The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 1 awarded a $500,000 Cooperative Agreement to Piscataquis County Economic Development Council under the Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Cooperative Agreements program (CFDA 66.818) effective July 1, 2025, through September 30, 2029. This award funds the recipient to conduct eligible brownfield assessment and cleanup planning activities in Piscataquis County, Maine, as authorized under CERCLA 104(k)(2). The recipient will manage environmental site assessment activities by competitively procuring qualified environmental professionals and directing the performance of Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments.
Under this agreement, the recipient will deliver comprehensive products including: up to ten Phase I and ten Phase II environmental site assessments; up to ten site-specific cleanup plans and alternatives analyses; up to six community meetings; up to two planning documents to initiate brownfields revitalization; inventory and characterization of contaminated properties; and sixteen quarterly progress reports submitted through the EPA's Assessment, Cleanup and Redevelopment Exchange System (ACRES). No subawards are included in this cooperative agreement. The anticipated outcomes will benefit residents, business owners, and stakeholders in Piscataquis County through identification and planning for remediation of brownfield sites that complicate property expansion, development, or reuse.