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MassDEP details Brownfields grants, ARLF award and community outreach
Summary
Brownfields coordinator Dave Foss said MassDEP is using new EPA 128(a) supplemental funding and Infrastructure Law dollars to move stagnant municipal sites toward assessment and cleanup, highlighted a $2 million ARLF award and plans for regional roundtables and contractor-supported assessment services.
Dave Foss, the statewide Brownfields coordinator at MassDEP, described how recent federal funding is being used to accelerate Brownfields assessment and cleanup in communities across the Commonwealth.
Foss said the agency receives an annual 128(a) appropriation of roughly $1,000,000 for waste-site cleanup activities and that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is providing an additional roughly $800,000 per year for five years to support site-specific assessment and cleanup where responsible parties are not available. "That's one of the real objectives of this money: to help move these sites that are kind of stagnant and stationary and get them to that next step," he said.
He noted DEP successfully applied for and received a $2,000,000 award for the EPA Assessment, Cleanup and Revolving Loan Fund (ARLF) program; DEP is establishing administrative processes and statewide SARS contractors to provide assessment and remedial services to municipalities and nonprofits. Foss identified communities receiving early attention (examples in his presentation included Bridgewater and a former tannery site where the city is applying for an EPA cleanup grant) and said DEP will ramp up outreach beginning in January with Brownfields roundtables and direct coordination with regional planning commissions.
Foss emphasized coordination between regional DEP staff, municipal economic development directors and mayors, and the use of DEP contractors so smaller towns without staff capacity can advance assessment and cleanup planning. The coordinator also said MassDEP is sharing best practices with other states and industry groups to inform local work.
No formal grants or binding municipal obligations were announced at the meeting; Foss said municipalities and eligible nonprofits should apply for EPA funding windows and contact DEP regional staff to request assistance.
