Vermont Resources

VT Brownfield Programs

VT Department of Environmental Conservation Brownfields Main Page 

State Funding Program: VTDEC provides technical and financial assistance for all aspects of site investigation, cleanup and planning. As of March 2021, the program is out of funds, but accepts applications to put in a queue.  

Liability Relief: BRELLA, the state brownfields reuse and environmental liability limitation program provide relief for persons who own or plan to purchase a property and did not cause or contribution to the contamination. 

Partners in Network

State contact information & Roundtable resources

Environmental Program Manager & Brownfields Program Coordinator, The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, Department of Environmental Conservation, encourages brownfield reuse projects as a means of accomplishing positive environmental and human health impacts while advancing sound land-use practices. Reuse of historically productive properties supports sustainable development trends and promotes community and economic growth.

The Brownfields Response Program works to provide developers with tools to help deliver projects in a safe, timely, and cost effective manner, focusing on three areas: limitation of environmental liability; technical assistance; and financial assistance. In some instances, the Brownfields Response Program collaborates with Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development and Vermont’s eleven Regional Planning Commissions. Our Brownfields Handbook describes how to navigate a variety of brownfields redevelopment projects.

Organization Name Contact Roundtable Resources
Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (VT DEC) Sarah Bartlet sarah.bartlett@vermont.gov Southern VT Roundtable.pdf

 

Northern VT Roundtable.pdf

 

Regional contact information

An RPC/RPO supports local governments by coordinating regional brownfields planning, managing or assisting with EPA brownfields grants, providing technical and GIS support, and integrating brownfield assessment and redevelopment into broader land-use, transportation, housing, and economic development plans.

Organization Name Contact
Addison County Regional Planning Commission Andrew L'Roe alroe@acrpc.org
Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission Christian Meyer meyer@cvregion.com
Northwest Regional Planning Commission Greta Brunswick gbrunswick@nrpcvt.com
Rutland Regional Planning Commission Devon Neary devon@rutlandrpc.org
Bennington County Regional Planning Commission Jim Henderson jhenderson@bcrcvt.org
Lamoille County Planning Commission Tasha Wallis tasha@lcpcvt.org
Mount Ascutney Regional Planning Commission Cindy Ingersoll cingersoll@marcvt.org
Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Planning Commission Sarah Wraight swraight@trorc.org
Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission Dan Albrecht dalbrecht@ccrpcvt.org
Northeastern Vermont Development Association David Snedeker dsnedeker@nvda.net
Windham Regional Planning Commission Susan Westa swesta@windhamregional.org

 

Brownfields Inventory

The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation maintains two online databases, the Environmental Research Tool (ERT) and the ANR Atlas, both located under the Contaminated Sites webpage. ERT features several lists of sites under different programs, including a searchable Brownfields site list. The ANR is a GIS-based tool that includes a layer with 125 brownfield sites across the state.

 

Regulatory Framework

Chapter 35 of the VT Environmental Protection Rules governs the investigation and remediation of contaminated properties. The DEC Laws and Regulations page provides a comprehensive list of all environmental regulations in the state.

 

Planning Documents

The VT Municipal and Regional Planning and Development Act defines how local, regional and state land use planning will occur in Vermont and establishes a framework for regulatory and non-regulatory implementation. The Planning Your Town’s Future page includes a wide range of resources, including links to municipal plans.   

VT has 11 Regional Planning Commissions which provide technical support on a variety of fields, including brownfields.

 

State and Town Data

The Vermont Open Geodata Portal provides a wide variety of GIS layers and links to data sources.

The Public Health Data Explorer is a platform for the related datasets.

The State and National Health Data (Excel) provides socioeconomic and health data relevant to the EPA Brownfields Grant applications.

 

Public Health Data

The VT Environmental Public Health Tracking Network provides a variety of relevant data at the county level, for several years and in certain cases disaggregated by gender and race.

The Healthy Vermonters 2030 Data Dashboard is a public health data dashboard at three geographic levels: county, district office, and Hospital Service area. The data is generally older, as they were meant to capture goals up to 2020 and, therefore, are typically not very useful for brownfields grants.

Specific categories of interest to brownfield grants:

The CDC National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network includes a map in the Data Explorer Tool by census tract for two cancer indicators: crude prevalence of cancer among adults and number of breast cancer cases for a 10-year period. These are NOT actual cancer rates; they are modeled on the basis of survey responses and the PLACES project (Population Level Analysis and Community Estimates).

The United States Data Statistics website includes data visualizations with actual cancer rates, which are available at the county and congressional district level.

You can access sub-county cancer data through the Vermont Profile on the CDC website.

The VTEPHTN data portal includes data for emergency department visits and hospitalization rates; data is available at the county level.

The only dataset available nationally for birth defects is through the CDC National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network and it provides data at the county level for 11 different types of birth defects.

The Mesothelioma Center is an advocacy group that provides free information about environmental safety and asbestos health. There is helpful information and data on their website regarding asbestos in Vermont. They have also created guides on risk factors and limiting environmental exposure.

The Childhood Lead Poisoning page includes data; as of September 25th, 2022, the data is not available due to reports being reworked. If you need childhood blood lead data in the meantime, please contact AHS.VDHVTEPHT@vermont.gov .