State officials ask for $2 million for Brownfields cleanup as federal funds face uncertainty

Joan Goldstein, commissioner of the Department of Economic Development, told the House Commerce & Economic Development Committee that Vermont’s brownfields program has turned state dollars into large private investments but needs an additional $2 million in one‑time funds to keep projects moving.

What officials told the committee: Goldstein said the program has awarded approximately $21.8 million in state brownfield funds since 2021 and that those awards have leveraged roughly $380 million in other public and private investment to redevelop contaminated sites. She said the DED prioritizes housing and job creation as redevelopment outcomes and that the program has supported about 706 housing units and 831 jobs to date.

Federal funding uncertainty: Committee members raised concerns about whether federal grants and EPA assessment funds would continue to flow. Goldstein said the state has requisitioned federal dollars and expected to receive another grant payment of about $1.2 million but acknowledged “every day, you hear something different” about federal availability. Tom Kennedy and other regional planning commission representatives later told the committee that EPA assessment awards are currently on hold, which could slow or stop projects that depend on federal match funding.

Program pipeline and scale: Goldstein and regional planning commission staff said multiple projects are enrolled in the state’s limited liability ("Brella") program and that remediation costs have risen — in one case from roughly $600,000 to $5 million after PFAS were discovered. The state’s brownfield pipeline includes dozens of sites in various stages of assessment and cleanup; Goldstein said there have been 42 projects in the immediate pipeline she was discussing and that hundreds more appear in DEC databases.

Why the request: Goldstein said an additional $2 million one‑time appropriation would support projects currently in the pipeline and help maintain the momentum of redevelopment that, so far, has delivered housing units and jobs. Regional planning commission representatives told the committee they consider the governor’s current recommendation insufficient for the scale of known needs.

Discussion, not decision: Committee members asked for additional reporting on specific site counts and potential duplication with federal programs. No vote or formal direction was recorded during the hearing.

What to watch: The committee and regional partners said they will monitor federal EPA and other agency decisions closely; if federal funds are reduced or revoked, state appropriations will be the key tool to keep some projects moving.