vermont, was one of ten projects named as a pilot and will receive $100,000 in funds to plan for redevelopment of the property. The 28-acre tannery was listed on EPA's National Priorities List in January 1998 for cleanup by the federal government.

"In Vermont, and across New England, we are demonstrating that through ingenuity and common sense we can grow the economy while cleaning and preserving our natural resources," said Mindy Lubber, acting regional administrator for EPA-New England. "The redevelopment initiative is an aggressive planning tool that encourages communities to decide on the future use of abandoned and contaminated properties."

To be eligible for selection as a pilot, the applicant must be a political subdivision, a federally recognized tribe or a state, and have a site within its jurisdiction that is proposed or final on the National Priorities List (NPL), and where construction of the remedy is not yet complete. Local governments that have sites within their jurisdictions that are not on the NPL, but at which significant involvement by EPA is planned, may also be eligible if a cleanup decision is pending. Because the number of pilots to be awarded is limited, EPA has developed objective criteria for evaluating projects, which can be found in the solicitation notice. The type and exact amount of assistance provided to these pilots will depend on the specific activities to be performed, but could include services such as a funded position for a federal agency expert, facilitation services and other technical assistance.

The solicitation notice for this second round of Superfund Redevelopment Pilots was published in the Federal Register on Dec. 10. Proposals must be submitted to the Agency by March 10, 2000. Selections for the pilots are expected to be announced in May 2000. Copies of the notice can be obtained electronically through EPA's web page at: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/recycle/proposal.htm or by calling the Superfund Redevelopment Hotline at 888-526-4321.